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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
This has been languishing on my shelves ever since I started working in the bookshop. I bought it as it was one of the recommended books in part of the initial training, an exemplar, but at the time I was still reading a relatively narrow range of genres.
I got the opportunity to throw it in my suitcase when we took a trip up to Edinburgh as it felt like it could be the perfect train read.
An episodic travelogue where we follow the journalist Vatanen as he sloughs his past and takes on a new future for himself to deal with his bone weary disappointment with his job, wife and life in general.
Each episode seems to be a completely random development from the previous interlude, and that’s exactly what each chapter feels like, an interlude as the new Vatanen is developing with the aid of the hare that he found at the start of the book. Each chapter has its own internal coherency but adds to the whole, eventually.
The story eventually turns back on itself to a brilliant conclusion, well-written and thoughtfully translated.
This isn’t the first book translated from Finnish that I’ve read and both have had that same sort of dry but very intricate use of humour which is really my taste, loved it!
I got the opportunity to throw it in my suitcase when we took a trip up to Edinburgh as it felt like it could be the perfect train read.
An episodic travelogue where we follow the journalist Vatanen as he sloughs his past and takes on a new future for himself to deal with his bone weary disappointment with his job, wife and life in general.
Each episode seems to be a completely random development from the previous interlude, and that’s exactly what each chapter feels like, an interlude as the new Vatanen is developing with the aid of the hare that he found at the start of the book. Each chapter has its own internal coherency but adds to the whole, eventually.
The story eventually turns back on itself to a brilliant conclusion, well-written and thoughtfully translated.
This isn’t the first book translated from Finnish that I’ve read and both have had that same sort of dry but very intricate use of humour which is really my taste, loved it!
adventurous
funny
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Sonaba muy interesante la premisa :c
Pero no me gustó nada más que el detalle de mencionar todo el tiempo dónde y cómo estaba la liebre
Pero no me gustó nada más que el detalle de mencionar todo el tiempo dónde y cómo estaba la liebre
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Got this as an audible deal, and I've been on a bit of run of Scandinavian authors. But a little slow moving and frankly boring after a while. I like the idea of leaving it all behind, but going off with a rabbit? Weird.
adventurous
Never sure where it was going next, started out slow paced but still captured my attention. What a crazy and fun ending. Vatanen transformed; interesting character!
adventurous
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Very simply written, the story of journo Vatanen and the leveret he saves then adopts (and abandons his unhappy marriage to go traveling with) could almost be a children's story, if not for the adult frame of reference. Through a series of amusing episodes with eccentric characters - including a gun-toting pastor and a former police superintendent with a singular conspiracy theory - we get an introduction to different aspects of Finnish life and the Finnish mindset.
The Year of the Hare is filled with a dry sense of humour and farcical scenes, but it is also a rallying cry for a simpler way of life. It's an unpretentious Walden for our time.
Perhaps the most poignant point the author makes is on the violence man does to nature. Even a man like Vatanen who purports to love the wild still deals brutally with animals that he feels have wronged him. Though he has left behind the world of man, he brings that world with him wherever he goes - sometimes to the detriment of nature.
Mostly, though, the author doesn't bother to dig too deeply into any of the glancing points about modern life that he makes. This is just a diverting story of a man and his hare, hopping off on a jaunt into the wild.
The Year of the Hare is filled with a dry sense of humour and farcical scenes, but it is also a rallying cry for a simpler way of life. It's an unpretentious Walden for our time.
Perhaps the most poignant point the author makes is on the violence man does to nature. Even a man like Vatanen who purports to love the wild still deals brutally with animals that he feels have wronged him. Though he has left behind the world of man, he brings that world with him wherever he goes - sometimes to the detriment of nature.
Mostly, though, the author doesn't bother to dig too deeply into any of the glancing points about modern life that he makes. This is just a diverting story of a man and his hare, hopping off on a jaunt into the wild.
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
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:
Complicated
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No