The main character of Michael Ende’s Momo is a nine year old girl who, after noticing subtle changes in her friends and neighbors, quickly finds herself battling the mysterious and evil Men in Grey. Who are these ominous, bald “salesmen” who go around convincing just about everyone that by saving as much time as possible and depositing that time in the Men in Grey’s bank, they will get it back with interest at some later point? No one really knows. One by one, though, everyone that Momo knows falls under their spell, turning their once friendly town into a bastion of meanness, irritability and anxiety. How Momo is able to foil the Men’s sinister plan and restore sanity to her beloved town is a secret I won’t spoil.
A good book for the world-weary, Michael Ende’s Momo, recently reissued by McSweeney’s, straddles the line between adventure and philosophy. That Ende wrote this story in 1973 makes it remarkably prescient. One can draw a direct line from Momo’s depiction of a time-obsessed society falling apart to our current 24/7 culture. Originally published in French, the book has been out of print in the US for many years. Fans of Ende’s more well-known novel, The Neverending Story will find much to like here, although one need not have read it to grasp Ende’s enduring and timely message.