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Lisa's Reviews > The Year of the Hare
The Year of the Hare
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This book made me reflect on my sense of humour (as far as it exists) and my pre-conceived ideas (not to be taken seriously) on my Scandinavian heritage. After all, most of the time, we laugh at the stereotypical patterns we recognise in ourselves and our environment?
Paasilinna is advertised as one of the funniest Scandinavian authors - at least in Sweden, where sense of humour in general unfortunately fell victim to a budget cut in the 1970s. It has never been reintroduced since then, so maybe the advertisement is correct, but not very telling in the grand scheme of things. Danish people supposedly compete with Norwegians to win the trophy of the happiest people on earth, but that doesn't necessarily mean they have a sense of humour (although they are certainly more into laughing and socialising than us uptight, serious Swedes). Norwegians are funny - in the mind of Swedes who tell extremely humour-free jokes about them, but do they have a sense of humour? Finnish silence prevents them from showing any trace of a possibly hidden sense of humour, so they are a bit of an enigma, except when they present their thoughts in written form, like Paasilinna.
And here comes my dilemma:
I don't find him funny at all. Only silly in a slapstick, childish way. Does that mean Finnish sense of humour is not so great either? Or does it mean I can't appreciate it, being Swedish and a victim of the 1970s budget cut, including abolition of irony and sarcasm in all its forms, and leaving only a very narrow selection of "hahaha, he-slipped-on-a-banana"-type of humour?
Or does it mean that Scandinavia is good at many things, but comedy is for unhappier parts of the world? Our fiction must maybe focus on bloody murder, a form of contrast to the regular boredom we experience alone with hares in forests?
I don't know. It's me, I'm sure. Being too Swedish. Or liking Monty Python too much. And Voltaire. And Diderot.
I will have to add a shelf for the books I don't find amusing despite picking them to have a good laugh: "Should-have-been-funny-but-I-didn't-even-smile"!
Paasilinna is advertised as one of the funniest Scandinavian authors - at least in Sweden, where sense of humour in general unfortunately fell victim to a budget cut in the 1970s. It has never been reintroduced since then, so maybe the advertisement is correct, but not very telling in the grand scheme of things. Danish people supposedly compete with Norwegians to win the trophy of the happiest people on earth, but that doesn't necessarily mean they have a sense of humour (although they are certainly more into laughing and socialising than us uptight, serious Swedes). Norwegians are funny - in the mind of Swedes who tell extremely humour-free jokes about them, but do they have a sense of humour? Finnish silence prevents them from showing any trace of a possibly hidden sense of humour, so they are a bit of an enigma, except when they present their thoughts in written form, like Paasilinna.
And here comes my dilemma:
I don't find him funny at all. Only silly in a slapstick, childish way. Does that mean Finnish sense of humour is not so great either? Or does it mean I can't appreciate it, being Swedish and a victim of the 1970s budget cut, including abolition of irony and sarcasm in all its forms, and leaving only a very narrow selection of "hahaha, he-slipped-on-a-banana"-type of humour?
Or does it mean that Scandinavia is good at many things, but comedy is for unhappier parts of the world? Our fiction must maybe focus on bloody murder, a form of contrast to the regular boredom we experience alone with hares in forests?
I don't know. It's me, I'm sure. Being too Swedish. Or liking Monty Python too much. And Voltaire. And Diderot.
I will have to add a shelf for the books I don't find amusing despite picking them to have a good laugh: "Should-have-been-funny-but-I-didn't-even-smile"!
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June 25, 2014
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Ilse
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rated it 3 stars
Apr 01, 2017 11:34AM
Lisa, having read this with our reading group, I wouldn't question your sense of humour - unless mine was too Belgian to appreciate this. I thought it a waste of time, my children tell better jokes.
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A Finnish humorist, isn't there a joke about that?
Ilse wrote: "Lisa, having read this with our reading group, I wouldn't question your sense of humour - unless mine was too Belgian to appreciate this. I thought it a waste of time, my children tell better jokes."I'll second that, Ilse! My kids make me laugh all the time. Not to mention my hormone-driven students...
Jean-Paul wrote: "Humor ist überwundenes Leiden an der Welt.Jean Paul (1763 - 1825)
Now you have closed the book, you can laugh, Lisa. :-)"
My dear goodreads friends certainly put that direly needed smile on my face, Jean-Paul!
Jan-Maat wrote: "A Finnish humorist, isn't there a joke about that?"It probably is a joke in itself, Jan-Maat. But who am I to judge that, being Swedish? They say Norway and Sweden will be at war a thousand years from now, when we finally understand each other's mean jokes.
Lisa wrote: "Jan-Maat wrote: "A Finnish humorist, isn't there a joke about that?"It probably is a joke in itself, Jan-Maat. But who am I to judge that, being Swedish? They say Norway and Sweden will be at war..."
a thousand years from now is but a twinkling in the lives of stars but a long time for the likes of us!
As for me, only children can make me laugh. I need innocence to find my laugh out loud side. And that is not a Canadian thing.
As for this book, I suspect that you summed it up with the word "slapstick". Some people like slapstick. My father, who went to a lot of silent films as a child, loved slapstick. I was terribly put off by his laughter as a child because even at the age of six or seven I couldn't find it funny.
We are all different in that way I guess. Now Finnish names, like "Paasilinna", I do find a gentle kind of humour in that. (But not laugh out loud.)Finally Lisa, I must make note that your review has brought out a touch of humour in your GR friends. So there's humour to be found in this book after all. We just needed your review as inspiration. Thanks.
