Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} The Uprising by Väinö Linna Under the North Star I-III. Väinö Linna’s magnum opus, the Under the North Star trilogy, reaches from earliest years of the 20 th century up until the 1950s. In its pages, a small village in southern Finland lives an earthy, primal existence through Finland’s largest transformations. Chronologically, the Under the North Star I falls between the decade preceding the February Manifesto and the eve of World War I. The fates of sharecroppers, landowners, the lord of the manor and the residents of the vicarage are interwoven with the flows of societal upheaval. In The Uprising – Under the North Star II , the tragedy of the sharecroppers rises to its apex. The chain of events starts from the outbreak of World War I and comes to a close in November 1919. The Finnish Civil War provides a thematic core for the work. Reconciliation – Under the North Star III records life under the North Star during the era of Finnish independence. The depiction begins in the early 1920s and continues to approximately 1950. This was to be Väinö Linna’s last novel, a multi-protagonist novel in the great realistic narrative tradition. The point of perspective is consistently low-keyed, the reader learns about paramount events and modern ideas through their impact on ordinary people. In this way, social and historical insights come across even stronger. Add to this Väinö Linna’s language, pervaded by sweat and poor, lean soil. Linna deftly wields the most powerful weapons in his arsenal from beginning to end: conciliatory or bitter or black humour, characters that grow more and more complex, dialogue snatched directly from the mouths of the nation’s people. Under the North Star is a work of art. And as such, it tells more about the life of Finns than dozens of works of history combined. Prizes, Awards. The Nordic Council Literature Prize (Under the North Star III) 1963. Praise for the Work. “The Nordic Council Literature Prize 1963 is awarded to Väinö Linna for the third part of his novel trilogy “ Täällä Pohjantähden alla ” ( Under the North Star ), a majestic vision of Finland’s recent history, rendered with powerful creation of characters in a tangible realistic portrayal. The account concludes a major epic work of significance for public debate in the Nordic countries.” – Statement of the Jury, The Nordic Council Literature Prize. The Uprising by Väinö Linna. by birthday from the calendar. TimeSearch for Books and Writers by Bamber Gascoigne. This is an archive of a dead website. The original website was published by Petri Liukkonen under Creative Commons BY-ND-NC 1.0 Finland and reproduced here under those terms for non-commercial use. All pages are unmodified as they originally appeared; some links and images may no longer function. A .zip of the website is also available. Väinö (Valtteri) Linna (1920-1992) Novelist, essayist, one of the greatest writers of post-war Finland. Linna's major works, Tuntematon sotilas (1954, The Unknown Soldier), or the historical family saga Täällä Pohjantähden alla (1959-1963, Here Beneath the North Star), are nearly at every home in Finland. Väinö Linna was born into a working class family in Urjala in central Finland. He was the seventh child of a local slaughterman, Vihtori Linna, who died when Väinö was eight years old. His mother, Maija Linna, supported the family by working at Honkola manor. Linna attended public school for six years and left his studies in the mid-1930s. After working in odd jobs, including a farm-hand for the Honkola manor and lumberjack, he moved in 1938 to Tampere, where he was employed as a factory mechanic by the Finlayson textile mills. His spare time Linna spent in libraries. From 1940 to 1944 Linna served in the Finnish army at the eastern front, fighting as the squad leader of a machine-gun unit. During the Continuation War (1941-44) between Finland and the Soviet Union Linna wrote a story telling the regiments advance from the Russian border to the east, to Syväri. In the spring of 1943 he was posted back to Finland as an instructor. After the war he married Kerttu Seuri, the daughter of a farmer. Linna had first met her at a soldier's canteen, where she had volunteered. In the wedding ceremony she wore her sister's wedding dress and Linna used a borrowed suit. Linna returned to his work at the factory, but had long since decided to become a writer and even revealed his ambitious intention to his fellow workers. From