Reviews for The Year of the Hare

The average rating for The Year of the Hare based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-04-27 00:00:00 Ronauld G Walton ENGLISH (The Year of the Hare) / ITALIANO Vatanen, a Finnish journalist, is in conflict with his life. The dissatisfaction comes out one day after hitting a hare. After rescue the wild animal, inexplicably Vatanen running through the woods together with his new friend. He starts down a path of inner purification across the Finland. He plays the part of a veterinary, a fugitive, a fisherman, a fireman, a cowhand, a wrecker, a bear hunter, a drunkard. He learns to make do with what he has, he puts into practice elementary survival rules, he discovers the pleasure of living in the moment. Always with his inseparable hare, the living symbol of its change. I didn't know Arto Paasilinna, a former journalist and a former forest ranger, but this little humorous and adventure novel, full of unlikely and fun circumstances, surely makes me want to read more about his production. Paasilinna seems to me a new Lewis Carroll, and Vatanen seems the male and adult version of Alice, who followed the white rabbit without delay as well as Vatanen follows the hare to the discovery of a new world. And you? Will you follow your white rabbit, when it will cut you off? Vote: 7,5 Vatanen, giornalista finlandese, è in conflitto con la vita che conduce. L'insoddisfazione si palesa un bel giorno dopo aver investito una lepre. Dopo aver soccorso l'animale selvatico, inspiegabilmente fugge con esso nei boschi. Comincia per lui un percorso di "purificazione" interiore attraverso buona parte della Finlandia. Si improvvisa veterinario, fuggiasco, pescatore, pompiere, mandriano, demolitore, cacciatore d'orsi, ubriacone. Impara l'arte di arrangiarsi con quel che ha, mette in pratica regole di sopravvivenza elementare, scopre il piacere di vivere alla giornata. Sempre con l'inseparabile lepre al seguito, simbolo vivente del suo cambiamento. Non conoscevo Arto Paasilinna, ex giornalista ed ex guardia boschi, e questo piccolo romanzo umoristico di avventura, ricco di situazioni tanto improbabili quanto comiche, sicuramente mi invoglia a leggere altro di sua produzione. A me Paasilinna sembra tanto un novello Lewis Carroll, e Vatanen la versione maschile e adulta di Alice nel paese delle meraviglie, che seguì senza indugi il bianconiglio così come Vatanen segue la lepre alla scoperta di un mondo nuovo. E voi? Seguirete il vostro bianconiglio, quando vi taglierà la strada? Voto: 7,5

Review # 2 was written on 2018-03-12 00:00:00 James Lee I enjoyed Arto Paasilinna's The Year of the Hare. It seemed part fable, part drunken frenzy and part Walden Pond; this crazy combination resonated with me. Our protagonist walks out on his life and wanders rural Finland with a hare (which he has rescued) as his companion. His acceptance and adaptability to his shifting circumstances and his bond to his new traveling companion transform his life in unpredictable ways. It's a short read, but it both made me smile and got me thinking.