All countries have their own literary classics. I thought that some of you might be interested in getting a list of some Finnish literary classics. I mean, especially those classics that have been translated into English. ;) So, here goes:
1. Kalevala
For us Finns this is the classic of all classics. Kalevala is the Finnish national epic. The Greek have their Iliad and Odyssey, the French have their Song of Roland, us Finns have our Kalevala. It is an epic poem compiled by Elias Lönnrot. He, a doctor and a scolar, made, starting in the 1820s, several trips to Eastern parts of Finland and to Karelia to collect folk poetry which he then compiled into a book. The first version of Kalevala was published in the 1830s. In 1849 a wider collection of 50 poems was published. The 1849 version is the one that is the standard Kalevala today. Wikipedia article about Kalevala has a nice synopsis of the plot & also information about the main characters. Also, the Project Gutenberg site has both the oldest (1888) and the second oldest (1907) (part 1/2 only) full text English translations available on-line for free.
2. Seven Brothers by Aleksis Kivi
This is the first important Finnish language novel. It was first published in 1870. Seven Brothers has been translated into English several times. The first English translation was published in 1929, the latest, by Richard A. Impola, was publsihed in New York in 1991. Aleksis Kivi is considered our national writer. He wrote the novel at a time when literary Finnish was still being developed. Seven Brothers tells the story of, well, seven, rather stubborn, brothers, who come into conflict with their local village community.
3. The Unknown Soldier by Väinö Linna
Linna's first major novel (first published in Finnish in 1954) is a story set in the 1940s. It is a story about the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union told from the viewpoint of a group of ordinary soldiers. As far as I've heard the English translation is unfortunately not very faithful to the original Finnish text.
4. Under the North Star by Väinö Linna
This is a trilogy that follows the life of a family and while doing so tells us about the big picture, the important historical events of the time. The story begins during the Russian rule in Finland, moves through the Finnish Civil War to the years of World War II and beyond. The opening words of the first part of the trilogy (In English"In the beginning there were the marsh, the hoe - and Jussi") is a line that even those Finns that have never read the book recognise. Again, if you want to learn more about the plot and characters, here is an article you might find interesting. Under the North Star was translated by Richard Impola in the beginning of the 2000s.
5. The Egyptian by Mika Waltari
Mika Waltari was perhaps the greatest writer of historical fiction we have ever had in Finland, though he also wrote many contemporary novels. Many of his books have been translated into English. His most celebrated book is The Egyptian (first published in Finnish in 1945). Set in Ancient Egypt, mostly in the reign of pharaoh Akhenaten, The Egyptian tells the story of the royal physician Sinuhe. This is one of my all time favorite novels. In the picture above the book on the left is my own copy of the 1951 Finnish 7th edition (=Sinuhe egyptiläinen) that I got from my grandmother when I was maybe 14 or 15.
It is well past my bedtime now & I still want to read at least a few pages of Summer Will Show before sleep, so I better continue later. Stay tuned for part 2.
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