lewism

Popular Music from Vittula by Mikael Niemi is a funny bitter-sweet story of a boy growing up in the town of Pajala in the Arctic circle. The coming of age story of Matti in which each chapter is a short story or vignette which stands up to reading on its own. However when combined together the chapters set out the life of a wannabee rock and roll star growing up on the Swedish/Finnish border wonderfully. This is a worldwide bestseller and it is easy to see why. Narrated with the power of a true writers ability it clearly stands out from the crowd of recent fiction I’ve read, its told with real warmth, affection and humour. A fantastic book and well worth a read. Interestingly Pajala has a hi resolution presence on Google earth here’s the kmz (download for Google earth) centered on Pajala’s other claim to fame, the biggest sundial in the world. This is the second book I’ve read in the Finnish summer reading project with Georg.