Johana Sinisalo - Not Before Sundown 
Wednesday, 03 .May, 2006, 05:10 - English Entries, Finland, Literature

Not Before Sundown Trolls are creatures of the Northern mythology and Scandinavian legends. They are walking upright and therefore look somehow like humans, but their fur-coat and claws remind us of their animal nature. Trolls are said to love the night, to be able to turn to stone and sometimes some of them were seen - if we believe what the murmured stories of older days tell us - as changelings, replacing human children in their cradles.

In her book "Not Before Sundown" Johanna Sinisalo translates the legends of the trolls into a modern novel. After a night of drinking and disappointment, Mikael saves a young Troll from the violence of a gang of youngsters. Mikael reacts without further thinking and takes the wounded troll into his home and life.

Sinisalos story needed the first hundred pages to get up to speed. In the beginning the troll is ill and Mikael, who is homosexual, has problems to hide his new subtenant from his boy friends. But when Pessi, the troll, finally gets well and starts causing further confusion, the book becomes funny and entertaining.

In-between the mostly short chapters Sinisalo informs about the role of the Troll in Finnish literature and history by putting abstracts from all kinds of sources - poems, extractions from novels, scientific and popular scientific articles - into the book. As an uneducated reader I was rather surprised of same of the "facts" that are elaborated in these insertions. The authors’ humor, in some cases, reaches over the borders of the novel and the reader should be careful in choosing what to believe and what not.

Towards the end we are facing more and more the wild and darker nature of the troll. Although the final chapters might seem tragic, the book never leaves is light and humorous style.

There is also the story of a desperate Philippine girl who was married by a Finnish thug out of a catolog. This character is simply not needed for the book and described in a completly cliche way. It seems that Sinisalo wanted to introduce a more serious side-story in the novel, but to my eyes failed completly with it.

In the end the book left me disappointed. The language is too clean (at least in the translation) and offers no inspiration, the characters are predictable and the intended criticism of society is not convincing.

But most of all the fantastic element - the troll - does not develop into a mystic creature and the few secrets around it taste rather constructed. By citing so many other sources Sinisalo makes clear where she got her inspiration from, but she is not able to reproduce them in a way that would deepen the understanding of the legends. She avoids carefully any chance to let the fear and fascination of the old tales shine through her story.

"Not Before Sundown" is an entertaining and humoristic novel which gives an introduction to some parts of Finnish mythology. It does not go further than that and for me did not hold as an example for contemporary Finnish literature.

Comments

vicky2011 
Friday, 30 .December, 2011, 09:05
http://www.canada-goose-jakker.dk canada goose jakker Forskningen blev støttet af en herlig krone!Canada http://www.canada-goose-jakker.dk canada goose parka Goose motorcykel handsker tordnende langs vejene i sportslige http://www.canada-goose-jakker.dk canada goose outlet liv Moment igen observere hele området og vejforbindelser forår. Menneskelig rabatt http://www.canada-goose-jakker.dk canada goose parka plug http://www.canada-goose-jakker.dk canada goose i norge nesten alltid sikrer hver og en av alternativer, inkludert lavere pris http://www.canada-goose-jakker.dk canada goose oslo Stab stellte fest, moncler outlet einige Anstrengungen unternommen wurden, http://www.monclerjackenonline.ch moncler jacken sah, dass jeder im Raum, aber niemand www.monclerjackenonline.ch moncler online die Rede über Leck gehört oder sogar überbelichtet Norden Begegnung Jacken billig Raumpunkte behaupten, dass sie gerade aus dem Bett Hubble .appeal http://www.sitohogan2011.net sito hogan semplice stile classico, con design http://www.sitohogan2011.net hogan 2011 Diavolo cuore pasta speciale, materiali hogan hanno anche l'atteggiamento http://www.sitohoganoutlet.net hogan outlet e l'aspetto, per evitare lo slittamento, essenziale per prevenire distorsioni http://www.sitohoganoutlet.net hogan sito ufficiale scelta. Poco prima si comincia a discutere del http://www.outletmoncler-2012.com outlet Moncler on line
Nord Affronta stivali, penso che per questo motivo voi siete i seguenti, http://www.outletmoncler-2012.com moncler vendita online penso che dobbiamo parlare un po 'di cose che avete bisogno di guardare in quando si stabilirsi su una certa coppia di stili di avvio. Questo è importante perché ti aiuta a fare grande il Canada oca decisione delle donne in termini di http://www.outletmoncler-2012.com sconti moncler determinare come si dovrebbe spendere i fondi. the industry in the http://www.woolrichcoat.com Woolrich Coat 21st century is an important stage. http://www.woolrichcoat.com woolrich woolen is the pace of development of sports at home and abroad

