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jae_lou's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
leakaroo's review against another edition
3.5
Omg I REALLY enjoyed the first 75% of the book. It's episodic and lighthearted and was a cute story of a silly man and his hare, with some insight into the Finnish political landscape in the background. I loved the humour and the quirkiness of all the characters. Loved the chapter with the pastor/priest- so weird and fun!!!
Honestly I would've rated this a 4.5 stars if only the greatness of the first three quarters extended to the last part as well. I felt the writing became really choppy and the pacing was weird in the last quarter. The plot kept jumping in odd directions (particularly with Leila- i didn't understand her relevance at all). I also hated that we got a random insert narrator in the last few paragraphs, of a supposed person writing this novel after interviewing Vatanen. Ending kind of ruined what I thought was an amazing story.
Honestly I would've rated this a 4.5 stars if only the greatness of the first three quarters extended to the last part as well. I felt the writing became really choppy and the pacing was weird in the last quarter. The plot kept jumping in odd directions (particularly with Leila- i didn't understand her relevance at all). I also hated that we got a random insert narrator in the last few paragraphs, of a supposed person writing this novel after interviewing Vatanen. Ending kind of ruined what I thought was an amazing story.
_bluelily's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.75
lola_rocha's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
teseo's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
stephen_baird's review against another edition
4.0
This has been languishing on my shelves ever since I started working in the bookshop. I bought it as it was one of the recommended books in part of the initial training, an exemplar, but at the time I was still reading a relatively narrow range of genres.
I got the opportunity to throw it in my suitcase when we took a trip up to Edinburgh as it felt like it could be the perfect train read.
An episodic travelogue where we follow the journalist Vatanen as he sloughs his past and takes on a new future for himself to deal with his bone weary disappointment with his job, wife and life in general.
Each episode seems to be a completely random development from the previous interlude, and that’s exactly what each chapter feels like, an interlude as the new Vatanen is developing with the aid of the hare that he found at the start of the book. Each chapter has its own internal coherency but adds to the whole, eventually.
The story eventually turns back on itself to a brilliant conclusion, well-written and thoughtfully translated.
This isn’t the first book translated from Finnish that I’ve read and both have had that same sort of dry but very intricate use of humour which is really my taste, loved it!
I got the opportunity to throw it in my suitcase when we took a trip up to Edinburgh as it felt like it could be the perfect train read.
An episodic travelogue where we follow the journalist Vatanen as he sloughs his past and takes on a new future for himself to deal with his bone weary disappointment with his job, wife and life in general.
Each episode seems to be a completely random development from the previous interlude, and that’s exactly what each chapter feels like, an interlude as the new Vatanen is developing with the aid of the hare that he found at the start of the book. Each chapter has its own internal coherency but adds to the whole, eventually.
The story eventually turns back on itself to a brilliant conclusion, well-written and thoughtfully translated.
This isn’t the first book translated from Finnish that I’ve read and both have had that same sort of dry but very intricate use of humour which is really my taste, loved it!
bolzano_ed's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
gabysp8's review against another edition
1.0
Sonaba muy interesante la premisa :c
Pero no me gustó nada más que el detalle de mencionar todo el tiempo dónde y cómo estaba la liebre
Pero no me gustó nada más que el detalle de mencionar todo el tiempo dónde y cómo estaba la liebre
jatkalukemista's review against another edition
3.0
Olin varma, että en jaksaisi tätä lukea, mut ihan hyvin jaksoin loppuun