Orenda Books Tour: The Burning Stones by Antti Tuomainen translated by David Hackston

It´s no secret my admiration for everything Orenda Books publishes, but some authors are more equal that the others on my reading cards. Like Antti Tuomainen, whose Rabbit Trilogy always bring smile on my face, every time I remember about the characters and the dark humour. 

And...surprise, Tuomainen is back, with a fresh thriller set in a sauna with an inspiring name: Steam Devil. The Burning Stones, translated from Finnish by David Hackston, is smart, with hilarious yet very complex and thoughtful character and a sauna to die for. Sauna, a national treasure in Finland, which explain its vital role in the story. 

As the new boss of a new sauna company is literally burned to death because someone turned up the temperature - what a genius premise for a crime novel - the police is trying to figure out who the culprit is. And, especially, what motivated him or her to such a dramatic decision. And for the police, and not only, a name sounds like a possible solution: an employee of the company, Anni Korpinen. As the list o suspects may dangerously lead to her name, Anni is forced to find out soonner than the police who and why is actually behind the crime.

It´s a delightful intelligence story which is very atmospheric, as it creates the right Finnish ambiance allowing the reader to fully immerse in the environment. And, as usual in Tuomainen books, there is more to the story than the dark humour, but through this hilarious door there is so much to discover about human nature and its motivation.

A recommended read to any smart reader of crime stories.

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Random Things Tours: The Moose Paradox by Antti Tuomainen, translated by David Hackston

The hilarious The Rabbit Factor series continue with a new installment featuring the irresistible insurance mathematician Henri Koskinen. Out on 27th of October at Orenda Books, one of my top favorite edition houses, The Moose Paradox by Antti Tuomainen translated from Finnish by David Hackston is hard to put down as both well written (and translated), entertaining and suspenseful. Seriously, think about the title: the majestic The Moose Paradox! It rhymes with the carefully introspective voice of Henri but goes far away from a simple game of words. 

Indeed, it is a paradox why Toy of Finland may refuse to deliver to YouMeFun adventure park - the adventure park Henri work hard to build since we parted ways with him at the end of The Rabbit Factor - the beloved Moose Chute and is keen to offer instead the Crocodile Canyon. 

Therefore, there is definitely a lot of action taking place, and there is also the love story of Henri and Laura that deserves some fresh take since the previous book. Maybe reading The Rabbit Factor before The Moose...is not necessary but some extra laughing sessions are more than welcomed, especially now when the cold weather threaten to cut all the fun in our lives. 

Although Henri seems lost sometimes in the realm of cumulative conjectures and he seems to be followed - intellectually, of course, this is not a ghost story - by Schopenhauer, he still remains an outstanding planner, trying to figure out the details of a successful business endeavour.

The story is well coordinated both through the actions, the suspenseful twitches and hilarious moves. Definitely, Tuomainen´s writing may make you laugh to tears, but he is a serious writer with an organised mind, setting a plan as carefully calculated as any mathematical planning created by Henry Koskinen.

The Moose Paradox is definitely one of the most humorous books I´ve read in a while and I can´t wait to read, hopefully soon, the last installment of the trilogy. Although, saying ´good bye´ to such a cast of characters may not be easy at all.

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Random Things Tours: The Beaver Theory by Antti Tuomainen translated by David Hackston

With sadness in my heart, I am writing to announce the passionate readers of The Rabbit Factor Trilogy by Finnish Noir King Antti Tuomainen that with The Beaver Theory, the series ends - predictable, as it was planned as a three-part series. Translated from Finnish into English by David Hackston and published by Orenda Books, the books offers the perfect ´good bye´ to my favorite mathematician character, Henri.

Henri, a lover of order and clearly cut future plans, is thrown far away from his comfort zone and turned not only into a manager of an adventure park - YouMeFun - a family father soon turned into a member of a ´Dads Gang´ and a detective by the force of events. The book, as the other installments continue the same comic thriller turn, unique style for both the thriller and the comic genre, but a lovely meeting of intelligence and laugh. 

