This book begins as a realistic story about a girl living on the street. Momo—that is the heroine's name—has settled in a small room in an open-air Italian amphitheater. Her homeless situation does not burden Momo at all, because the entire city takes care of her; adults feel sorry for her and feed her, and children adore her because she is so interesting to be around! At first, all of this is reminiscent of Gianni Rodari's fairy tales, where social issues are certainly raised, but at the same time, there is a lot of childhood, play, and fantasy.
But that is just the beginning. The story then picks up speed and turns into a truly complex fantasy with a large number of characters, a confrontation between powerful forces, and a non-linear flow of time.
The thing is, strange gray gentlemen have started appearing in the city; they all look identical, constantly smoke cigars, and visit citizens at home like traveling salesmen, but they sell nothing—on the contrary, they buy people's personal time. They perform calculations, convincing their victim that they are wasting too many precious moments on nonsense—empty chatter with loved ones, silly hobbies, fruitless reflections, uselessly admiring nature—it would be better to deposit those hours into the time savings bank than to spend them so wastefully...
No one understands why life in the city is becoming more difficult every day, or why people are becoming so bitter. And then a power opposed to the gray gentlemen intervenes in the events—a man who has mastery over time itself. He will need Momo's help...
It seems there are no hidden allusions or allegories here. The gray gentlemen are not fascists, not the government, not the embodiment of evil forces; the man who commands time is not a god; Momo is not a savior. It is simply a fantasy universe with its own balance of power. The book is quite complex in both its plot and its ideas, just like other works by Michael Ende: "The Neverending Story" and "The Night of Wishes."
"Momo" is for readers aged 10-16 who love to immerse themselves headfirst in intricate stories.
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