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A review by markhoh
Snow Angels by James Thompson
4.0
James Thompson’s Snow Angels took me to the depths of the Finnish Kaamos - that period of time during December and January in the northern Arctic parts of Finland where the sun doesn’t rise and there are only a few hours of light in a 24 hour period. Thompson paints the bleakest of pictures of this phenomenon both physically and emotionally, taking me deeply into the psyche of a northern Finnish winter.
Snow Angels is anything but an angelic story and the multiple crimes that take place are gruesome and graphic, congruent with the winter landscape.
Thompson portrays the sense of a deeply depressive seasonal period that somehow gets inside the inhabitants of this part of the world. I found this portrayal quite tangible.
Kari Vaara is the chief character of this book and a number of subsequent books. He is local to the area and Thompson portrays him as a very Finnish man. I actually had no idea what that really meant however, I’m led to imagine a Finnish man as a serious and stoically private kind of man who is not prone to emotional sharing or connection. Somehow that fit the landscape as well.
Despite the gruesome and depressive nature of this story I thoroughly enjoyed it. I connected with Kari and felt a sense of authenticity resonating out of him. I’m keen to get to know him more.
Sadly it seems that James Thompson passed away unexpectedly in 2014..
Snow Angels is anything but an angelic story and the multiple crimes that take place are gruesome and graphic, congruent with the winter landscape.
Thompson portrays the sense of a deeply depressive seasonal period that somehow gets inside the inhabitants of this part of the world. I found this portrayal quite tangible.
Kari Vaara is the chief character of this book and a number of subsequent books. He is local to the area and Thompson portrays him as a very Finnish man. I actually had no idea what that really meant however, I’m led to imagine a Finnish man as a serious and stoically private kind of man who is not prone to emotional sharing or connection. Somehow that fit the landscape as well.
Despite the gruesome and depressive nature of this story I thoroughly enjoyed it. I connected with Kari and felt a sense of authenticity resonating out of him. I’m keen to get to know him more.
Sadly it seems that James Thompson passed away unexpectedly in 2014..