Customer Reviews

The Burnt-Out Town of Miracles

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Timo Vatanen is a simple woodsman living in a small town in Finland when the Finnish Army arrive to blitz and evacuate the town ahead of the rapidly approaching Russian Army. Only Timo stays behind refusing to leave. When the Russian Army arrives Timo works for them as a logger alongside 5 other Russians who he befriends despite only one speaking Finnish. There is little plot to the narrative and the novel focuses largely on their survival in the harsh Finnish winterof 1939/40, the bonds that develop amongst the men and their strengths and weaknesses. At times it is like being trapped in a bleak war torn landscape where death can be seen as a blessed sleep from the boredom and harsh living conditions. Since the novel is mostly told in the first person of the narrator Timo, I found that the Russian characters' development was therefore underdeveloped and made for a less involved read. For readers who are looking for an action packed war story then this novel will not appeal but for readers looking for something like Andrei Makine's The Woman Who Waited then they might enjoy this novel (In my view Makine's novel is infinitely superior).

Did something get lost in the translation? I read and waited for the pieces to come together, for some unique, maybe enlightening event to rise up out of the Finnish forest. Nadda, it never came to fruition. The only enjoyment I witnessed in this book was the anticipation of a simple woodsman's survival story during a war. And that turned out to be nothing more than dead fish. I did not find this book worth the short read.

This is not story of war and battles and victories. There are no unique events. But it is a story that I find myself remembering and thinking about weeks after having finished this short novel. Timo Vatanen isn't a hero, he's just plain stubborn. He refuses to leave his home. He is simple minded and yet he manages to create strong bonds among men who don't even speak the same language.

While reading about Timo, I was constantly reminded of the 1979 film,Being There (Deluxe Edition). Timo is like Chance. Picture him as Peter Sellers in the movie. He has the same simple minded profundity that allows us to question commonly held beliefs. You won't forget this book. Yes, life is a state of mind.