the library he carried home works by such authors as Schopenhauer, Dostoyevsky, Strindberg, Goethe, Carlyle, and Nietzsche. On Sundays he often read two books. Linna's first collection of poems did not interest the publisher and Linna abandoned this line of writing. In 1947 appeared Linna's first novel, a thinly disguised autobiography entitled Päämäärä (the goal). The book sold poorly. However, during this period Linna became a member of a literary ciorcle, run by the director of the Tampere City Library, Mikko Mäkelä. Among its other members was Alex Matson, whose work Romaanitaide (1947) became essantial guide for aspiring writers. Linna's next novel, Musta rakkaus , was a triangular drama, a tale of love, jealousy, and murder set in Tampere. Linna then started a new novel, variously called "The Messiah" or "The Lonely One" about a tubercular factory clerk. The project was interrupted by an emotional crisis, from which he recovered with the help of his psychiatrist friend. Linna continued working on the novel, but he never finished it. Linna's breakthrough work, The Unknown Soldier (1954), created a fierce debate. "Linna is the writer of aggression," declared Timo Tiusanen in Helsingin Sanomat . In spite of the reviews, the novel sold 50,000 copies in its first three months. Linna's image of officers and the political leadership was far from flattering to the educated elite. Toini Havu, in her famous review ( Helsingin Sanomat , December 19, 1954), criticized the novel especially for its naturalism and perspective from below. Linna did not present his characters in a grand historical and ethical context, Havu argued, like Jussi Talvi did in his war novel Ystäviä ja vihollisia (1954). Also modernist writers were not happy with the "antiquated" realism of the novel, its interest in the characters and situations. Linna tried to see the war from the viewpoint of the enlisted man, using dialect, humour, and portraying soldiers without unostentatious heroism, or standing above the events he narrated. The well-known figures who sided with Linna included Martti Haavio, a folklorist and poet, and Arvi Korhonen, a military historian. Linna's Tolstoyan philosophy of history went mostly unnoticed, beginning from the opening of the novel which established Linna's ironical stand in relation to historical determinism: "As everyone knows, God is all-powerful, all-knowing and farseeing. So it was that He once let a forest fire devour several hundred acres of state forest on a sandy heath near the town of Joensuu." The Unknown Soldier gained a great success and was translated into several languages. Up to 1990 it had sold more than half million copies. Linna's novel was adapted to screen first time in 1955. This version, directed by Edvin Laine, is among the most popular movies in Finland. The second version, directed by Rauli Mollberg, was made in 1985. An open-air theater production in Tampere, where real trucks and tanks were used, was perfomed for several years. The Unknown Soldier was also made into an opera by Tauno Pylkkänen in 1967, directed by Edvin Laine. The original � uncensored � edition of Tuntematon sotilas , entitled Sotaromaani , was published in 2000, and revealed that especially Linna's critical views of officers and commanders at headquarters were removed, and the coarse language of the soldiers was occasionally straightened. The Unknown Soldier follows the war of a group of men, a single platoon, from the summer offensive of 1941 to the bloody retreat from the eastern Finland, Carelia, in 1944. Much of its events were based on Linna's own experiences in the front, and the characters had their more or less real-life representatives. Using the conversations and experiences of a collective of men, Linna creates colorful portraits of different human types and demonstrates the ability of the Finnish soldier without glorifying the war itself. At the end one of the characters, Priha, laughs that "The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics won but the small and gutsy Finland finished a good second." The characters from the book (and from the film), Rokka, Hietanen, Lahtinen and Koskela, became known as models of national heroes, loved like characters from J.L. Runeberg's (1804-1877) patriotic poem cycle The Songs of Ensign Stål about the Russo-Swedish war of 1808-09. In public debate often the names of the soldiers are used as slogans � an insubordinate but brilliant soldier is referred to as "Rokka." During the years 1955 