Arto Paasilinna (1942–2018)

Paasilinna has fun once again with the chaos created when a conservative small community in the Finnish back of beyond has to deal with the intrusion of a stranger who refuses to conform. The miller Gunnar Huttunen is a skilled and resourceful craftsman, but when he takes over an abandoned mill in a remote village, some of the village dignitaries are worried by his phases of odd behaviour — imitating animals and howling at night — and they start a campaign to have him locked up as a show more dangerous lunatic. Things escalate out of control rapidly.

Paasilinna‘s dry humour and caustic analysis of rural petty-mindedness are very enjoyable, as ever, but there’s also a serious point here about the need to be open to people different from ourselves. show less

Quand un écrivain nordique, adepte de personnages hors normes aux aventures champêtres, d'exclus en lutte pour la reconquête d'une indépendance que les lois corrompent, s'attaque aux personnages des contes qui gavèrent nos rêves d'enfants et toute la littérature qui s'ensuit, on se réjouit. Voilà qu'Arto Paasilinna récupère la sorcière, l'empoisonneuse aux mixtures verdâtres et mortelles, aux chaudrons bouillonnants de mille langues de crapauds et de venins de vipères. Linnea a show more traversé l'histoire cahin-caha, au bras d'un colonel qui n'exerça pas toujours ses talents militaires dans le bon camp. L'Histoire jugera. Elle a en tout cas laissé saine et sauve la vieille femme à l'abri d'une maisonnette confortable, se suffisant d'une maigre pension pour vivre ses vieux jours et nourrir son chat. L'attente de la mort n'aurait alors rien d'effrayant si la vieille femme n'était dépossédée d'une partie de ses ressources par un neveu turbulent et cruel qui, nanti de deux compères, vient exercer sur elle un siège que la jeunesse, dans son impunité grossière, rend bête et sadique. Les extrémités n'offrent parfois que le choix de la rébellion. Linnea fuit donc pour la ville, retrouve l'attention chaleureuse de l'un de ses anciens amants, non sans dénoncer à la police locale l'attitude criminelle du funeste trio. Un trio qui, une fois sorti d'affaire, n'a plus qu'une seule obsession : la vengeance. Les personnages d'Arto Paasilinna ne sont, malgré les situations comiques et la grande loufoquerie du récit, jamais innocents. Ils sont comme la vie. Pleins de défauts, de mauvaises pensées, d'envies. Et même si l'écrivain finlandais, en oubliant les escapades dans les territoires glacés de son pays natal qui firent son succès, perd quelques plumes dans l'évocation des aventures urbaines d'une vieille femme revêche, c'est avec beaucoup de plaisir qu'on se laissera tenter par ce roman d'une rare drôlerie qui dissimule derrière une histoire rocambolesque quelques vérités aussi frappantes qu'une vodka glacée. --Hector Chavez show less

A classic, if slightly tongue-in-cheek, novel of rebellion against the conformity of organised society. A Helsinki journalist discovers the hollowness of the urban life he’s been leading when he gets the chance to bond with a wild animal, and he spends a mad but very fulfilling year getting back to nature. In the course of which he gets drunk numerous times (this is Finland, after all) and manages to commit no fewer than 22 crimes against the laws of bourgeois society, culminating in an show more unauthorised expedition into the Soviet Union. Some hard-hitting satirical points, an upbeat message about the power of expressing your individuality, and some endearing animal moments. What’s not to like?

The English translation, by the veteran poet and prolific Finnish translator Herbert Lomas (an unusual example of a translation being done by someone a generation older than the author) sometimes feels a little awkward, largely because of the way Lomas has translated the author’s informal language with 1940s-vintage British military slang. show less

Running after hares might change your life

I’ve enjoyed other books by Arto Paasilinna, but it’s been a while. This read was not part of the plan. I shouldn’t be surprised, when was “plan” part of any Paasilinna book?

Vatanen is a journalist who hates his job, hates his marriage, hates his life. Then one day he runs into a forest chasing a hare. The poor creature has been hit by car Vatanen was in… The man and the hare adopt each other and never look back. They travel all over show more Finland, jumping from one crazy situation into an even crazier one. I laughed in disbelief quite a few times! Vatanen meets conspiracy theorists, moonshine makers, crazy bulldozer drivers, foreign diplomats… On and on it goes. My favourite chapter was probably the one with the priest 😉

The ending felt abrupt, but I think it was the only way to finish this picaresque story.

It’s a pity this was an audiobook! I didn’t like the narrator at all. (Don’t take my word for it, though, this being my ca fourth audiobook ever.) The voice was so distracting, it kept pulling me out of the book. 1.5 speed worked wonders once I realized I could do that!

I had fun, just not as much fun as I expected. I have no way of knowing if the audiobook is to blame. show less