The Underground: An Adventure Novel of Espionage in Rebellion Plots

Karila, Olli, 1897-1936Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.3
Word count
410K words
Chapters
42

Tags

Foreign Language Books Mystery and Suspense EspionageAdventure JourneyUnderground PlotVengeance and GratitudeSuspenseful PlotCriminal PsychologyFinnish NovelTurbulent Era

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.Maanalaiset: Seikkailuromaani kapinahankkeiden vakoilusta by Olli KarilaAuthor: Karila, Olli, 1897-1936,Language: Finnish, Class: PH: Language and Literatures: Finno-Ugrian and Basque languages and literatures, Release Date: Jul 23, 2018

Editor's review

This is a Finnish adventure novel centered on espionage amid a rebellion plot, belonging to the vein of early twentieth-century popular adventure literature. The author Olli Karila lived from 1897 to 1936, and his creative period coincided with the social unrest and frequent political secret activities around Finnish independence; such subjects often weave together investigation, disguise, pursuit, and the tension of uncertain allegiances. Released free by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain e-book, it is easily accessible and suitable as a sample for understanding Finnish popular narrative and the early spy-adventure genre. Reading requires some foundation in Finnish; otherwise it is hard to appreciate the rhythm of dialogue and the buildup of suspense. It is not a serious historical study and does not stand out for literary experimentation; its value lies more in the pleasure of genre reading and observation of language and culture. If you are collecting public-domain adventure novels in minority languages, or want to experience the narrative tone of Nordic popular literature in the original, this book deserves a place on your reading list.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the opening chapters first to confirm character relationships and plot clues, then decide whether to read the whole book.
  2. Keep paper and pen to note factions and aliases; spy subjects often create suspense through identity shifts.
  3. Read alongside background materials on the period around Finnish independence to understand the context of the conspiracy narrative.
  4. Treat the book as a genre sample rather than a history textbook, focusing on suspense construction and pacing.

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.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42

FAQ

What language is this book in? What reading foundation is needed? The book is in the original Finnish and is a public-domain e-book. Readers need some Finnish ability, at least enough to understand long narrative sentences and dialogue; if you know only Chinese or English, reading will be very difficult, and it is advisable to look for a translation or bilingual support materials first.
Is this real history or fiction? According to the materials, the book is an adventure novel centered on espionage amid a rebellion plot; it is fictional narrative, not a historical archive or documentary report. It can reflect the genre interests of its time but cannot be used as a basis for historical fact.
Why does the author information stop at 1936? The materials show that the author Olli Karila lived from 1897 to 1936, so his works have entered the public domain and Project Gutenberg can release them free. The materials provide no further biographical details, and readers should not infer the full scope of his work from this.

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

Karila, Olli, 1897-1936 Author

Olli Karila (1897–1936) was a Finnish author whose three works held in this collection are all Finnish-language adventure novels, indicating that his main output was popular narrative fiction. His representative titles include Viehättävä vastustajatar: Seikkailuromaani ("A Charming Female Rival: An Adventure Novel") and Kahden reportterin seikkailut: Seikkailuromaani ("The Adventures of Two Reporters: An Adventure Novel"), the former centering on a charismatic rival relationship and the latter following two journalists through a series of adventures; Maanalaiset: Seikkailuromaani kapinahankkeiden vakoilusta ("The Underground: An Adventure Novel of Spying on Conspiracy Plans") brings underground activity, conspiracy, and espionage into an adventure framework. Judging from the available titles, his novels emphasize plot momentum and suspense, drawing on rivalry, journalism, and secret investigation, and bear the clear mark of early twentieth-century popular adventure fiction. Public information about his life, nationality, and education is limited, so his profile can currently be understood only through the works listed here.