Expect bodies, as per the description of a serious thriller, but the takes may make you laugh to tears. At least I did, and I am not the one to be too faint of heart. Exceptionally, Tuomainen manages perfectly the long cast, bringing in and out of the story, a various - sometimes funny, sometimes scary - selection of characters. 

Soon to be a motion ficture, The Rabbit Trilogy was worth the ride and the laughs, and I hope that Tuomainen will continue enchanting the big fans of this style, bringing more and more funny thrilling stories and their actors into the literary world.

Rating: 5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Book Review: Bolla by Pajtim Statovci translated by David Hackston

Finnish-kosovan novelist Pajtim Statovci created in Bolla, translated from Finnish by David Hackston, one of the most interesting queer love story I ever read set in the former Yugoslav realm. Native speakers of the local languages may counter my words, but I can only wish more books are translated into English or German or French or any other language. Sometimes I am longing for books set in those worlds I used to know so intimately many years ago, and the former Yugoslav is one of them. 

Statovci was born in Kosovo but because of the war refugiated in Finnland with his family when he was only two. Bolla - named for a legend of a mythological beast, the result of an union between a snake and God´s daughter; in fact, there are many details about this legend that I would probably research more into detail in the next weeks as I am not sure I always grasped the details of the association with the story - is an impossible, underground gay story between a Serbian medical student called Miloš and Arsim, a young Albanian, in a loveless marriage with Ajshe. 

The two of them meet at the University of Prishtina, at a time when the ethnically-fuelled conflict between Serbian and Albanians was at its peak. The relationship and generally the interaction between the two is a poetic pretext to create a lyrical narrative about love and loss, compromise and secrecy for the sake of both personal and social survival. There is not only love, but there is hate, there is not only hate, but also a sparkle of humanity, there is not only hope, but also compromise; a wide range of feelings caught into a beautiful prose which overcomes the political limitations and the outbreak of the ethnic conflict. It makes your suffer and be outraged for the absurdity of the world we live in sometimes, the cruelty and the rootless curse some may carry with them. 

Particularly the dream-like fragments are both very visually and emotionally strong, a poem to the value of dreams, both as a blessing and a curse. Indeed, the dreams may send warnings, but what a suffering to know that you should go through that pain and suffering we are warned about.

For Bolla, Statovci, the author of another book I do have on my TBR for a little while, My Cat Yugoslavia, was awarded in 2019 Finlandia Award, the country´s most important literary award.  

Rating: 4 stars

Orenda Books Book Tour: The Winter Job by Antti Tuomainen translated by David Hackston

Recently divorced and broken, postman Ilmari made a promise to his daughter to buy her a piano for Christmas. Six days to go, a promise and no money. But a promise is a promise and as he got a last minute offer to transport a luxurious sofa from Helsinki, he may be finally courtship by luck. Until he - and his long lost school friend who unexpectedly joined his adventure - noticed being followed by some guys with no sense of humour and guns. And the sofa may hide some unexpected bloody secrets - literally.

Antti Tuomainen´s The Winter Job translated from Finnish by David Hackston and published by Orenda Books is a tragi-comical noir fully packed ´on the road´ novel - with a sofa. The book abunds in very specific details describing places and characters, from the spots on their shirts to the games of the Finnish geography. It helps the reader to imagine the described situations and characters in the most relatable way. This is one of the greatest merits of the translation who convened this sense of reality from one language to another.

Now you laugh out hard, few pages later you are thinking deep about the meaning of some philosophical exchange of the characters, while trying to escape their followers. A thriller that will make you laugh to tears, with common characters brought by fate in the most incredible situations. 

The Cold War-related references - the action of the book takes place at the beginning of the 1980s - were also relevant for my political science interests, as it shows at what extent geopolitical events affect the everyday life of average people.

