Emmalan Elli

Kasimir LeinoProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.7

Word count: 173K words
Chapters: 18

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.Emmalan Elli by Kasimir LeinoAuthor: Leino, Kasimir, 1866-1919,Language: Finnish, Class: PH: Language and Literatures: Finno-Ugrian and Basque languages and literatures, Release Date: Dec 13, 2014

Editor's review

"Emmalan Elli" is a work by the Finnish author Kasimir Leino (1866–1919), written in Finnish and belonging to the category of Finnish language and literature. Leino was both a writer and a literary critic, and his writing often carries the spirit of the late 19th-century awakening of Finnish national literature. The book is short, and its language reflects the expressive conventions of early Finnish literature, making it a useful sample for understanding marginal texts in Finnish literary history. Its value lies not in dramatic plot but in offering a slice of the language and narrative voice of its time: readers can observe the syntax, word choice, and character construction of Finnish prose of the period, and can also use it as an introduction to the public-domain Finnish-language materials preserved by Project Gutenberg. It is best read slowly, with a dictionary for unfamiliar words, as material for language learning and literary-historical observation rather than as a fast-paced popular novel. For Finnish beginners, it can serve as advanced extensive reading material, but a basic grasp of grammar is required.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Intermediate learners of Finnish who wish to encounter literary texts in the original
Scholars studying late 19th-century Finnish literature and language history
General readers interested in Nordic public-domain literature
Language teachers in need of Finnish text materials

Not a good fit for

Readers with no Finnish at all who hope to read stories effortlessly
Readers of popular fiction expecting a strong plot and fast pace
Beginners who need modern Finnish textbooks or bilingual annotated editions

Reading tips

First read through once without worrying about details to grasp the characters and scenes, then read closely paragraph by paragraph, looking up words.
Keep a Finnish dictionary and grammar reference at hand, and mark recurring sentence patterns and common words.
Read alongside background material on Finnish literary history to understand the period's language habits.
Treat the book as extensive reading material, reading a short section at a time and briefly retelling its content.

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

Is this book suitable for readers with no knowledge of Finnish?

Not really. The book is in the original Finnish, with no bilingual text or grammar notes, and readers with no foundation will struggle with unfamiliar words and early literary sentence patterns. It is better to master basic grammar and common vocabulary first, then use it as advanced extensive reading material.

Who was the author Kasimir Leino?

Kasimir Leino (1866–1919) was a Finnish writer and literary critic active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The source material gives only his dates and his authorship of this book, with no further biographical details. The book can be read in the context of the development of Finnish national literature without relying on the author's biography.

Is the Finnish in the book very different from modern Finnish?

There is some difference due to the period. The book is a late 19th-century Finnish literary text, and its syntax and vocabulary reflect the written conventions of the time; some expressions may be uncommon in modern Finnish. Readers can use a dictionary and grammar reference, but should not treat it as a modern spoken-language textbook.

Is the source of this electronic edition reliable?

The book was released by Project Gutenberg, a platform known for providing public-domain ebooks, and the material states that it was released in December 2014. As an electronic edition of a public-domain work, it is suitable for reading and research, but readers should still be aware of the formatting and proofreading of the electronic edition and verify quotations against the original text.

Comments

Find this book

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

Kasimir Leino Author · Finnish · 1866–1919

Kasimir Leino (1866–1919) was a Finnish poet, writer and journalist, born Kasimir Agathon Lönnbohm in Paltamo and the elder brother of the poet Eino Leino. His works include the poetry collections In the Torrent and Broader Waters, the story collections Life and Elli of Emmala, and a monograph on the French writer Prosper Mérimée; together with his brother he also founded the literary journal The New Age. Nine of his works are held in this collection, among them 25 Years, Jaakko Ilkka and Klaus Fleming, Poetic Experiments and Testament and Other Stories. Public information is limited, but his writing spans poetry, fiction, criticism and journalism, often drawing on history and everyday life in a plain, realistic spirit, and he holds a place in the development of Finnish national literature and the literary public sphere.