The Great Crime

Kössi KaatraProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.1

Word count: 116K words
Chapters: 12

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.Suuri rikos by Kössi KaatraAuthor: Kaatra, Kössi, 1882-1928,Language: Finnish, Class: PH: Language and Literatures: Finno-Ugrian and Basque languages and literatures, Release Date: May 2, 2015

Editor's review

Suuri rikos ("The Great Crime") is a work by Finnish author Kössi Kaatra, available in the Project Gutenberg collection as one of the more accessible public-domain texts in Finnish literature. Kaatra was active from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, and his writing is often associated with the labor movement and a sense of social critique, a background that gives the book a clear period concern. Written in Finnish, the work has a plain style and touches on guilt and responsibility, social circumstances, and individual choice, making it a useful entry point for understanding modern Finnish literature and social thought. Given the limited materials currently available, readers should not approach it with fixed plot expectations, but rather as a literary text in historical context, attending to its language and its sense of inquiry. For readers studying Nordic minority-language literatures or Finnish labor literature, this is a public-domain text worth noting.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers studying Finnish literature or Nordic minority-language literatures
Readers interested in labor and social issues from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century
Finnish-reading learners who wish to engage with public-domain texts
Advanced readers interested in modern European literature of social critique

Not a good fit for

General readers without Finnish reading ability and without a reliable translation
Readers seeking a light, entertaining reading experience
Beginners seeking detailed introductions and annotations

Reading tips

Begin by learning about the Finnish society and labor movement of Kaatra's time before entering the text.
While reading, note how "crime" and "responsibility" carry different meanings in different characters' mouths.
Use materials on modern Finnish history to situate the work in its period context.
If the language barrier is high, start with excerpts and work through them gradually with a dictionary.

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 there a Chinese translation of this book?

Available information indicates that the book is a Finnish-language public-domain text provided by Project Gutenberg, with no reliable Chinese translation found. Chinese readers who wish to read it need Finnish reading ability or should consult quotations and discussion in relevant research literature.

What does the title "Suuri rikos" mean?

"Suuri rikos" means "The Great Crime" in Finnish. The title points to the work's concern with guilt and responsibility, but its specific reference needs to be understood in light of the characters' circumstances and the social context in the text; the plot should not be guessed from the title alone.

What is the author Kaatra's background?

Kössi Kaatra (1882–1928) was a Finnish writer whose writing is connected with the labor movement and social critique of his time. Because materials are limited, readers are advised to rely mainly on the text and on the background of modern Finnish history, and not to trust unverified anecdotes about the author.

What should readers note about this public-domain e-book?

Project Gutenberg texts are proofread by volunteers and are generally usable, but different versions may vary in formatting or punctuation. Reading should focus on understanding the content; when quoting the original text, check the specific version information, and note that public-domain texts usually lack detailed annotations.

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

Kössi Kaatra Author · Finnish · 1882–1928

Kössi Kaatra (1882–1928), born Gustaf Adolf Lindström, was a Finnish working-class poet, journalist and theatre director, and a representative figure of early Finnish labour literature. Writing in Finnish, he produced poems and songs drawn largely from the workers' movement, strikes and class struggle, in a plain and rousing style; his long poem Red and White: A Chronicle of the Finnish Civil War treats the civil war from a class perspective, while workers' songs such as Songs of the Great Strike were widely sung. During the general strike of 1905 he read the "Red Declaration" from the balcony of Tampere City Hall. After the civil war's defeat he fled to Sweden and died in Huddinge. Nine of his works are held here; public information is limited, but his writing is clearly bound up with the Finnish labour movement.