Vatanen the journalist is feeling burnt out and sick of the city. One summer evening while on assignment his car hits a young hare on a country road. He goes in search of the injured creature. This small incident becomes a life-changing experience for Vatanen as he decides to break free from the world's constraints. He quits his job, leaves his wife, sells his possessions to travel the Finnish wilds with his new-found friend. Their adventures take in forest fires, pagan sacrifices, military war games, killer bears and much more. A long-time best-seller in Finland and in France, The Year of the Hare is the authorÕs favourite among his works. It has also been translated into Italian, German, Dutch, Greek, Hungarian, Japanese, Swedish and many other languages. It is frequently dramatized for the stage and has twice been made into a movie.
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Rarely do reviewers come upon a novel they believe to be a masterpiece, which they feel will become part of their imaginative lives. For me The Year of the Hare is such a work. --The European
There is an enchanted lightness to everything they do . . . This is such an inventive novel . . . that one does not want it to end. --Ham and High
No wonder the French have made this book into a cult. Finnish wit is as sharp as the Arctic weather. --Mail on Sunday
There is an enchanted lightness to everything they do . . . This is such an inventive novel . . . that one does not want it to end. --Ham and High
No wonder the French have made this book into a cult. Finnish wit is as sharp as the Arctic weather. --Mail on Sunday
There is an enchanted lightness to everything they do . . . This is such an inventive novel . . . that one does not want it to end. --Ham and High
No wonder the French have made this book into a cult. Finnish wit is as sharp as the Arctic weather. --Mail on Sunday
There is an enchanted lightness to everything they do . . . This is such an inventive novel . . . that one does not want it to end. --Ham and High
No wonder the French have made this book into a cult. Finnish wit is as sharp as the Arctic weather. --Mail on Sunday
There is an enchanted lightness to everything they do . . . This is such an inventive novel . . . that one does not want it to end. --Ham and High
No wonder the French have made this book into a cult. Finnish wit is as sharp as the Arctic weather. --Mail on Sunday
There is an enchanted lightness to everything they do . . . This is such an inventive novel . . . that one does not want it to end. --Ham and High
No wonder the French have made this book into a cult. Finnish wit is as sharp as the Arctic weather. --Mail on Sunday
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34 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Beautiful, jewel-like story which somehow creates its own unique world in just 135 generously spaced pages. Moves with great verve from prosaic realism at the start (as Vatanen abandons his bourgeois workaday life and moves increasingly into the wilderness of Finland's icy, forested hinterland) towards a kind of magic at the end as he literally breaks free - with one mighty bound - from the constraints of civilisation. Tempting to talk about 'magic realism' - the thought crossed my mind many times - but it all feels too well grounded, and maybe too funny, for that. Tempting also to call it a kind of fairy tale, but that would suggest a tweeness which the book never has.
The hare itself deserves a mention - a catalyst for Vatanen's change, perhaps a link between the real world and the mystic, but more than that, a real character in its own right for which we quickly share Vatanen's affection. The bear too, and the surprisingly wide cast of supporting characters, are brilliantly drawn.
Like no other book I've ever read, a wonderfully constructed modern fable.
The hare itself deserves a mention - a catalyst for Vatanen's change, perhaps a link between the real world and the mystic, but more than that, a real character in its own right for which we quickly share Vatanen's affection. The bear too, and the surprisingly wide cast of supporting characters, are brilliantly drawn.
Like no other book I've ever read, a wonderfully constructed modern fable.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By mina
Format:Paperback
Very short book, too short, I would love to go for another 150 pages of adventure and nature - away of it all.
Beautifully written, highly recommended.
Beautifully written, highly recommended.
26 of 28 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I have a lot of Finish friends, and one day I asked one of them to recommend me a book written by a Finnish. He told me that I should have bought "The Year of the Hare". I did it and I read it in a very few days from cover to cover. I was living a fantastic adventure in the land of my Finish friends with a fantastic leader. He and his hare took me over a part of the Finish culture and nature, and inspired me to follow my instincs a bit more often. If you haven't read this book yet, what are you waiting for? It's a must in your personal library.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book came with high recommendations, having been translated into 25 languages, filmed twice, and also being included in the Unesco Collection of Representative Works (the purpose of which was to "translate masterpieces of world literature"). The book apparently has cult status in France (not a guarantee of popularity in Britain!). The cover art alone would sell The Year of the Hare and made me want to dip inside to see what the book's content might be.
Its difficult to define this book. Its partly comic, but also comes into the category of fantasy, perhaps something along the lines of Baron Muchausen or Don Quixote, in that it is a set of fictional "adventures" which happen to the main character as he roams around the country. The stories concern Vatanen, a journalist who's car injures a young hare, and who feels inspired to bind up the little hare's leg and adopt it as a pet. The incident happens at a time of personal crisis for Vatanen with his both his job and his marriage being at an end , and he is prompted to break free from the constraints of his life and disappear into the vastness of Finland.
