Anna-Leena Härkönen

Tätä kirjaa on kiitelty raadollisesta rehellisyydestä ja sanottu, ettei se välttämättä sovi ensimmäistä lastaan odottaville. Allekirjoittaisin molemmat väitteet. Ei mitenkään nautinnollinen lukukokemus aiheesta johtuen, mutta kyllä kiinnostava ja samaistuttava. Härkönen on uskaltanut tunnustaa paperilla paljon sellaista mikä ei näytä häntä menestyksekkäässä ja ihan täysipäisessä valossa, mistä häntä varmasti kiittävät kaikki, joilla on ollut vaikea synnytyskokemus tai alku äitiyteen.… (mere)

First things first. Akvaariorakkautta is the first book I read in Finnish, from cover to cover. It was suggested to me that I should start my Finnish language reading with Häräntappoase by the same author but all I found in the second-hand bookstore was Härkönen's second book. So that's how I ended up reading this.

Boy, was I in for a surprise. Not quite what I expected, a book mostly about sex, repressed fantasies, bad relationships, and teenage stereotypes about all of the above. Written in spoken language (which, in Finnish, differs significantly from written language), and infused with "old-fashioned" idioms and expressions that, according to the native speakers I asked, are quite dated and probably useless nowadays. So this was definitely not the easiest book to start with, but after I adjusted to the difficulty of the challenge, it was just a matter of patience and determination. And when it comes to languages, I can have a bit of both.

On the surface, a book about love and sex. Underneath, a book that could be, in some level, understood as a critique of gender roles and heteronormative and patriarchal sexuality. Unfortunately, the book falls short in this and ends up being merely descriptive. Understandable for a young writer, I guess, but still. I expected some form of resolution for most of it and in the end, nothing.

I might some day read Häräntappoase but for now I'll put Härkönen away. A movie was made of this book but I'm afraid that it will be probably worse. Enough for now.… (mere)