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The Year of the Hare

A Novel

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The Year of the Hare

Written by: Arto Paasilinna
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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About this listen

Vatanen, a journalist, is feeling burned out and sick of the city. One summer evening, he and a photographer set out on an assignment, and as they drive through the country, the car hits a young hare. Vatanen leaves the car to save the injured creature, and the grateful animal adopts him. This small incident becomes a turning point in Vatanen’s life as he decides to break free from the world’s constraints. He quits his job, leaves his wife, and sells his possessions to travel the Finnish wilds with his newfound friend. During their farcical adventures they encounter forest fires, pagan sacrifices, military war games, killer bears, political scandals, and much more.

ARTO PAASILINNA is a writer whose works have been at the top of the bestseller lists for twenty years. His books long remained unnoticed by Finland’s chronically antagonistic literary critics, but thanks to his great popularity, many of them have reassessed their opinions. In France, his books have not only proven bestsellers but also critical triumphs.

©2010 Translation 1995 by Herbert Lomas; foreword 2010 by Pico Iyer (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Psychological Fiction
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What the critics say

“Paasilinna has been amusing Finns for thirty years and readers in twenty-five languages.” ( New York Times)
“This picaresque novel could simply depict a middle-age crisis, but it reaches beyond fantasy or fiction, becoming mythic in its universal themes. The story is inventive, satirical, and quite humorous.” ( Booklist)
“I love The Year of the Hare…Which of us wouldn’t secretly want to live in a novel as fresh and as full of events as this one?” ( Pico Iyer)

What listeners say about The Year of the Hare

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Interesting

interesting and captured my imagination of the characters and landscape. not sure if it's fiction or nonfiction

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A great pleasure

An engaging story that rounds on itself in a laugh out loud resolution. Reminds me of The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out a Window and Disappeared.

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