TAINARON: Mail From Another City is the first American publication by the internationally acclaimed Finnish author, Leena Krohn. TAINARON consists of a series of letters sent beyond the sea from a city of insects. TAINARON is a book of changes. It speaks of metamorphoses that test all of nature from a flea to a star, from stone and grass to a human. The same irresistible force that gives us birth, also kills us. Nominated for the prestigious Finlandia prize, this is the perfect introduction to the work of a modern fabulist.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Handsomely embellished with Finnish State Prize winner Inari Krohn's provocative etchings and xylographies, this brief, lyrical epistolary meditation on life, love and death, nominated for the prestigious Finlandia Prize, is the first of modern fabulist Krohn's works published in the U.S. The "woman" whose 30 letters make up the novel has recently come on a white ship to Tainaron, an insect-city within a volcanic cone, but she's forgotten why. The "lover" she addresses over the sea never replies, and she eventually abandons hope of answers, instead ranging the city with arthropodic "friend" Longhorn, who provides unsettling insights into the cycle of birth, change and absorption into new life. As summer fades to autumn and implacable winter nears, the narrator falls half in love with sleep and its easeful twin, death. The spiral-nautilus emblem of Tainaron's flag reminds its letter-writing guest, smitten by the realization of mortality, of the sweet anguish in the unavoidable alliance between birth and death, a recollection of "the dead [and] the gods." The author suggests no line divides language and music; her elegiac linguistic melodies enthrall the mind's ear, evoking as well bittersweet intimations of immortality more lovely, dangerous and disturbing than any realistic voice might utter.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enchanting and Experimental,
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This review is from: Tainaron: Mail from Another City (Hardcover)
I'm enchanted. The book is a series of letters, sent overseas from someone who now lives in Tainaron, a city of insects. The writing is lyrical and deep, metaphysical, philosophical, poetic. Part of the allure stems from being set in an insect world. The novel has illustrations as well, interspersed with the letters, that add another dimension to this magical work.
From the first letter: "Much happens in the meadow; it is a stage for fervent activity and a theatre of war. But everything serves just one purpose: immortality. The insects who are pursuing their own interests there do not know that they are at the same time fulfilling the flowers' hidden desires, any more than the flowers understand that to the insects, whom they consider their slaves, they are life and livelihood. Thus the selfishness of each individual works, in the meadow, for the happiness of all." From the thirteenth letter: "The rapist panted in my pursuit, reducing the distance between us with horrifying speed. Then I remembered that what I was seeing was a dream and that I therefore had an opportunity: with all my strength, I forced my feet to leave the ground, and as the murderer's filthy paw fumbled for my ankle, it slipped beyond his grasp and past the highest branches. My unbelief had saved me, but the poor creature who believes that everything is true is the victim of his dreams."
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fantastical travel account,
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This review is from: Tainaron: Mail from Another City (Hardcover)
Maybe I especially liked it because I'm into bugs but I thought this book was absolutely beautiful. It was unlike any other book I have read. It is a contemplative account written in a series of letters, of an unnamed person living abroad in a city of insects. In the letters she writes about various inhabitants of the city, cultural differences, and often gives some limited information on her own situation. While the setting seems more akin to fantasy, it often feels like more like a travel story and reminds me a lot of the times I've spent abroad. It is a short read but I've already read it at least twice.
I would definitely recommend it to readers who like travel stories (real or fictional) but not to readers who don't like stories that don't answer all of the questions they pose. Tainaron is definitely an open ended story but in that way, I think it feels more real and complete than a story that elaborates everything and works with the themes of transformation and the city.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tainaron,
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This review is from: Tainaron: Mail from Another City (Hardcover)
An extraordinary book...beautifully written...the book transported me and awakened my imagination. The author is a major literary figure in Finland, her native country, but little know -- unfortunately -- in the UK,CA or the USA.
Robert
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