and 1964 Linna lived in Hämeenkyrö as a farmer, but he sold the farm in 1964 and moved back to Tampere. The success of Tuntematon sotilas has enabled Linna to devote himself entirely to writing. In 1959 appeared the first volume of his trilogy Here Beneath the North Star. Its title was taken from a popular song by Johan Freadrik Granlund. The novel depicted the development Finnish society from the end of the 19th century to the period after the World War II. The objective of the book was to explain the background of the Civil War (1917-18), the bitter conflict between Reds and Whites, the following traumatic division of the society, and the national reconciliation after World War II. As in Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace , Linna painted a panoramic view of people who participate in historical events. However, Linna's protagonists were not those who are mentioned in history books but ordinary people, whose life is conditioned by great social changes. The story focused on three generations of tenant farmers in a small village in Häme Province, from 1884 to the 1950s. Most of the events are seen through country people, sharecroppers, and landowners. "In the beginning there were the swamp, the hoe � and Jussi," opens Linna his trilogy. The biblical words are a part of Finnish national self- consciousness. Jussi Koskela, a farm laborer, drains a bog on a property belonging to the local parsonage. Through his hard work he comes to regard the land as his own. The parson and his family are vocal nationalists, who exploit their tenants, but at the same time try to understand paternalistically the needs of common people. Jussi's son Akseli claims the fields and serves an officer in the Red troops during Finland's civil war of 1917-18. The defest of the Reds was sealed in the battle of Tampere in early April. Incarcerated in a White prison camp, he barely survives, and returns home embittered. Eventually Akseli buys the plot and acquires a certain prosperity and independence. Two of his sons are killed in the Winter War, a third � a main figure in Tuntematon sotilas � falls in the retreat of 1944. Akseli's surviving son continues his father's work as a farmer. The first part of North Star was received with enthusiasm, although some conservative critics attacked its historical accuracy. The book was immediately translated into Swedish. The second part, which dealt with the Civil War, arose much debate, and the final volume received a couple of lukewarm reviews by critics. Later Linna confessed, that the work on the trilogy "almost killed him". Historians did not accept Linna's interpretation of the war, but considered it limited � Linna told only the "Red truth" and nothing else. Among his critics was Pentti Renvall, a professor of history, who announced that the author lacks historical perspective and knowledge. Linna was annoyed of the arrogance of academic critics � he had actually read widely on the subject. He answered in his articles that the prevailing conception of the independence struggle was based on a false view of the defeated side. The motives of the Reds were not considered rational, and his aim was to understand the revolt through their background and motives. When the North Star trilogy was finished, Linna ceased to write novels, stating that he has delivered his message and has nothing more to say. The trilogy was adapted into screen in two parts by Edvin Laine in 1968-70. Laine's version, at that time the most expensive film produced in Finland, gained a huge success. For Akseli ja Elina , based on the third part of the work, Linna wrote a new ending, which emphasized harmony of the well-fare society. During the last years of his life, Linna was regarded as a national monument, an isolated figure in Finnish literature, and his public image contributed to the paralyzing of his creative power. In 1984 Linna had a brain infarct, which affected his ability to speak. One of the words he still could utter was "toffee"; Linna had always had a weakness for sweets. Linna published two collections of essays, Oheisia (1967) and Murroksia (1990), before his death of cancer on April 21, 1992. Under the North Star has been translated into English by Professor Richard Impola, who first found Linna's work after he retired from Columbia University in the 1980s. Impola has also translated Aleksis Kivi's Seven Brothers and other Finnish writers. Päämäärä: romaani, 1947 Musta rakkaus: romaani, 1948 - Mörk kärlek (övers. av N.