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3.47 AVERAGE
3.47 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Sympa mais pas super bien exploité, le ton est trop impersonnel et les chapitres trop succincts se succèdent trop rapidement tout en paraissant trop longs.
An interesting book - not at all what i expected. It seems very much of a different time, but the idea of leaving the world behind to start afresh - that was an interesting idea and a unique way that it went.
I'm very familiar with the whole drop everything and change your life theme having done it a couple times myself, although I've never managed to get in quite as much trouble as Vatanen. I loved this little book - Scandinavian lit is really starting to grow on me!
Written in 1975, translated to English in the mid-'90s. A series of accidents and ramblings. If you need a story to go in a straight line, skip this one. If you are up for the adventure, go for it! You must also be willing to let your lack of Finnish politics go over your head. Enjoy!
A charming if inconsequential book about a man who decides to walk out on his life and start over again. Told largely in vignettes, The Year of the Hare describes a year in the life of Vatanen, a journalist who has been unhappy in his job and relationship for a long time. When his car strikes a hare while out on assignment a few hours from home, Vatanen follows the injured hare into the woods, nurses it back to health, and makes it his constant companion as he wanders farther and farther from his life in Helsinki and into the northernmost parts of Finland. They stumble into all kinds of adventures, frequently unpleasant, and rarely Vatanen's fault, but he is at peace through it all, having "found himself" by leaving the city for nature.
I have to complain here, though, about the horrible translation job in the English edition of this book. While I realize it's possible that the original Finnish was this stilted and the translator was just being true to the text, I suspect that's not the case. The translator generally chooses very mundane English - short words and choppy sentences - but occasionally we get pretty obscure words thrown in, like his repeated use of "leveret" as an alternative word for "hare," and this gem of a sentence:
(Though I do have to admit "nous" is a pretty entertaining alternative for the gendered language that a native speaker would probably have chosen for that sentence.)
Overall, a charming enough story, but it makes me wish I knew Finnish so I could read it in the author's own voice. I'm not sure I can really recommend this English version very highly.
I have to complain here, though, about the horrible translation job in the English edition of this book. While I realize it's possible that the original Finnish was this stilted and the translator was just being true to the text, I suspect that's not the case. The translator generally chooses very mundane English - short words and choppy sentences - but occasionally we get pretty obscure words thrown in, like his repeated use of "leveret" as an alternative word for "hare," and this gem of a sentence:
Anyone could live this life, he reflected, provided they had the nous to give up the other way of life.
(Though I do have to admit "nous" is a pretty entertaining alternative for the gendered language that a native speaker would probably have chosen for that sentence.)
Overall, a charming enough story, but it makes me wish I knew Finnish so I could read it in the author's own voice. I'm not sure I can really recommend this English version very highly.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Alcoholism, Violence, Alcohol
started out pretty fun but got a little much later on
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
What happens when you step off of Life's Treadmill?