A good story may well be a simple one. In Elena (Elena) Joel Haahtela tells a simple story, at least on the surface.
A man leaves his home, takes a tram, alights two stops earlier than he should, walks through a park and sees a woman, gets fascinated, if not obsessed by the woman. Every morning the man comes to the park, to sit under an olive tree, to wait and to see the woman walking across the park. Then the woman does not come, for summer came and the women left. The man follows the woman to an island, sees her there. They return to the city, the woman meets another man, the original man observes it all.
At the end, they meet for a short while. But now, slowly, we have learned who the man is, and the story has changed. In strange twists, the story takes the reader from sadness to happiness, again and again. As if the author would play the reader and his emotions as master composer.
The story is simple, the language it is told with is even simpler, the sentences short. There is not a single unnecessary work in the novel, every word builds up the story, the atmosphere. The atmosphere is one of mystery, as we do not know the country, the time, or city the story takes place. Somehow the castle of Kafka looms beneath, yet there is nothing threatening.
This is a book everyone should read, for it changes lives, and gives hope in the face of any adversity.
28.01.2007