-B. Stormbom, 1956) - film 1957, prod. Suomen Filmiteollisuus, dir. by Edvin Laine, starring Eeva-Kaarina Volanen, Jussi Jurkka, Edvin Laine, Veikko Sinisalo, Elsa Turakainen, Eero Roine Messias, 1949-53 (unfinished, unpublished) Tuntematon sotilas, 1954 - Okänd soldat (övers. av Nils-Börje Stormbom, 1955) - The Unknown Soldier (translated by Alex Mattson, 1957; uncredited) - films: 1955, dir. by Edvin Laine, starring Kaarlo Halttunen, Pentti Irjala, Jussi Jurkka, Kosti Klemelä, Åke Lindman, Tauno Palo, Matti Ranin, Leo Riuttu, Heikki Savolainen, Pentti Siimes, Veikko Sinisalo, Reino Tolvanen; 1985, dir. by Rauni Mollberg, starring Risto Tuorila, Pirkka-Pekka Petelius, Paavo Liski, Mika Mäkelä, Pertti Koivula, Tero Niva, Ossi-Ensio Korvuo, Mikko Niskanen, Pauli Poranen, Hannu Kivioja, Juha Riihimäki, Seppo Juusonen, Timo Virkki; TV drama 2009, dir. by Mikko Kuparinen, Kristian Smeds, adaptation by Kristian Smeds, starring Henry Hanikka, Jouko Keskinen, Johannes Korpijaakko, Jaakko Kytömaa, Esa-Matti Long, Antti Luusuaniemi, Markku Maalismaa, Meri Nenonen, Jussi Nikkilä, Antti Pääkönen, Heikki Pitkänen, Esa-Matti Pölhö, Kristo Salminen, Timo Tuominen, Juha Varis Täällä Pohjantähden alla, 1959-62 (3 vols.) - Under polstjärnan: 1: Högt bland Saarijävis moar; 2: Upp, trälar!; 3: Söner av ett folk (övers. av Nils-Börje Storbom, 1959-1962) - Under the North Star: 1: Under the North Star; 2: The Uprising; 3: Reconciliation (translated into English by Richard Impola, 2001-2003) - films: Täällä Pohjantähden alla , 1968, dir. by Edvin Laine, starring Aarno Sulkanen, Titta Karakorpi, Risto Taulo, Arja Pohjola, Kalevi Kahra, Rose-Marie Precht, Matti Ranin, Kauko Helovirta; Akseli ja Elina , 1970, dir. by Edvin Laine, starring Aarno Sulkanen, Ulla Eklund, Risto Taulo, Anja Pohjola, Mirjam Novero, Kauko Helovirta, Esa Saario, Rose-Marie Precht, Matti Ranin, Maija-Leena Soinne, Jussi Jurkka; TV drama Pentinkulman naiset, 2005, prod. by Yleisradio (YLE), dir. by Eija-Elina Bergholm; Täällä Pohjantähden alla I-II, 2009-2010, dir. by Timo Koivusalo, starring Ilkka Koivula, Vera Kiiskinen, Risto Tuorila, Ritva Jalonen, Hannu-Pekka Björkman, Jonna Järnefelt, Sulevi Peltola, Oiva Lohtander, Eija Vilpas Oheisia: Esseitä ja puheenvuoroja, 1967 Murroksia: esseitä, puheita ja kirjoituksia, 1990 (as Esseitä, 2007) Kootut teokset 1-6, 2000 Sotaromaani: Tuntemattoman sotilaan käsikirjoitus, 2000. Some rights reserved Petri Liukkonen (author) & Ari Pesonen. Kuusankosken kaupunginkirjasto 2008. How Finland found a road to reconciliation after the Civil War of 1918. A little more than a century ago, the newly independent nation of Finland experienced a short but brutal civil war. Though the conflict left deep scars, a culture of working together helped former enemies reconcile and allowed the country to progress relatively quickly in its nation-building process. Pedestrians walk past rubble from Civil War fighting on Pitkäsilta (Long Bridge) in Helsinki. To this day, the bridge’s stonework bears marks from Civil War and Second World War explosives. Photo: Gunnar Lönnqvist/cc by 4.0/Helsinki City Museum. Finland’s Parliament adopted a declaration of independence on December 6, 1917. Prior to that, armed “security” groups, which later became known as the Whites and the Reds, had already formed. The Whites were politically conservative, while the Reds were associated with the labour movement. The long-established discord between the two camps meant that, even after independence was achieved, the way ahead for the new nation was unclear. The Civil War lasted from January 27 to May 15, 1918. Out of some 36,600 deaths, approximately 9,700 were executions and 13,400 were due to appalling prison camps. Red casualties outnumbered White by around six to one. Political reconciliation began almost immediately after the war was over. It would take longer for cultural and social reconciliation to begin. Moving towards a more inclusive republic. The White general, C.G.E. Mannerheim, leads a parade down the Esplanade in Helsinki on May 16, 1918 in honour of the end of the Civil War. Photo: cc by 4.0/Helsinki City Museum. The White victors had placed their hopes in a monarchy with strong ties to Germany, but that country’s eventual defeat in the First World War put an end to the idea. Finland chose a republican constitution in July 1919. “It is hard to talk about republicans being more interested in compromise when many of them supported harsh measures against Red soldiers,” says Jason