Popular Music

by Mikael Niemi | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0007145519 Global Overview for this book
Registered by zzz of Rakovica / Раковица, City of Belgrade Serbia on 5/13/2006
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2 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by zzz from Rakovica / Раковица, City of Belgrade Serbia on Saturday, May 13, 2006
This book was present from my dear Suomi friend CatharinaL. The incredibly curious thing was that I've bought translated copy (just published and still smelling on the ink) the same day when the book arrived. I knew that we do have similar literary taste but this was absolutely incredible :-)
Thank you so much Rea!

From the cover:
'Combines the warmth of, say, Nick Hornby or Roddy Doyle with a bittersweet poetry. Each chapter is small parable, simple but oceans deed, so that frequently you find you are laughing while having tears in your eyes' The Times

It's the 1960s, and pop records are gradually finding their way into the eager hands of teenagers in the far north Sweden. Young Matti dreams of being a rock star - but in the tiny ice-bound village of Pajala, a boy should really spend his time cultivating more manly pursuits, such as hunting elk, drinking moonshine and fighting on dancefloors...

'One of the warmest, funniest and most moving novels of the year, Popular Music resonates with perfectly timed, bittersweet humour.' Scotland on Sunday

Oh I really liked this novel. Comparing with books I usually read this was something different, more than once I was laughing 'till tears (which is very rare). It is some sort of collection of stories about growing up in the province on the north of Europe (imagine this combination). It was actually so exotic read because elks and white nights and sauna are something totally usual. (and it's hardly to imagine all that in my life even once in six months)
This one lovely picture of life without PCs and internet and CDs ... lovely indeed ...



This is Mikael Niemi!

Journal Entry 2 by Megi53 from Danville, Virginia USA on Saturday, July 1, 2006
Thanks for sending me such a great book! As I expected, my son snatched it away this morning and he's already on chapter 3.

Journal Entry 3 by Megi53 from Danville, Virginia USA on Friday, March 23, 2007
The scene where the ice breaks on the River Torne was a reading experience I'll never forget ... absolutely profound. How I wish I could witness it -- and the Northern Lights, too. (One of the websites at the back of the book offers snowmobile safaris to places in Pajala, so maybe someday I will go there.)

My other favorite part was the race between Greger and the schoolbus. It was so hilarious that I laughed out loud! "The man in red", indeed.

I enjoyed the touches of fabulism, especially the part about the furnace/womb. Very well written (and well translated).

There were two vignettes about books from which I want to quote a bit; they shed some light on the biblioholism which troubles me at times:

(When Matti and Niila start throwing Isak's books down the cowshed steps):

"I'd never seen so many books at the same time before, apart from in the library on the top floor of the Old School. There was something unnatural about it; something decidedly unpleasant. Far too many books. Who could possibly ever manage to read them all?" (page 74)

(Matti's father's lecture about the facts of life):

"The most dangerous thing of all, and something he wanted to warn me about above all else, the one thing that had consigned whole regiments of unfortunate young people to the twilight world of insanity, was reading books." [snip] "Lunatic asylums were overflowing with folk who'd been reading too much. Once upon a time they'd been just like you and me, physically strong, straightforward, cheerful and well balanced. Then they'd started reading. Most often by chance. A bout of flu perhaps, with a few days in bed. An attractive book cover that had aroused some curiosity. And suddenly the bad habit had taken hold. The first book had led to another. Then another, and another, all links in a chain that led straight down into the eternal night of mental illness. It was impossible to stop. It was worse than drugs." [snip] "The most dangerous kind of book was fiction -- that's where all the brooding was sparked off and encouraged." (page 271)

On to other topics: I, of course, disliked the chapters with the mice and the air gun wars. I adored the part about the man who loved to build with wood. Details about the food, wildlife, and forests made me feel I was there -- the best thing about reading, really, is the vicarious travel.

Thanks, zzz, for this Ballyswapper gift, which is being mailed to another Ballyswapper tomorrow.

Journal Entry 4 by Megi53 from Danville, Virginia USA on Wednesday, May 30, 2007
I was looking up this book 'cause I wanted to reread the quotes about books that I saved -- and realized WoM has never journaled it! Anyway, if you look on the Monthly Exchanges forum at bookobsessed.com, you can see she received it in time for her opening day.

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