Muistoja ja toiveita ystäville jouluksi

Genetz, Arvid, 1848-1915Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.5
Word count
81K words
Chapters
9

Tags

Foreign Language Books Essays and Miscellany Festive LettersFaith ComfortWinter MoodFriendship MessagesChristmas ReflectionSpiritual ComfortHeartwarming NarrativePoetic Prose19th CenturyFinnish Literature

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.Muistoja ja toiveita ystäville jouluksi by Arvid GenetzAuthor: Genetz, Arvid, 1848-1915,Language: Finnish, Class: PH: Language and Literatures: Finno-Ugrian and Basque languages and literatures, Release Date: Jun 14, 2008

Editor's review

This is a Christmas-greeting-style work written in Finnish by Arvid Genetz, who lived from the second half of the nineteenth century into the early twentieth; the text carries a clear period flavor and the warmth of the letter form. The book is short and centers on memories and good wishes, suited to leisurely reading in a holiday atmosphere. Its value lies not in systematic argument but in presenting an old-fashioned mode of emotional expression addressed to friends, through which readers can sense the rhythm and warmth of Finnish prose. As a free Project Gutenberg e-book, it is easy to obtain and suitable for browsing by readers interested in Finnish language and literature, Nordic holiday culture, or nineteenth-century epistolary texts. Reading it need not involve seeking plot progression; it is better treated as seasonal reading or supplementary language-learning material, to be savored paragraph by paragraph in quiet moments for its wording and feeling.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. Read through once to feel the tone, then read closely paragraph by paragraph with a dictionary to build up Finnish expressions.
  2. Read a short passage each day around Christmas, in keeping with the holiday atmosphere, for light reading.
  3. If using it for language learning, copy out the greeting sentences and try writing short imitations.
  4. Read alongside material on Nordic holiday culture to understand the period context behind the text.

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

FAQ

Is this book in Finnish or English? According to the Project Gutenberg record, the book is in Finnish and belongs to Finnish–Ugric-language literature; reading it requires some foundation in Finnish or the use of dictionary tools.
Is this book suitable for complete beginners? Not very suitable for complete beginners. The text is nineteenth-century Finnish, with wording and sentence patterns characteristic of the period; beginners are likely to struggle with vocabulary and word order, so it is advisable to attempt it after gaining some language foundation.
Where can I get the electronic edition? The book is published by Project Gutenberg as a free e-book; it can be searched and downloaded on their website by title or author. The specific format depends on what the platform provides, and no payment is required.

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About the author

Genetz, Arvid, 1848-1915 Author · Finnish · 1848–1915

Arvid Genetz (1848–1915) was a Finnish poet, educator and politician. He lived in the mid-nineteenth century, a time of growing national awakening in Finland, and published under a pen name while taking part in that movement. His surviving output is limited: the library holds only one work, Muistoja ja toiveita ystäville jouluksi, which may be rendered as "Memories and Wishes for Friends at Christmas." Judging by the title, it is a festive, gift-like piece addressed to friends, offering recollections and hopes in a sincere and intimate tone; it thus combines personal expression with a social purpose, in keeping with the national-Romantic interest in folk tradition and writing in the mother tongue. Public information on the details of his life is limited, so no more can be stated with confidence; readers may approach his writing through his several roles as poet, educator and politician, and through its concern with reality and with ordinary people.