The Year of the Hare- Arto Paasilinna
In preparation for our upcoming trip to Finland, we decided that it would benefit our family to begin the immersion process by delving into the country’s popular literature. One such work is the novel, The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna which follows the exploits of Kaarlo Vatanen, a journalist with a tacky magazine from Helsinki who labors in a loveless marriage. While on an assignment with his photographer, the hapless (or should we say courageous) Vatanen is in a car that hits a young hare which disappears into the woods. Vatanen jumps out of the car and finds the wounded animal after a lengthy search and is left behind by the agitated photographer. Vatanen, in a move that echoes the inspiring choices of IT office worker hero Peter Gibbons in the American 1990’s cult movie classic, Office Space, then decides to leave his wife and job, and embark on a new adventure roaming the Finnish countryside.
The Year of the Hare, first published in 1975, explores a notion that seems to be held dear to Finnish people: namely, “waking up to one’s limits (and therefore one’s possibilities)” as well as taking advantage of the “liberating” opportunities life can bring as Pico Iyer stated in his foreword. The story is also predominantly based in nature, another place held dear to Finns. It demonstrates a quirky sense of humor as the kind-hearted Vatanen accompanied by his 4-legged sidekick sleeps in barns and the forest, gets shot at by an upset priest, and tries to revive a long-dead patriarch being stored in a barn the night before his funeral. The escapades get progressively more unusual and entertaining as Vatanen travels north culminating in a series of events that include being drafted into a wildfire crew during a forest fire, going on a drunken bender (emerging weeks later with a new fiance) being terrorized by partiers craving sauna, causing a foreign dignitary’s wife to eat hare poop soup, and finally going on an epic bear hunt chasing a locally infamous bear into the USSR.
The Year of the Hare is a quick-paced and absorbing read that did indeed help prepare us for our upcoming visit to Finland; just in unexpected ways. I put the book down a little bemused by the humor and ideas hinted at. Some, like being outdoors and embracing new opportunities, (especially physically demanding ones) and the suspect motives of bureaucrats I can relate to. Others, such as the Finns’ relationship with laws, rules, and the dark side of human nature will need some more consideration. The humor is also expressed differently, although there was enough slapstick and toilet humor to satisfy my English background. After all, we are going to be naked in the sauna with these people very soon…All in all, a very entertaining read. Go buy it.
Spoiler alert for junior readers: the hare lived, so don’t worry.
-Stu