I have read Finnish books before and found a certain atmosphere of wildness about them. 75% of the country is covered with forests and woodland, and the boundaries reach well into the Arctic Circle. The winters are fierce and days in the remote communities are very short, giving Finnish literature an almost claustrophobic feel, alternating with a sense of vast forests and wilderness. Tove Jansson's books are full of this sense of remoteness, of isolation, and when reading The Year of the Hare I picked up the sense of crowded rooms with people huddled around a wood-burning stove, soon to be evicted into a world of snowy marshes, the habitation of wild bears.... Read more ›
Its difficult to define this book. Its partly comic, but also comes into the category of fantasy, perhaps something along the lines of Baron Muchausen or Don Quixote, in that it is a set of fictional "adventures" which happen to the main character as he roams around the country. The stories concern Vatanen, a journalist who's car injures a young hare, and who feels inspired to bind up the little hare's leg and adopt it as a pet. The incident happens at a time of personal crisis for Vatanen with his both his job and his marriage being at an end , and he is prompted to break free from the constraints of his life and disappear into the vastness of Finland.
I have read Finnish books before and found a certain atmosphere of wildness about them. 75% of the country is covered with forests and woodland, and the boundaries reach well into the Arctic Circle. The winters are fierce and days in the remote communities are very short, giving Finnish literature an almost claustrophobic feel, alternating with a sense of vast forests and wilderness. Tove Jansson's books are full of this sense of remoteness, of isolation, and when reading The Year of the Hare I picked up the sense of crowded rooms with people huddled around a wood-burning stove, soon to be evicted into a world of snowy marshes, the habitation of wild bears.... Read more ›
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
When I saw that this little book was a bestseller in the author's Finnish homeland, that it had been translated into umpteen languages, and that it had even been selected for the UNESCO Collection of Works I thought that I might just be on to a winner.
It all starts so simply. It is late in the day and a journalist and his photographer are driving home across country, They pull up when they hit and injure a young hare. Vatanen, the journalist pursues the hare into the forest. And he doesn't come back. Eventually, the photographer decides the he must leave without him.
Meanwhile, in the forest Vatanen finds the hare, nurses it, and gradually wins its trust. And he makes a decision. To break free of his dull life, his stagnant marriage, and live a simpler life, travelling through the country, picking up casual jobs to fund essentials, and appreciating the world around him.
The writing was simple: plain, clear prose, and short, sharp sentences. The idea seemed simple. But the story wasn't so simple, there was plenty more to come.
Man and hare traveled together, encountering all manner of people. And many different reactions to the hare.
One man goes out of his way to help Vatanen find food for his companion. A woman oohs and aahs. One man is determined to but the hare, another is equally determined to separate man and beast, to uphold the law, to normalise the situation. And a priest fetches his shotgun when he finds droppings in his church ...
Each and every reaction says something about human nature, and human society.... Read more ›
It all starts so simply. It is late in the day and a journalist and his photographer are driving home across country, They pull up when they hit and injure a young hare. Vatanen, the journalist pursues the hare into the forest. And he doesn't come back. Eventually, the photographer decides the he must leave without him.
Meanwhile, in the forest Vatanen finds the hare, nurses it, and gradually wins its trust. And he makes a decision. To break free of his dull life, his stagnant marriage, and live a simpler life, travelling through the country, picking up casual jobs to fund essentials, and appreciating the world around him.
The writing was simple: plain, clear prose, and short, sharp sentences. The idea seemed simple. But the story wasn't so simple, there was plenty more to come.
Man and hare traveled together, encountering all manner of people. And many different reactions to the hare.
One man goes out of his way to help Vatanen find food for his companion. A woman oohs and aahs. One man is determined to but the hare, another is equally determined to separate man and beast, to uphold the law, to normalise the situation. And a priest fetches his shotgun when he finds droppings in his church ...
Each and every reaction says something about human nature, and human society.... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good read...
A short story that charts one man's realisation that life is what you make of it. Whilst an interesting tale, the style. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Andy Nelson
3.0 out of 5 stars
year of the hare
not for me found it a bit hard going passed the book on to a male reader.perhaps it loses something in the translation
Published 5 months ago by mojo
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful writer
Arto Paasalinna has an amazing imagination and carries you along with his characters throughout their wild and wonderful adventures. A great read
Published 5 months ago by S. Paschoud
3.0 out of 5 stars
'the hare nestled its head between its little forepaws, ears trembling...
'An immature hare was trying its leaps in the middle of the road. Tipsy with summer, it perched on its hind legs, framed by the red sun. Read more
Published 12 months ago by sally tarbox
3.0 out of 5 stars
Harum scarum
I dunno. Imagine a dog tied with elastic to an anvil. Now imagine that the anvil is civilisation and the dog is an inhabitant of a Scandinavian country. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Sporus
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quirky but excellent
Vanaten is an eccentric character who one day leaves his job and adopts a wild hare. His various escapades and encounters over the course of a year, travelling spontaneously... Read more
Published 18 months ago by jacr100
4.0 out of 5 stars
An existential fable from Finland
'The Year of the Hare', published in 1975, made Arto Paasilinna famous first in his native Finland and subsequently internationally. Read more
Published on 18 May 2011 by Paul Bowes
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hare-attic in places
An enjoyable romp. A lot of this book reads like a collection of short stories and I would think that if one chose a chapter at random then that chapter would be a cohesive read... Read more
Published on 12 Mar 2011 by J. Caulton
5.0 out of 5 stars
The lonely planet guide for hares
This is a thought provoking and interesting story. The narrative and the writing style flow pleasantly and I really enjoyed the way that it built up a real picture of the Finnish... Read more
Published on 12 Mar 2011 by Katie Gerrard
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautifully written classic
A book about a man who tames a wild hare, or a deeper analogy for the stupidity of how we judge our own lives? Read more
Published on 28 Feb 2011 by George ST
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