Lavery, permanent adjunct professor at Helsinki University and professor of history at Oklahoma State University. “Yet, those who wanted a republic saw it as a more inclusive form of government for both the moderate left and monarchists.” Finland’s first president, K.J. Ståhlberg, was a believer in reconciliation, pardoning Red prisoners, allowing trade unions to negotiate and signing a law so tenant farmers could purchase their holdings at advantageous prices. “Ståhlberg did try to unify the country, but within the parameters set by the anti-Marxist consensus,” says Lavery. Post-war moderation. Helsinki’s island fortress of Suomenlinna, now a Unesco World Heritage site and tourist favourite, was the location of a prison camp holding captives from the Red side in early 1918. Photo: Niilo Toivonen/cc by 4.0/ Finnish Heritage Agency. The moderate Progressive Party and the Agrarian Union supported compromises and steps towards reconciliation during the early years of independence. The extreme left was excluded from the political process, but the Social Democrats were welcomed in local politics, and even became the largest party in Parliament under the leadership of Väinö Tanner. “Tanner did what he could,” Lavery says. “As prime minister in 1927, he accepted the salute of the Civil Guard, the militia that formed much of the White Army, in the annual parade commemorating the end of the war.” The White general, C.G.E. Mannerheim, had begun an annual tradition of a parade on May 16 in honour of the end of the Civil War. Tanner’s acceptance of the salute was particularly relevant, because the Civil Guard had been called butchers by the left because of their role in summary executions. When elements of the Civil Guard and a group called the Lapua Movement attempted a right-wing coup, in 1932, the majority of Finns rejected them and the uprising failed within days. The late 1930s was a period of relative economic prosperity and continuing social reforms, which helped to contribute to a strong democracy and parliamentary system. Bringing people together. Miina Sillanpää, who would become known for her ability to get parties with opposing viewpoints to converse, gives a speech as a member of Parliament in 1907. Photo: J. Indursky/cc by 4.0/Finnish Heritage Agency. Another politician who was influential in forming the future of the country was Miina Sillanpää, known as a bridge-builder who could bring together parties with opposing viewpoints. She was among the first women, 19 of them, voted into Parliament in 1907 after women gained the right to vote and to run for office, in 1906. During the Civil War she worked to help orphaned children, of whom there were many – 15,000 by some estimates. In Tanner’s government (December 13, 1926 – December 17, 1927), she held the position of Second Minister of Social Affairs, making her the first female government minister in Finland. She came from a working-class background and helped drive social issues such as better working conditions for maids and other workers, and shelters for orphans and unwed mothers. Tarja Halonen, Finland’s president from 2000 to 2012, has remarked of Sillanpää that she “can be said to be one of the mothers of the welfare state.” Sporting heroes, most notably distance runner Paavo Nurmi, also helped all Finns to root for a common goal. He won 12 Olympic medals – nine gold and three silver – over three Olympic Games between 1920 and 1928. Together in the Winter War. In the Winter War of 1939–40, recruits from Vihanti, a village about 600 kilometres (375 miles) north of Helsinki, sit during a break in the fighting at Suomussalmi, near the eastern border. The Winter War became the unifying, unambiguous war that the Civil War was not. Photo: cc by 4.0/Finnish Wartime Photo Archive. In 1939 the Soviet Union attacked Finland, starting what is known as the Winter War, which lasted from November 30, 1939 to March 13, 1940 and united all elements of Finnish society in the defence of their country. “The Winter War was the unambiguous and heroic war of national liberation that the Civil War was not,” Lavery says. “It was independent Finland’s first great collective achievement.” Organisations representing employers and employees agreed to negotiate and cooperate. The Social Democrats encouraged their members to join the Civil Guard. Commander-in-Chief Mannerheim cancelled the annual parade commemorating the White victory, replacing it with a day of remembrance for the fallen. Finns were willing