Books from Finland - A literary journal of writing from and about Finland.

Appearing at number two on the Finnish fiction best-seller in August was part 12 of Juba Tuomola’s Viivi & Wagner comic-strip series, entitled Kuinka kasvissyöjä kesytetään (‘The taming of the vegetarian’, Arktinen Banaani).

With its hero, the (literal) chauvinist pig Wagner and his (human) girlfriend Viivi, the series has long been immensely popular in Finland but, unaccountably, the mixed-species duo hasn’t yet made its international breakthrough… As we wait for Viivi and Wagner to conquer the world, here’s a sneak preview (sorry, no English subtitles on the web page of the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper where the daily strip is reprinted!).

- You never look into my eyes when I’m talking to you. Annoying! - Speak, woman. The pig’s listening.

- Wagners lips ask for permission to land on Viivi’s lips. - Permission granted. - Wagner’s legs ask for permission to land on the pub downstairs. - Permission denied.

Ihmisen osa (‘The human condition’), a new novel by Kari Hotakainen, a past winner of the Finlandia Prize for Fiction (2002), climbed quickly to third place on the August best-seller list, while Sofi Oksanen’s hugely popular Finlandia Prize -winning novel Puhdistus (‘The purge’) from last year maintained its position at number 5.

Otherwise the August best-seller list (link in Finnish only – updated by Kirjamedia, based on bookshop sales) mostly comprised the usual mix of thrillers, whodunits and crime novels, both Finnish and foreign, as well as international blockbusters.