The Howling Miller by Arto Paasilinna
A [...] novel from Finland’s bestselling literary hero Gunnar Huttunen arrives in North Finland after the war and buys a dilapidated mill. Despite being a decent and hard-working Finn he is also an outsider and an eccentric: prone to mood swings, black depression, high elation, and a general lack of decorum. He puts on performances at the mill for local children at which he specialises in imitating animals and making fun of the village notables.
Everyone loves his brilliant impressions but these feelings soon sour when he starts to howl wildly at night. The villagers reserve most ire for the howling which the local dogs join in delirious chorus. Passionate and outraged by his treatment at the hands of the villagers, it is not long before the accident-prone miller finds that his situation soon spirals out of control. Paasilinna’s riotous book revels in a black, rebellious, deadpan humour. It is also a modern fable about the eternal struggle between freedom and repressive authority. – source unknown
Supporters: Chrissie, Nanda, Karina, Adrian, Valpuri, Alex
#BookClub
(Please contact me if you want to remove your comment.)
⁂
I think I’m going to start writing a few words about the books we’re reading at the book club. Specially when I’m not attending the meetings. Curse you, cold!
I started reading it, got to the nice scene in the middle of the river, skipped to the end, read that, then skimmed a few pages in the middle, resumed with the miller’s arrest and read that up to the end... I wonder what means. I think it means that the book wasn’t tight enough. I felt comfortable skipping large chunks because not much happened and the language was not enticing enough.
– Alex Schroeder 2010-02-24 15:18 UTC