to unify for a common cause. “One must also consider events after the Second World War,” says Lavery. “These include the legalisation of the Finnish Communist Party, the building of the universal welfare state, and the art and scholarship produced about the events of 1918.” Reconciliation is never over. The Civil War brought destruction to many parts of Finland. In April 1918, only chimneys were left standing in Tammela, an area of the central western city of Tampere. Photo: cc by nd 4.0/Vapriikki Photo Archive/Tampere Museum. One of the most important literary works related to the Civil War is Väinö Linna’s trilogy Under the North Star , published in 1959, 1960 and 1962. It sympathetically explores the motivations of the Reds and unflinchingly describes what happened in the war’s aftermath. It was the cultural reconciliation Finland had long awaited, but the process of reconciliation is never over. “Civil wars often never really end,” says Lavery. Even today, Mannerheim remains a divisive figure. “Butcher” is sometimes spray-painted on statues of him, while the Mannerheim Museum uses the loaded term “War of Liberation” to refer to the Civil War. A 2016 survey by Finnish national broadcasting company Yle shows how deeply the war affected people. Even nearly a century after Civil War ended, 22 percent of respondents said that it remained a “highly sensitive” topic in their families. Yet Finnish society values a process of law, democracy and working together for the common good. This has helped heal, as much as possible, the scars from the Civil War. “It took decades to gain full trust in democracy,” said Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö in a speech on January 1, 2018. “Participatory patriotism was born.” One lesson that came out of the Civil War, he said, is that “there is diversity, people have different backgrounds, convictions and goals, and we have a right to disagree. This is something we must be able to respect, however differently we ourselves might think.” Under the North Star. Earlier this year I was lucky enough to spend 10 weeks in Finland, based in Tampere. Finn’s say Tampere is the Manchester of Finland, although I think it’s even closer to my home town of Sheffield in spirit and history. Before we left, my wonderful hosts gave me the trilogy Under the North Star by Väinö Linna. Reading the books over the last few weeks has been a very satisfying experience and I thoroughly recommend them. In the trilogy, the author explores Finnish history, politics, economics and human nature by examining life in a tiny Finnish community. They are rich and multi-layered books, and I think they also offer an interesting perspective into the birth and the nature of the welfare state. This first volume in the trilogy is centred on pre-independence Finland and the struggle of one family to win independence for themselves from the vicar who controls the Church land. One of the many strengths of this book is the way in which the characters are viewed with great sympathy, but also with no romantic gloss. Great and petty motives are intermingled, daily trials help us understand the great forces at work in a changing society. Jussi, the working man, is no angel, the vicar is no devil. Their motives are ordinary, natural and complex. I was particularly reminded of John Locke’s definition of the right to property, which assumes that land becomes ours when we work on it. But in this case the noble labour of Jussi, to turn marsh into farmland, only leads to a very partial form of ownership as the Vicar, backed by local landlords, reneges on an earlier deal, and takes back much of the land that Jussi had won from the swamp. This betrayal has a fateful impact on the family and on the attitude of Jussi’s children to established authority. The second book in Linna's trilogy follows the course of the Finnish civil war, which raged after the Russian Revolution. In Finland the Whites, backed by Sweden and Germany, defeated the Reds, backed by Russia. However the story revealed in the book roots this civil war, not in national politics and ideology, but in the outraged sense of justice of ordinary people in Finland. The battle cry "Shoemakers advance!" reflects precisely the prosaic reality of ordinary people, feeling oppressed and angry, but also desperately hopeful that - at last - the day of justice had arrived. The book brilliantly outlines the way in which, by small steps, a revolutionary movement was created. Yet, after a very short