October 10th is the
Aleksis Kivi Day in Finland. Kivi (1834-1872) was the first Finnish novelist to
write in Finnish, which earns him the title of the National Author. Until him,
Finnish was regarded inferior and unsuitable language for literature; the cultural
elite came from the Swedish-speaking minority so the earlier Finnish literature
is written in Swedish.
Seven Brothers (1870, Seitsemän veljestä in Finnish),
the book that transformed Finnish literature, is his only novel; the body of
his work consists of plays and poems. It’s the only work of his that I’ve read
too, and I didn’t read it voluntarily. It was part of the school curriculum and,
like all schoolwork, felt like a chore. I didn’t think I needed to read it
anyway, because I knew what the book was about, having had seen at least two stage
productions and a TV-series based on it.
In the end, I’m glad
that I didn’t take the easy way out, because it’s a good book. For such a
momentous book in Finnish history, it’s easy to read too, both fun and
poignant. As the name reveals, it tells a story of seven brothers who live
simple life in their country village, farming their land, minding their
business. However, the modern world disrupts their lives in the form of the
church and its demand the brothers learn to read if they want to be part of the
society – especially if they want to marry. It doesn’t go well and, thoroughly
incised, the brothers flee in the middle of an untouched forest – there were a
lot of those still left in Finland – to start a new life unharrassed by demands
they couldn’t meet. Eventually, though, civilisation wins and the brothers
return home and become well-respected members of their society.
It’s a story about the
transformation of the society that happened in Finland during the 19th
century. The brothers represent the old, rural world. Simpler world. That doesn’t
mean the brothers are simple or that the book is. Each brother views the world
in their unique way and watching it through their eyes offers a lot to a modern
reader. Especially their views about nature and living in harmony with it would
be understandable today too.
We had to pick a
favourite brother and write a report on him. Mine was Lauri, a unique thinker and
an artistic soul. He must have felt like a kindred spirit, an introvert like
me. Unfortunately, I can’t remember what I wrote. I got a good grade, though,
and we all know that’s what counts. Right?
I haven’t picked the
book since, but I’ve seen some productions on TV and read a children’s picture
book version of it quite a few times. None of these diminish the value of the
original. They add to it. It is, quite simply, a well-loved piece of our
literature and will mostly likely remain so too.
Seven Brothers is available in English, but I haven’t seen the translation and can’t tell if it’s any good. However, I found this video of some summer theatre production of the play based on the book. It’s in Finnish, but for some reason it manages to convey a lot about the spirit of the book, the wildness of the brothers especially. The scenes aren’t in any particular order, they’re just glimpses into the play.
