A little light reading

mossman · Post by **mossman** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 11:06 pm

Had this little gem tucked in my stocking at Christmas, " On the border " (ISBN 1 85754 242 )
A collection of new writing from Finland ( OK published in 1995 ), sympathetically translated into English and edited by Hildi Hawkins and Soila Lehtonen, if you have a chance to get a copy do, the short stories, poems and articles ring true to my experiences of the people and places, strangely one of the authors is a naturalised Finn ( English by birth ) Neil Hardwick whose pieces written in Finnish then translated back for this edition come as a bit of an eye opener, though I suspect written very much tongue in cheek.
It' ll while away an hour or two and makes a fascinating read.

**Sponsor:**

carolinemaher · Post by **carolinemaher** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 4:55 pm

Thanks, sounds worth a look, I'm always interested in figuring out what goes on in the minds of Finns

Bubba Elvis XIV · Post by **Bubba Elvis XIV** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 7:37 pm

mossman wrote:Had this little gem tucked in my stocking at Christmas, " On the border " (ISBN 1 85754 242 )
A collection of new writing from Finland ( OK published in 1995 ), sympathetically translated into English and edited by Hildi Hawkins and Soila Lehtonen, if you have a chance to get a copy do, the short stories, poems and articles ring true to my experiences of the people and places, strangely one of the authors is a naturalised Finn ( English by birth ) Neil Hardwick whose pieces written in Finnish then translated back for this edition come as a bit of an eye opener, though I suspect written very much tongue in cheek.
It' ll while away an hour or two and makes a fascinating read.

I'm not a fan of Hardwick but I read one his books when I first came here...I was bored and grabbed it from t'office cos it was in English. He did say some interesting things and at the time it was nice to read something and think "Yeah....they do though, don't they though"...

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 9:00 pm

By the way, if you didn't know already, just for info... the quarterly magazine "Books from Finland" is going on-line very soon. The printed version is no more (in print for 42 years). The new website is not yet up and running but I think there are archives on-line already and the new site should be available very soon:

www.booksfromfinland.fi

On our new internet pages you will be able to continue reading, free of charge, translations of Finnish literature comtemporary and classic, features, articles, news and reviews, interviews - and much more.

The last printed copy had translations of short stories by Daniel Katz "The love of the Berber lion" and Maritta Lintunen "The Canada Goose", also an interview with Monika Fagerholm and extracts from "Couldn't care less. Writings on nihilism" by Kalle Haatanen translated by Hildi Hawkins. And a nice review by Soila Lehtonen of Minna Sarantola-Weiss' "Reilusta ruskeaa 1970-luvun arkea" (Brown aplenty. Everyday life in the 1970s).

Every quarter there is a list of new translations. Fr'instance... Last quarter only one new translation in English was published (a thriller by Matti Yrjänä Joensuu), while four novels had been translated into Dutch during the same period, two into Hindi, two into Polish and two more into Bulgarian.... etc etc

I thought the print version was great value for money (20€ for an annual subscription, ie 5€ per copy) but the on-line version will be even better, it seems.

mossman · Post by **mossman** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 10:21 pm

Thanks a bundle Penelope, I see that "On the border" is in fact an anthology of the writings from said journal and was unaware that they are going online, will be logging in and taking advantage, somehow reading many of these articles brings home a sense of understanding that I find missing in day to day conversation. Mind you reading Shakespeare doesn't help me with the average English psyche

but then nor does reading Spike Milligan.

enk · Post by **enk** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 10:36 pm

The problem is that the English-speaking markets do not have a market for
translated books. It's pretty pathetic IMO.

But good that BFF is going on-line! I hadn't noticed that

-enk

Bubba Elvis XIV · Post by **Bubba Elvis XIV** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 12:07 am

enk wrote:The problem is that the English-speaking markets do not have a market for
translated books. It's pretty pathetic IMO.

But good that BFF is going on-line! I hadn't noticed that

-enk

Sadly, the same for all art forms. Songs not in English are ignored, films with subtitles aren't wanted (unless you like fancy pants art films from Kazakstan about a young boy whos grandfather helps him fix his bike).

I can understand to some degree about the music and films...but still a bit silly and a worse attitude with translated books. it's still in English and you don't have to strain your eyes reading some text in a black box while the hot foreign bird with hairy armpits derobes.

Speaking of strained eyes....

Ta for the info...

raamv · Post by **raamv** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 12:07 am

interestin..
But seriously... How do you get time to read books!!
I have plenty to read...and want to but really really dont have those few hours to dedicate to read anything..
( be it a management book or a novel..)

in spite of scheduling and manipulating..
I am just not able to find that perfect bit of silence to read some book!!
what about you ?
when do you generally read books? vacation? normally? breakfast?
How often?
where? office, beach ??

Bubba Elvis XIV · Post by **Bubba Elvis XIV** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 2:36 am

Whilst dropping the kids off at the pool.

Cloudberry · Post by **Cloudberry** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 6:17 am

raamv wrote:interestin..
But seriously... How do you get time to read books!!
I have plenty to read...and want to but really really dont have those few hours to dedicate to read anything..
( be it a management book or a novel..) in spite of scheduling and manipulating..
I am just not able to find that perfect bit of silence to read some book!!
what about you ?
when do you generally read books? vacation? normally? breakfast?
How often?
where? office, beach ??

I try and get to bed an hour or so before I want to sleep so that I can read. That reading ranges from the newspaper through to fiction and non fiction books. At the moment I'm reading The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna but would like to read more from Finnish writers. I love the cultural insight you get from reading translated works.

Years ago (when I was about 20) I had a boring job (legal secretary for a small legal firm in the 'burbs) and would stash my reading materials in a disused drawer by my desk. In the quiet times I'd just turn my chair and read magazines and books straight from the drawer. When my boss would return to the office I'd just close the drawer making it look like I was just retrieving a stationery item from there

You just have to be creative

Finland Forum

Find information about moving to, living in and life in Finland