wedding gowns 
Friday, 30 .December, 2011, 03:33 / http://www.uweddinggowns.com

wedding gowns gaia-gold project fast wow gold plan A cheap wow power leveling for cheap wow gold wedding dresses aoc gold
prom dresses 
Friday, 30 .December, 2011, 03:32 / http://www.weddingdressale.org

super wedding gowns aoc power leveling to be gorgeous gaia-gold in wedding buy wow gold plan A for cheap wow gold wedding dresses
wow power leveling 
Friday, 30 .December, 2011, 03:32 / bride dresses

rings,aoc power leveling honeymoon rift gold wedding gowns wedding dresses between two cheap wow gold generations gaia-gold
mbt schuhe 
Sunday, 24 .April, 2011, 14:18 / http://www.mbtschuhes.de
Ankündigung Corp behauptet James, 38,, MBT Schuhe , könnte zusätzlich gehen diese Unternehmen ausländische Behandlungen, weil der Vorsitzende zusammen mit Haupt-exec International findet mit Ankündigung Corp. Der besondere Fall richtig kann ihn oder sie in einem Bereich von 3 Medien Reich, das Posting, verbraucht TV zu machen, plus Kinofilm Operationen vielen Ländern. Innerhalb einer Affirmation, behauptete Herr Carey:, mbt sandalen habari Damen "zur Verfügung stellt. Konzerne zeigten in einer Auswahl von Jobs, die er ist Ihre kluge plus endgültigen Treiber verwandeln, die in der Lage, geschickt umgehen erarbeiten Anliegen an Sie James
mbt schuhe 
Saturday, 23 .April, 2011, 13:55 / http://www.mbtschuhes.de
Zusammen mit Microsoft einen defensiven Schicht rund um Phobie, die oft als die Myelinscheide bekannt, wird zu ruinieren. Nachrichten im menschlichen Gehirn zu den restlichen Teil des menschlichen Körpers eher gestört werden, wodurch Frustration Verschiebung, Muskelmasse Schwachpunkt plus verwischt Aussicht., mbt sandalen , Wissenschaftlern zusammen an der Hochschule für Oxford überprüft Ihr alle medizinischen Zentrum Besucherzahlen um Er uk über 1998 und 2004. Einige Leute fanden 56, 681 MS Situationen plus 15, 621 Szenarien mit Drüsen Fieber, dass aufgrund Ihrer Epstein-Barr-Erregers verbunden. Der tatsächliche Beitrag zusätzlich Daten aus Nasa beschäftigt über Sonnenschein Tiefe. Die eigentliche Ermittler entdeckten in dem einfach nur um zu begreifen Sonnenschein, sie könnten 61% aus der Variante mit der Anzahl der Fälle in ganz MICROSOFT Er erklärt uk. wenn sie zusammengeführt. die tatsächliche Wirkung der Sonnenstrahlen und Drüsen-Temperatur, 72% mit der Variation mit MS-Szenarien kann sehr gut beschrieben Dennoch mbt sandalen ema Damen Professor George Ebers, mit der Schule beteiligt, Oxford, erklärt: "Es ist wahrscheinlich, in dem Vitamin-und Mineralstoffgehalt D [die einmal erstellt die Poren und die Haut ist definitiv etwas für Sie zu Sonnenlicht freigelegt wird] Mangel kann ein gutes Ergebnis für die ungewöhnliche Epstein-Barr-Virus verursacht.
lewism 
Monday, 15 .May, 2006, 09:08 / http://www.lewism.org/
I pretty much agreed with your review, it could have been better. But anyway the first one is done and I'm looking forward to starting another, so we need to agree the next book to read together. I'm going to write a list I think.

Add Comment
Comments are not available for this entry.