The Intern's Diary: Secrets of the Desk Drawer

Kianto, Ilmari, 1874-1970Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.5

Word count: 277K words
Chapters: 28

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Auskultantin päiväkirja: Pöytälaatikon salaisuuksia by Ilmari KiantoAuthor: Kianto, Ilmari, 1874-1970,Language: Finnish, Class: PH: Language and Literatures: Finno-Ugrian and Basque languages and literatures, Release Date: May 31, 2017

Editor's review

This work comes from the Finnish author Ilmari Kianto and unfolds in diary form; the title's "listener's diary" and "secrets in the drawer" suggest an interweaving of private record and hidden thoughts. Kianto is known in Finnish literature for depicting rural life and human psychology, and this book continues that attention to the inner world of the individual. The diary form brings an intimate, fragmentary reading rhythm, as if the reader were turning over pages never shown to others in someone's drawer. For readers who want to understand the Finnish literary tradition and are interested in diary-form narrative and modern Nordic literature, this is a freely available original-language text. Note that the original is in Finnish; the barrier to reading lies mainly in the language rather than the length, making it suitable as extensive reading material for language learners or as a supplementary text for comparative literature study.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Intermediate and advanced Finnish learners who want to encounter literature in the original
Literature students studying Nordic literature and diary-form narrative
Readers interested in the Finnish modern author Ilmari Kianto
General readers who enjoy private diary-style, fragmentary narration

Not a good fit for

Casual readers with no Finnish at all and no translation available
Readers who prefer strong plot and fast-paced fiction
Beginners who need a systematic literary-historical introduction

Reading tips

First read through once to grasp the overall tone of the diary form, then read closely section by section for language difficulties.
Use a Finnish dictionary to note high-frequency words and expressions as language-learning material.
While reading, pay attention to how the private perspective in the diary echoes the historical background.
Compare with background materials on Kianto's other works to understand his writing style.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What language is this book written in, and what language level is needed?

The original is in Finnish and is a public-domain electronic text. An intermediate or higher reading ability in Finnish is enough to attempt it; beginners can read section by section with a dictionary, or start with relevant background introductions.

How does the diary form affect reading?

The diary form consists of separate fragments, and consecutive entries are not necessarily strongly connected, so it suits reading in segments. Readers can read through in chronological order or choose individual entries for close reading without worrying about missing a main plot.

Is this book suitable for learning Finnish?

It can serve as extensive reading material, but literary language and period expressions may make it difficult. It is best used mainly to grasp the general meaning, with a dictionary for vocabulary building; it is not suitable as a zero-beginner textbook.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Kianto, Ilmari, 1874-1970 Author

Ilmari Kianto (1874-1970) was a Finnish author, with 15 works held in this collection. His writing spans novels, poetry, and essays, often drawing on Finnish rural life, marriage, social conflict, and memories of war. Notable works include the novel Punainen viiva (The Red Line); Avioliitto: Tarina tuhansien joukosta, which examines marriage; Vanha pappila, set in an old parsonage; and Hakkaa päälle! Sotarunoja valkoiselle armeijalle, war poems dedicated to the White Army. Poro-kirja concerns reindeer, while Pyhä viha: Romaani and Metsäherran herjaaja further reflect his interest in nature, morality, and human contradiction. Public information is limited, making biographical details difficult to verify, yet his works reveal a plain, forceful narrative style that portrays Finnish social and spiritual life.