period of power (where power was also quickly abused) this movement was ruthlessly crushed. Part of Linna's genius is the way in which he combines analysis of the causes of brutality and injustice with a precisely and detailed account of ordinary life - mixed with all the usual ordinary motives. The people never get lost in his story telling - the people survive even the grandest themes. At a philosophical level Linna also reveals the irony that the heroic martyrs of the revolution wanted, above all, rights, property and some basic securities. It was a desperate desire to acquire these rather liberal goods - denied to them by middle-class and aristocratic society - that drove people to such bloody acts. The novel could almost be seen as an argument for the kind of socialism proposed by G.K. Chesterton - a socialism, not of the unified mass, but of many peoples, linked to the land, living in diverse communities, supported and sustained by just laws and systems of redistribution. In other words, the kind of non-statist socialism advocated by the Centre for Welfare Reform. The final part of the trilogy is an elegy. The tragic impact of World War II and Finland's great losses is rather muted. This is partly because most readers already know the fate of one of the most beloved figures in the books, who is also the central character of Linna’s most famous novel, Unknown Soldiers . Partly it is that the deaths of key characters in the war are balanced by all the other deaths, from sickness and old age, of many other characters. But it is also because, unlike in the previous two books, death is now experienced as an inevitable force, driven by external factors. The earlier conflicts, which had torn Finland apart, revolved around the moral choices that individuals made. Now Finland and its people must persist, together, as the country is squeezed, almost to death, by the Great Powers. There are very few choices to be made. Politics becomes less important, instead characters struggle with more profound questions of meaning and transcendence. The religious feelings of the women at the end of the book arise in contrast to the atheism and scepticism of most of the male actors. The complex relationship between Finland as a real material place and its people becomes more obvious. People are torn between the benefits and temptations of economic development and their loyalty to place and to each other. One theme that runs through all three books is how people are treated in their fragility or disability. At the beginning we hear of the poor house, then the hospital and finally the county home. These places are not portrayed as good or bad - however when a character stays in one of these places then they also leave the story and the community. Effectively they enter a zone where they seem to be just 'awaiting death'. When at the end the social democrat leader Janne asks Elina why she has not put her mother-in-law in the county home Elina replies: “Since I have the time to take care of her… And we’re afraid she’ll die if we take her there.” This conversation reflects the ambiguities of social progress explored in the novel. Our hopes for progress, for rights, land and justice are offset by the price we must pay for them. Revolution becomes rebellion and the poor pay in blood for their thirst for justice. But when economic and social change begins to bring progress then the poor find they must pay a different kind of price, often losing their roots. But this is not some romantic nostalgia for days of poverty, need and dependence. Instead Linna treats progress itself as part of the inevitable flow of life, from birth to death, hopes are matched by disappointments, but they can also be transformed by acceptance. For me these books reinforce the importance of understanding the real roots of the welfare state. The services we now take for granted have roots which go back much further than the modern welfare state. Societies have always tended to try and take care of each other and to find systems of mutual support. We are right to be thankful that the welfare state developed after World War II, but we should not forget that it developed only because of the sacrifice, bloodshed and horror suffered by previous generations. We must guard against our own complacency, remember the demands of justice, but also seek peace and partnership in order to live together with love. The publisher is Aspasia Books. Under the North Star © Aspasia Books 2001. Review: Under the North