Mansikoita marraskuussa (Strawberries in November) by Pirjo Hassinen tells a story of a young actor and his wife. The actor acts first in some provincial theater, then moves to the capital to study in the national theater academy. He becomes very successful. The credit is due to his wife, who tells the story. The wife claims that she has taught all the tricks, skills, and mannerisms the actor knows and uses so well in his blooming career.
The books is very frustrating. The wife (narrator) keeps on telling that she will tell more later, giving hints about the future, and knows it all. She also keeps on telling (with countless adjectives) about her emotional states and how how she all the time knew everything better and observed everything more clearly than all the other characters.
But then it happens, the book ends with the intensity of a masterful short story. The last 15 pages simply leave the reader gasping for air, totally dumbfounded. The books leaves the reader with a hard question: were the 300 pages of emotional states and adjectives necessary for building up such a masterful ending? Or is the ending just a fluke?
If you read the book, please tell me your opinion.
27.01.2007