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bluestarfish's review against another edition
5.0
Before reading this book I was struggling to see how a book with this title and an author called Niemi could be a Swedish book, but it is a novel about growing up in a town called Pajala near the Finnish border so it makes sense to me now... Matti and Niila are growing up in the mid 60s in a small town in the back of beyond. This autobiography from Matti's point of view sheds light on that and this area of Sweden where people speak Swedish and Finnish with accents and don't quite belong anywhere. As an aside the Tornedalen Finnish (meänkieli) was super interesting to read and I'm glad that was left in the translation.
The chapters are rather episodic moments in the life of the boys. It's dark in places, hilarious in others, and all permeated by the slightly unreliable narrator's voice looking back at his childhood in a time when the world was changing around him. The Beatles on vinyl find there way all the way up north bringing fresh opportunities to the boys among the more traditional saunas, air rifle wars, home-brew drinking competitions, and ice hockey games. "Ollyu nidis lav" as the Beatles sing. Poignant, funny, eye-opening, gruesome mouse mass-murdering...glad I came across this interesting novel.
The chapters are rather episodic moments in the life of the boys. It's dark in places, hilarious in others, and all permeated by the slightly unreliable narrator's voice looking back at his childhood in a time when the world was changing around him. The Beatles on vinyl find there way all the way up north bringing fresh opportunities to the boys among the more traditional saunas, air rifle wars, home-brew drinking competitions, and ice hockey games. "Ollyu nidis lav" as the Beatles sing. Poignant, funny, eye-opening, gruesome mouse mass-murdering...glad I came across this interesting novel.
moav's review
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
zzrozi's review against another edition
3.75
hit or miss basically short stories, disliked the very magical realism ones where you had no idea what happened but absolutely adored the ones with macha skandinavian man competing who's tougher, it was hilarious
colorfulleo92's review against another edition
4.0
This is the type of book I've seen around for so long that I thought I've already read it. I hadn't of course and this was a great treat to read. An quick and engaging book that i could've read it one sitting if it weren't for me to always have multiple books on the go.
lilyevangeline's review against another edition
3.0
A fine coming of age book, with vivid imagery and an engaging narrator, but not my cup of tea. Still, it was reminiscent of Dandelion Wine at times, and those parts of the books I enjoyed tremendously.
_rusalka's review against another edition
4.0
I distinctly remember starting this book. I was on a plane home from Japan, finally from our sudden month in the UK. They had just turned the lights out after meals and drinks so that people could sleep. It was about 12am at night Japanese time, so 1am Aussie time. I was already feeling self conscious as my light was on, but Lexx and my brother were on either side of me. Lexx had taken a sleeping tablet and my brother still hadn't got the hang of sleeping on planes. And I was desperately trying not to piss myself laughing at this book.
This book isn't really a book of short stories, but it kind of is. It's probably better described as a collection of vignettes of the author's childhood. How many of them are true? God knows. He probably doesn't know entirely himself. This is what is the most gripping part of this book. It tells stories of his childhood growing up on the far northern border of Sweden and Finland above the Arctic Circle, where they speak their own language which isn't quiet Swedish, but not quite Finnish, and considered a bastard kind of area by both Finland and Sweden. With all this in the background, he tells you these stories as absolute truths that just sort of get carried away on a child's imagination until they are fantastical in nature and far too big to be true. But you can imagine little Mikael swearing black and blue that's exactly what happened.
This element diminishes slightly as he gets older, and the fantastic, almost magical realism of the book settles back into a more measured reality. But was it is replaced by is a humour and a heartbreaking assessment of the reality of the town that only teenagers can really give.
That's the thing that sucks you in really. It's the brutal honesty of this book. Whether it's him telling you a story at 5 or 15 or 25. You believe his complete sincerity. In a world that undervalues honestly so much, this is a very rare gift.
For more reviews visit http://rusalkii.blogspot.com.au/
This book isn't really a book of short stories, but it kind of is. It's probably better described as a collection of vignettes of the author's childhood. How many of them are true? God knows. He probably doesn't know entirely himself. This is what is the most gripping part of this book. It tells stories of his childhood growing up on the far northern border of Sweden and Finland above the Arctic Circle, where they speak their own language which isn't quiet Swedish, but not quite Finnish, and considered a bastard kind of area by both Finland and Sweden. With all this in the background, he tells you these stories as absolute truths that just sort of get carried away on a child's imagination until they are fantastical in nature and far too big to be true. But you can imagine little Mikael swearing black and blue that's exactly what happened.
This element diminishes slightly as he gets older, and the fantastic, almost magical realism of the book settles back into a more measured reality. But was it is replaced by is a humour and a heartbreaking assessment of the reality of the town that only teenagers can really give.
That's the thing that sucks you in really. It's the brutal honesty of this book. Whether it's him telling you a story at 5 or 15 or 25. You believe his complete sincerity. In a world that undervalues honestly so much, this is a very rare gift.
For more reviews visit http://rusalkii.blogspot.com.au/
birgertheburg's review
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
minnavirtanen's review against another edition
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
elitororo's review against another edition
3.0
It was entertaining I'll give it that
The writing was good and I liked the difference between reality and fantasy.
The writing was good and I liked the difference between reality and fantasy.