August
I don't like books about Finnish peasantry. I don't like Finnish literature, especially classic. They're always about the same knife fights and drunkenness. At least that was what I believed a couple of years ago. Since then I've decided to pick up some Finnish titles that seem interesting. Although drinking is a big part of this story and the language is old and strange, the beautiful use of words when describing nature and the heart breaking ending are enough to give this the big rating of four stars.

With the risk of sounding snobbish: I still am not drawn to stories about Finnish peasantry. However, even amongst those stories are jewels that cannot be ignored. The simplicity of Elokuu was gorgeous; the feel of summer and the moment before summer storm were so beautiful. I'll be reading more from Sillanpää, simply because he's really good at describing human emotion and nature. I still can't get over the ending. The moment when you realize your life wasn't supposed to be like this. That everything you dreamed about is gone and you don't have enough strength and courage to change that. Instead you're all alone.