Star © Simon Duffy 2016. All Rights Reserved. No part of this paper may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher except for the quotation of brief passages in reviews. The Uprising by Väinö Linna. Go to the following links to browse through the RAIVAAJA Bookstore for more of the best in: The Kalevala. Edited by George C. Schoolfield. Translated by Eino Friberg - Illustrated by Bj�rn Landstr�m. Hard cover, 408 pages. Color and black & white illustrations. Please call for current prices. co mpassionate hit man. In our first book, Raid and the Blackest Sheep, R aid tra vels with an aging criminal Nygren throughout Finland. As they journey northward, Nygren puts his affairs in order, wreaking vengeance on those who have wronged him and paying penance to those he has wronged. Their first stop is at a church, where a sham preacher is fleecing his congregation. 242 Pages, paperback ISBN: 978-0-9824449-2-4 Price: $12.95. More mysteries: Helsinki Homicide: Vengeance by Jarkko Sipila 335 Pages, paperback ISBN: 978-0-9824449-1-7 Price: $12.95. The Dark Side of Helsinki (100 criminal stories) by Jarkko Sipila paperback ISBN: 9 789513 1999562 Price: $20.00. Reconciliation. Under the North Star 3 by V�in� Linna Translated by Richard Impola. Under the North Star 2 By V�in� Linna Translated by Richard Impola. Under the North Star [Vol. 1] by V�in� Linna Translated by Richard Impola 398 pages Softcover $ Sold Out. The Sauna Cookbook. Food for Body and Soul. Authors Tuula Kaitila and Edey Saarinen, drawing on both their Finnish and North American cooking experience, provide clear, easy-to-follow instructions, and offer informative and helpful cooks comments. Hardcover only; 180 pages, color photographs (ISBN 0-9731053-5-6) $35.00. Documentary Films available from Raivaaja: Fire and Ice The Winter War of Finland and Russia. Produced, directed and written by Ben Strout A MasterWorks Media Production. Letters from Karelia Father, Brother, Comrade, Spy. Directed and Edited by Kelly Saxberg. A National Film Board of Canada Production. Available in DVD or VHS format (please specify) $29.00. Karelian Exodus. This book is a collection of articles about the exodus of Finnish Canadians and Finnish Americans to Soviet Karelia in the 1930s. These articles were originally papers presented in March 2004 at a conference in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, dealing with Finnish communities in North America and Soviet Karelia during the Depression. The conference featured speakers from Russia, Finland, Sweden, the United States, and Canada. The following articles are included: Lamentations on Mayme Sevander's Life by' Raija Warkentin; 'The Finnish Canadian Communities during the Decade of Depression "by Varpu Lindstrom; Communism and the Co-ops: Recruiting and Financing the Finnish-American Migration to Karelia" by Alexis E. 'Pegorelskin; Sudbury in the Great Depression: The Tumultuous Years" by Oiva Saarinen and Gerry Tapper; "A Remarkable Place, An Eventful Year: Politics and Recreation 'Minnesota's Mesaba Co-op Park in 1936" by Arnold R. Alanen; "Murder" in the Bush: The Making of a Modem Myth by Peter Raffo; "From the Frying Pan into the Fire North American Finns in Soviet Karelia" by Tuna Takala; "The Fate of Finnish Canadians in Soviet Karelia" by Eila Lahti-Argutina; "The Soviet Depression and Finnish immigrants in Soviet Karelia" by Markku Kangaspuro; "Framing the Finnish Experience in the Soviet Union: Comparing Finnish and North American Finns" by Imo Vihavainen; "The- Experience of Finnish-North American Writers in Soviet Karelia in the 1930s" by Mike Ylikangas; "Pipeline Accident on Lake Onega: A Study of Ethnic Conflict in Soviet Kare1ia, 1934" by Alexis Pororelskin; "Recruitment of Swedish immigrants to Soviet Karelia" by Kaa Eneberg; "Memories of the North American Depression among Finnish Americans in the Soviet Union" by Helena Miettinen and Raja Warkentin. A Journal of Finnish Studies special issue Soft cover, 226 pages, photos, maps, illustrations $22.00. Synkka Mets� Track Listing: Lapin Aidin Kehto Laulu (Lapland Mother's Cradle Song); Taivas on Sininen ja Valkoinen (The Sky is Blue and White); Karjalen Kunnaila (Hills of Karelia); Valiakainen (Temporary); Ken Voi Tyynessa Seilata (Who Can Sail the Calm?); Toul on Mun Kultani (There is My Sweetheart); Tuohinen Sormus (Birchbark Ring); Villiruusu (Wild Rose). Personnel: Juli Wood: tenor saxophone; Alejandro Urzagaste: guitar; Clark Sommers: bass; Mike Schlick: drums.