Henrik TikkanenCritiques

Tikkanen berättar episodiskt om sitt människor och platser i Texas

THE 30 YEARS' WAR, by Henrik Tikkanen (translated by George Blecher and Lone Thygesen Blecher).

I bought this book - and it's not that easy to find - because I had very much enjoyed another Tikkanen book I'd read four years ago, a memoir called A WINTER'S DAY, which was very funny, even in translation. THE 30 YEARS' WAR is one of the few other Tikkanen books that is available in English. Sadly, its humor is not nearly as accessible at A WINTER'S DAY. The story of Finnish Army Private Viktor Kappara, who doesn't get the news of the end of WWII, and so stolidy stays at his post in far northern Finland, awaiting further orders, for the next thirty years. I know there was a real case like this, only it was a Japanese soldier on a Pacific island. But no matter.

Kappara is less a character than a caricature here, a fictional vehicle for poking fun at the military, at war, and at politics, not only Finnish, but Soviet, American, and European politics too. The book was first published in 1977, and this English translation appeared ten years later, complete with numerous explanatory footnotes. But the political humor, which includes jabs at Watergate and the Vietnam war, is pretty dated by now, although its anti-war message remains relevant.

Nope. I was disappointed in this one. The book has been compared to Vonnegut's writing, but I don't think so. I was reminded more of a couple other books I read years ago - Vladimir Voinovich's THE LIFE AND EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF PRIVATE IVAN CHONKIN and Jaroslav Hasek's THE GOOD SOLDIER SCHWEIK. I liked both of those. But this one? Yeah, there are a few good chuckles here and there, but I would recommended it mainly for history enthusiasts, and perhaps for American readers who want to know more about Finnish history.

Henrik Tikkasen ns. osoitetrilogian aloittava Kulosaarentie 8 käy läpi Tikkasen omaa lapsuutta ja nuoruutta sekä suomenruotsalaisen kulttuuriperinteen sävyttämää sukuhistoriaa. Se on omaelämäkerrallinen teos, jossa Tikkanen tuo subjektiivisuuttaan voimakkaasti esiin. Tikkasen kirjallinen tyyli on kiehtovan kerronnanomaista. Kerronta soljuu eteenpäin kuin tarina, jota Tikkanen maustaa viiltävillä sekä ironisilla anekdooteilla ja heitoilla. Kirjan kieli on erittäin terävää, mikä tekee siitä sekä raadollisen että värikkään.

Nautinnolliseksi lukukokemukseksi kirjan tekee juuri sen subjektiivinen ote. Tikkanen ei näytä perheenjäseniään, eikä myöskään itseään, hyvässä valossa. Lukija ei voi tietää mikä on totuutta ja mikä puhdasta omaa näkemystä. Kulosaarentie 8 onkin vaikuttava kuvaus siitä, millaisina ihminen näkee oman itsensä ja ympäristönsä. Osoitetrilogialle (Kulosaarentie, Majavatie 11, Mariankatu 26) se on hieno aloitus ja omasta mielestäni sen vaikuttavin osa.

Vuosien takainen antikvariaattilöytö on kaunis Helsingin henkilö- ja kaupunkihistoriaa pursuava teos. Kuvauksensa saavat niin tutut keskustan kadut kuin Pitkänsillan takaiset lähiötkin. Kirja on täynnä henkilökohtaisesti koettua kulttuurihistoriaa ja tuhdisti anekdootteja. Tikkanen on parhaimmillaan kuvatessaan itselleen rakkaita paikkoja ja tärkeitä ihmisiä. Sivuja kuvittavat Tikkasen mustavalkopiirustukset.

Henrik Tikkannen, apparently a fairly well-known artist and writer in his home country, Finland, famous primarily for this book, A Winter's Day (English Translation of title), which was only the first volume in his memoir trilogy. Something of an anomaly, and a minority, Tikkanen's family were Swedish-speaking Finns, and a part of the aristocracy or ruling class. Born in 1924, Henrik's parents divorced when he was a boy and he was back and forth between relatives a lot, as both of his parents married a couple more times. This particular book was a real hoot, as Tikkanen pokes near merciless fun at his family and his class. He has a wickedly deadpan and acidic wit which comes through in nearly everything he talks about, and he goes back a couple generations to explore his grandparents and their parents too. Chapter six is simply hilarious, as he relates his adventures at a "Christian summer camp," where he "learned to masturbate." Chapter 16, in which he finally loses his virginity, following an equally hilarious first UNsuccessful attempt, was just falling-down funny. Much of the narrative concerns Henrik's father and the troublesome nature of his aloof relationship to not just Henrik, but his other three sons (Henrik's older half-brothers) too. The alcoholism, adultery, and serial marriages of both parents obviously took a toll on the offspring.

This was my first hint about the Swedish-speaking parts of Finland. Indeed, Tikkanen's native tongue is Swedish, although he grew up in Finland. Confused? Yeah, I was too. I also hadn't been aware that Finland seemed to be on Germany's side during WWII, and fought against the Russians. Maybe I'd confused it with Norway. Didn't Steinbeck write a book about the Norwegian resistance to the Nazis during the war. Was it called The Moon Is Down? Sorry. Pay no attention to my confusion. The truth is I much enjoyed this slim little book; it kept me laughing most of the time and scratching my head wondering about stuff the rest of the time. I'd recommend it. You can actually read the whole thing in just a few hours. I'll have to find out now if the other two volumes of the memoir have been translated into English. Although, in my experience, it's always the first parts of a memoir that are the best - childhood youth and young manhood. Henrik does tell of his WWII military service too, mostly of how terrified he was, and how ridiculous he found the whole concept of military drill. He admits even to wounding himself to get sent home, this after his unit had been thoroughly decimated and routed by the Russian forces and strafing airplanes. I should probably stop here. But yeah, this is a darn good and entertaining read.