Paavo Nissinen: Scenes from the Last Finnish War

Mellin, G. H. (Gustaf Henrik), 1803-1876Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.0

Word count: 143K words
Chapters: 15

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.Paavo Nissinen: Kuvaelmia viimeisestä Suomen sodasta by G. H. MellinAuthor: Mellin, G. H. (Gustaf Henrik), 1803-1876,Language: Finnish, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Feb 26, 2007

Editor's review

This is a Finnish-language historical novel in which Mellin uses the figure of Paavo Nissinen to portray scenes from the final phase of the Finnish War. The word "kuvaelmia" in the title signals that the work is made up of scene-like sketches, weighted toward visual imagery and period atmosphere rather than rigorous historical research. For Chinese readers its value lies first in being a sample of language and genre: it offers a glimpse of how nineteenth-century Finnish narrative literature handled the memory of war. The barriers are chiefly linguistic and, second, historical—the course of the Finnish War must be learned elsewhere, or the novel's scenes are easily mistaken for fact. It works well as supplementary reading for Nordic literature or Finnish history, ideally with a map and an overview of the war's history. Readers seeking only plot entertainment may find the sketch-like structure loose.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers learning Finnish who need literary texts for extensive reading
Literature enthusiasts studying Nordic historical fiction and war narrative
Researchers on Finnish history seeking supplementary literary material
Advanced readers interested in nineteenth-century European war subjects

Not a good fit for

Readers without Finnish reading ability and no available translation
Beginners seeking a systematic account of the Finnish War
Readers who prefer tight plotting and have little tolerance for scene-based structure

Reading tips

Look up the causes and general course of the Finnish War first to establish a timeline before reading.
Match place names in the text against a map to reconstruct the spatial relations of each scene.
Take notes scene by scene, recording characters and events to avoid confusing the threads.

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

Can I read this book without knowing Finnish?

The original is in Finnish; without the language you would need a translation or translation tools. Even with tools, much of the flavor of the literary language is lost. Language beginners are advised to treat it as extensive reading rather than close study.

Can the contents be cited as historical fact?

It is a literary work focused on depicting scenes and creating atmosphere, not a work of history. Characters and plot may be artistically reshaped. For research, treat it as literary material and check historical facts against professional histories.

Isn't the sketch-like structure rather disjointed?

It can be. The title signals a work made up of multiple scenes whose threads are not always continuous. Read through once for overall atmosphere, then organize characters and events scene by scene, or use a timeline of the war to locate each sketch.

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About the author

Mellin, G. H. (Gustaf Henrik), 1803-1876 Author

G. H. Mellin (1803–1876) was a Finnish author about whom public information is limited, including details of his life and nationality. Five of his works are held in the collection, mostly historical novels and short stories focusing on historical events and figures of Finland and Sweden. Representative works include "Paavo Nissinen: Kuvaelmia viimeisestä Suomen sodasta," set against the Finnish War; "Helena Wrede" and "Ulla Fersen," drawn from the age of Gustav II Adolf and Swedish history; "Maria Dundee eli Puolalaiset Tukholmassa," which concerns Poles in Stockholm; and "Kolarflickan eller En Wandring i Norrland," depicting a wandering journey in the north. These works are framed by Nordic history and combine romantic coloring with historical narrative, reflecting the author's interest in national historical themes.