Saturday, October 07, 2006

writings of a morose, stiff and generally doomed poet

Just read two novels (by Finnish authors, nobody else would think to write about us) which both described the Finnish people as morose, stiff and grudging of others.

Yes, we are. But not all the time, and probably not more so than other people. We have love, joy and fun here in Finland too. The problem is, we tell ourselves over and over that we are morose, stiff and grudging. And we believe it.

I would like some positive thinking, please! And positive writing by Finnish authors. I'm sick of being told I'm morose. Come to think of it, I'm sick of this "realistic" writing style that everybody thinks is the only credible writing out there. It's definitely not realistic, it's pessimistic. If you dare to write that you have hope for the human race, you are sneered at for being naïve. If you dare to include any flight of fancy in your writing, you get stuck in the children's lit or fantasy category.

Conclusion: we must be morose and stiff and generally doomed after all.

4 comments:

Prince K. said...

I thought the whole world was morose and sick, except sometimes.

AND FANTASY IS NOT ALWAYS CHILDREN'S LITERATURE!!!!!!!!!!

Ah, sorry for that. But I think you are saying that by reading HARRY POTTER !!!! YUCK!

{Yes, the Prince is definitely not in the right state of mind now...}

BTW, who are these authors?

Different Pen said...

Dear Prince, I wrote children's lit OR fantasy... Well aware of the difference and its importance!!

The authors are Lars Sund and Monica Fagerholm. Ever heard of them? I doubt it...

Prince K. said...

I am sorry I made you angry...
Plus, do you mind me calling you PP?

And no, never heard of them. Heard of Aleksis Kivi. Also Risto Isomäki and Kimmo Lehtonen {Yes, yes, I am a Sci-Fi Freak.}. I like Lehtonen's Timbuktun hetket ... eerie. And his best yet LUEMINUT Whoo, Open Source all the way. Very Real. Very Good.

Different Pen said...

Oh no, you didn't make me angry, sorry if I sound like it...! And no, I don't mind being called PP.

I'm impressed by how many Finnish authors you know. Myself am shamefully ignorant of Indian authors, the only one I've really read is Salman Rushdie and not much even by him although he is good...