Seven brothers [antikvár]

TRANSLATOR'S FOREWORD "Seven Brothers", for three quarters of a century the most widely circulated book in Finland next to the Bible, can be read as a simple tale of adventure and humour, as it is read and enjoyed by Finns of all ages who ask of a book solely that it shall engross and entertain them. For the non-Finnish reader it can be something more. Entertainment certainly, but at the same time a key to the Finnish national character and the country by which that character was moulded. The face of Finland has of course altered greatly since Kivi wrote his novel in the 1860's, drawing even then on his memories of earlier times. It might be difficult to recognize in the Finnish farmer of to-day the children of nature Kivi drew. Yet for all that, national character does not easily change, and Kivi's "brothers" are still typical of the nation. The traits of character that determined the course of their lives — stubbornness, hardy individualism, endurance, independence, love of liberty — are those which have determined the course of Finland's history in our times. Nor has the character of the Finnish landscape changed for all the local transformations brought about by industrialization and a growing population. If it is the spirit of the nation a stranger to Finland wishes to know, there is still no better introduction than Kivi's novel. #