Short reviews or comments on books I
have finished this week. It has been an unusual week: everything I've
read has been in Finnish, and only one of titles exists in English.
Feels a bit funny to summarize them in English, but here goes...
Kuinka kasvattaa bébé: vanhemmuus
Pariisin malliin
(Bringing up Bébé: One American
Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting)
by Pamela Druckerman
Another reading suggestion found on theDeliberate Reader.
Thanks,
Sheila! Because I had just read Sheila's review, this book caught my
eye at the local library, where the Finnish translation was on
display on the Bestseller shelf (one-week loans). I seized the
opportunity to check this out.
As Sheila commented, the book is mostly
based on personal experience. Druckerman researches the topic of
parenting the way a journalist does: observation, interviews,
background reading. I liked getting this view on
French and American ways of thinking (though it's really impossible
to generalize 'American' parenting). I find myself somewhere in the
middle, maybe.
Taivaslaulu
by Pauliina Rauhala
This novel has sparked a lot of talk
and a bit of controversy in Finland's literary scene this year -
mostly because of its subject matter. It's a story of a young mother
and father who belong to a Christian subgroup, Laestadians. One of the teachings
specific to this group is to reject all kinds of birth control - even
NFP is frowned upon. For this family, though, having had five
pregnancies in six years and now expecting again, life is getting
rather overwhelming.
With these topics, the novel could so
easily have portrayed everything Christian in a negative light. It
doesn't. Some issues and particular interpretations make God seem
like a strict, uncaring tyrant to the woman, especially in the middle
of her depression and extreme fatigue. Yet, the main characters do
not reject faith altogether even though they question certain
doctrines of their movement, and many of the believers around them
are sympathetic. The core issues of the faith come out in positive
light: relying on Jesus for salvation, the forgiveness of sins, the
hope of eternity with God. And the relationship between the husband
and wife is lovely. There's beauty in commitment and mutual
forgiveness, as well as in humble everyday work. There is a lot of
love in this family.
I've not been a member of this movement
myself, so I can't say how accurate this is. It is very believeable,
though, especially since there is so much positive to balance the
negative aspects, and no bitter aftertaste. Real life is not all black,
or all white. And the writing is beautiful. I'm glad I read this.
875 grammaa: Pirpanan tarina
by Tomi Takamaa
A couple expecting their first baby
ends up at the hospital, their baby born prematurely because of
pre-eclampsia. During the first days, the father puts up a Facebook
page to tell friends and family about new developments, and he names
the page '875 grammaa' for the baby's birth weight. (875 grams is a
bit under 2 lbs, for those not used to the metric system.)
Within a week, the page becomes an
unprecedented hit, as the number of followers and likes soar into
thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands. Parents of
preemies come to the page and tell their stories, encouraging the
family and each other. The page becomes an open online community, and
from there, it develops into a fundraising effort for children's
hospitals.
I don't use Facebook, so I had missed
the original 875 grams phenomenon apart from seeing a couple of
interviews in online news services. The book was interesting: the father gives his perspective of both the personal side (what it's like to be a parent of a preemie in intensive care) and the media
attention fairly candidly. Yet, he's protecting what is left of his
family's privacy. Mostly, it's a look into how things go viral in social
media and how that can be used for a good cause.
Vuosisadan ihme jatkuu
By Hannu Haukka ja Markku Vuorinen
The story of Hannu and Laura Haukka is
amazing. They have worked faithfully for decades in Christian media
ministry. First, they were making radio programmes mainly targeted to
the Soviet Union, then later the work expanded to TV and other mediain many other countries as well.
Even their marriage is a miracle - just imagine the
paperwork needed for a Finnish-Canadian man and a Finnish-speaking
Christian woman from Soviet Union to marry each other in the
1970's...
This book is actually a compilation of
two books published before this, with some new material thrown in. As
I had read the previous books, this was a quick read for me, yet very
fascinating.
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