Marita wrote: "The book might not have been funny, but your review made me laugh. : )"That is a good revenge on the plot, and made me smile as well! Thanks, Marita!
RK-ique wrote: "As for me, only children can make me laugh. I need innocence to find my laugh out loud side. And that is not a Canadian thing.
As for this book, I suspect that you summed it up with the word "sla..."I agree with you, RK-ique! I've found much more genuine pleasure in my friends' reaction than in the novel itself.
Two points you are making speak right to my heart: I never thought of the effect of silent film - a great reflection. Of course my favoured sense of humour - ironic or sarcastic wordplay - does not work without language. It has to be complex literature as well, playing on different associations. Slapstick represents humour with no need for words. And I love words above all.
Second: you made me think of my adorable two-year-old nephew, who was the funniest and sweetest prince Charming ever at Christmas, walking around and thinking he rules the world. It's when we see grown-ups still acting like those little kids that we feel nauseous!
If I remember correctly, Lisa, you and I became friends on goodreads because of a common taste for the truly comic.Slapstick can work but sometimes it's just too silly - like the rest of this comment ;-)
Ich bin dir wirklich dankbar, weil ich an Paasillinni auch nicht wirklich rankomme. Dabei wird er mir immer wieder empfohlen. Er hat seinen eigenen Ton, aber keinen, der mich anspricht.
Fionnuala wrote: "If I remember correctly, Lisa, you and I became friends on goodreads because of a common taste for the truly comic.Slapstick can work but sometimes it's just too silly - like the rest of this comm..."
Oh yes, I remember that, too - and you had me laugh out loud now. Indeed, the March Hare suits my delicate sense of humour precisely, but maybe I should have waited until May anyway, like Alice:
"The March Hare will be much the most interesting, and perhaps as this is May it won't be raving mad – at least not so mad as it was in March."
Steffi wrote: "Ich bin dir wirklich dankbar, weil ich an Paasillinni auch nicht wirklich rankomme. Dabei wird er mir immer wieder empfohlen. Er hat seinen eigenen Ton, aber keinen, der mich anspricht."Ich habe mehrere Werke von ihm gelesen, und immer wieder finde ich ihn platt und manchmal einfach albern. Ich glaube, ich wollte mit dieser Review das Kapitel mit seinen Buechern erstmal beenden. Was gibt es traurigeres, als ein Buch zu lesen in der Hoffnung zu lachen, und dann nicht mal ein Lächeln hinzukriegen? :-)
A wonderfully introspective and soul-searching piece, Lisa!One thing I would say is that Scandinavians are often the tourists most liked by those living in foreign climes: I asked some Thai hotel personnel, who placed Brits second (but they might've only done that because they were being polite).
And one other thing that I'd like to say is that your review made me smile, Lisa.
So stating that Swedes have no sense of humour might not be a the self-fulfilling prophecy you thought it to be! : )
Kevin wrote: "A wonderfully introspective and soul-searching piece, Lisa!One thing I would say is that Scandinavians are often the tourists most liked by those living in foreign climes: I asked some Thai hotel ..."
Thanks Kevin! I guess you are right. There is something of an oxymoron involved in joking about lacking sense of humour. Now this book gives me great fun - post reading!
Norma wrote: "I agree with Marita. You are funny."Thanks, Norma! I was confused first, because I didn't even remember writing this review. Adding dementia to my list of "problems not to be solved any time soon".
Nach Sedaris und Paasilinna habe ich auch nie wieder versucht, einen "witzigen" Autoren zu lesen. Erschreckenderweise finde ich das örtliche Telefonbuch an vielen Stellen lustiger als P. :(
Michael wrote: "Nach Sedaris und Paasilinna habe ich auch nie wieder versucht, einen "witzigen" Autoren zu lesen. Erschreckenderweise finde ich das örtliche Telefonbuch an vielen Stellen lustiger als P. :("Sedaris kenne ich nicht, aber das Telefonbuch habe ich auch schon probiert ;-) Ich habe Schwierigkeiten mit "gewollt" lustigen Situationen.
Your comment reminded me of a quote about European stereotypes I read in a programme for a Bergman retrospective: “There have been many definitions of hell, but for the English the best definition is that it is the place where the Germans are the police, the Swedish are the comedians, the Italians are the defense force, Frenchmen dig the roads, the Belgians are the pop singers, the Spanish run the railways, the Turks cook the food, the Irish are the waiters, the Greeks run the government, and the common language is Dutch” – David Frost
Eric wrote: "Your comment reminded me of a quote about European stereotypes I read in a programme for a Bergman retrospective: “There have been many definitions of hell, but for the English the best definition ..."Sounds like a good comedy to me!
What do you think of the one from the other side of Scandinavia, Erland Loe?
Nikola wrote: "What do you think of the one from the other side of Scandinavia, Erland Loe?"Haven't read yet, so no opinion :-)
Jan-Maat wrote: "Monty-Python is funny? Really?"All is relative ;-)
Reader S. wrote: "I didn't find this funny, either, and I'm a Finn. I thought it was very boring, and DNFed the whole thing. But: I once saw a play based on this book, and that play was very good. That's why I picke...":-)
Couldn't agree more with this review.
1. I laughed my ass off with your review; the 1970s cut eluded you.2. This book is as fun as an enema. Full point. Not your fault at all.
