By the Open Sea wel!"'®" His early plays Га1 tn'' then expected of Sprp ""I?"'®'' weren't S Snl h' all, examining folific v!i p" ° ™hage. A fantastically ««ies numomn T'"' short "««tVhas eve volumes and sever been translated into English. CRITICISM AND BIOGRAPHY Peter Cowie Ingmar Bergman (Andre Deutsch, UK). New edition of an already fine critical biography of the director: a wellwritten, sympathetic account of Bergman's life and career. Michael Meyer Strindberg on File (Methuen Heinemann). A useful brief account of Strindberg's life and work, though for more stirring biography the same author's Strindberg (OUP) is the best and most approachable source. FINLAND HISTORY D.G. Kirby Finland in the Twentieth Century A History and Interpretation (C.HurstUniversity of Minnesota Press). By far the best insight into contemporary Finland and the reshaping of the nation after independence. Recommended. Fred Singleton A Short History of Finland {CUP). A very readable and informative account of Finland's past, lacking the detail of most academic accounts but an excellent starting point for general readers. LITERATURE Tove Jansson The Moomin books (all published by Puffin, UK). Enduring children's tales, and with evocative descriptions of Finnish nature. Matti Joensuu Harjunpaa and the Stone Murders {GoWana Crime, UK) The only one of the Harjunpaa series, involving the Helsinki detective, Titrio Harjunpaa, to have been translated into English. It's set in contemporary Helsinki during a bout of teenage gang warfare. Cbrister Kihiman The Rise and Fall of Gerdt Bladh (Peter OwenDufour|. Supremely evocative study of personal anguish set against a background of Finland's ascent from rural backwater to modern, prosperous nation. Vaino Linna The Unknown SoWел (Panther, UK, o). Using his experiences fighting in the Winter War, Linna triggered immense controversy with this book, depicting for the first time Finnish soldiers not as "heroes in white" but as men who drank and womanised. в о о KSIil Elias Lonnrot Kalevala (Athlone PressHarvard University Press). A collection of previously oral folktales gathered over twenty years by Lonnrot, a rural doctor, and the classic tome of Finnish literature. Set in an unspecified point in the past.? 2S в A S I с S the plot centres around a state of war between the mythical region of Kalevala (probably northern Karelia) and Pohjola (possibly Lapplandl over possession of a talisnnan called the Sampo. The story is regarded as quintessentially Finnish, but it's not an easy read, due mainly to its length (some 22,750 lines), and the nonlinear course of the plot. Its influence on Finnish literature is huge, and it was a lynchpin of the Finnish nationalist and language movements. Oscar Parland The VearoffSt(Peter Owen UK). A steadily absorbing look at the civilwar torn Finland of 1918 through the eyes of a young boy The television adaptation of a companion novel The Enchanted WaylPeter Owen), set in Kareiia in 1917, won the coveted Prix Italia prize in 1987.