Ossi Nyman's Röyhkeys is magical literature... The best Finnish book I've read in a while. (It's a bit weird writing in English about something that only exists in Finnish. But I have always been a surreal character.) Borders on genius or is genius on almost every page. Touched my brain and my heart. It's also really funny, man.
Nowadays things can feel frustrating and overwhelming in their goodness. I find myself somewhere too beautiful, or watch or read or hear something too brilliant – and I just wonder "What now? What am I supposed to do with this?", and kind of wish I could at least throw up. And then, over and over again, you just have to face the fact that nothing can be done. There is nothing to do. You're just going to have to feel the goodness and then move on with your life. Many parts of this book made me feel that way.
Didn't like the fish torture scene, though. Don't think that that shouldn't have been written, though. And felt intrigued but also kind of confused by the stuff about women's "proportions". I really feel like there's something about that that I'm not grasping. I can honestly say that when it comes to their proportions, the people I find aesthetically appealing seem to vary a great deal. (I'm not sure if I even fully understand what proportions mean.) The physical uniqueness of the people I'm attracted to is an essential element of their attractiveness.
The question is: am I somehow less sexual or somehow more sexual than all the people who have extremely strict ideas about other people's "proportions"?
This book and "Sivuhenkilö" by Saara Turunen are a brother and a sister.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe cousins.
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