The Winter Job is a recommended read if you are looking for a thriller pushing the literary limits of the genre in a humorous way never tried it before. I can easily see a movie inspired by this book. 

Rating: 4 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own

Random Things Tours: The Rabbit Factor by Antti Tuomainen (translated by David Hackston)

 

If spontaneously asked what I know about Finnish literature, I will modestly have two simple answers: The Mumins and Mika Waltari whose The Egyptian was a summer long topic of discussion with a bookish friend of mine who was fascinated by this author (me, partially, but I was in my first university year and was less patient with literature, being more interested in nonfiction, political theories and philosophy). But there is definitely much more on this, and only the lack of translations should be the reason why Finnland is so under represented in the literary realm nowadays. Plus, you don´t only hear about books translated from Finnish, but there are rare mentions about writers and styles and not even children books by Finnish authors.

The truth is that Finnish does not sound so far away from home for me, but only my laziness does. As a once fluent speaker of Hungarian that, again, only my laziness limited over years my vocabulary to just a couple of very basic words, it would have been a great start for learning the language. Yes, I am aware that the two languages are different, but as part of the Finno-Ugric family, there are at least some patterns and words that may be similar, enough to encourage me to abandon my procrastination and gain a new language - a new life, as they say - that may help me discover this neglected European literature. 

But there is a Gd of lazy language learners who made possible the meeting between original books and translators. This match made in the bookish Heaven, for me, was David Hackston (who also translated, among others, My Cat Yugoslavia) whose translation of The Rabbit Factor by Antti Tuomainen published by Orenda Books brought to my attention an author and a book, but what a book, which stands out of all the boxes. You know, those wonder boxes opening up by slightly touching the bottom, hard enough to generate a pressure for opening up the lid at the most unexpected moment in time. A pop-up rabbit box. 

´I resigned because I couldn´t stand watching my workplace turn into a playground. Then I inherited one´.

Henri Koskinen is a passionate mathematician working at an insurance company. As he does not want to comply with the happy hippy attitude of his boss - ´I cannot be part of a team whose highest ambition is going on a sushi-making weekend´ -, he is offered no other option but to leave. But that´s all for the good, as the same day, he found out that he inherited an amusemenet park, YouMeFun, left by his brother who unexpectedly died. But with the fun comes the responsibility as his estranged brother left behind impressive debts that he should pay it with no delay otherwise...it´s not sure what exactly will happen, but be ready for the worse.

If you still haven´t start laughing, maybe you need more tickle but actually those events are taking place at the very beginning of the story. What will follow is one episode after another of amazement, merriment, corpses in the fridge, some local Finnish mafia guys with a basic vocabulary of Italian for Mafia professionals. There is also a cat called Schopenhauer, a giant rabbit places at the entrance to the park, which may hide something as well, and Laura Helanto, which adds a bit of love to this crazy story.

A story which has tons of humour and many thriller twists and also romance. Isn´t it lovely to not be capable of labelling a book in a way or another? And if the book is not enough, there will be a motion picture soon, starring Steve Carell. 

Besides the hilarious situations and humorous yet very smart twists of what otherwise is a very serious thriller, the fast pace, whose details seems to be mathematically crafted, creates spectacular visual effects. While reading it, at a very fast pace because was very curious to know what happens next and then next and then next, I had the feeling that every single installment of the story has its place and its logic and everything closes up elegantly until the end. After all the Merry-Go-Round and Rollercoasting, the ending may sound a bit too relaxed and very unexpected, at least for me, but it makes sense and it has its place in the logic of the story unfolding. 

As for the characters, Henri Koskinen is my favorite, not only because he is a mathematician - I have a weakness for mathematicians, I may confess publicly - but also because he seems so real and complex and with a mind of his own. The other characters in the book are also lively and interesting and there is a good balance and diversity of personalities in the book. 

Hopefully, I will read soon another one of Tuomainen´s books, but first and foremost, can´t wait to watch The Rabbit Factor, the movie.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour, but the opinions are, as usual, my own