Dear foreigners. Have you read this Finnish “second national epic after Kalevala”, especially the 2005 translation “Unknown soldiers”? Have you liked it? How did you react to it? I give you a 5/5 recommendation. (Observe the plural; first – horrible – adaption from 1957 is called “Unknown soldier”.

The first English translation of Väinö Linna’s Unknown Soldier (1957) was heavily abridged and edited for international audiences. About one third (!) of the novel was cut, including much of the dialect speech, humor, and social criticism. These changes altered the tone and made the book resemble a conventional war story and many scholars therefore view it more as an adaptation than a faithful translation. This is not a conventional war story, this is something much deeper and wider. I think it’s the best book ever written by a Finn.

The 2005 translation by Liesl Yamaguchi was the first complete version based on the original 1954 Finnish text. It preserved the characters’ distinct voices and the novel’s social and cultural depth, and is widely regarded as the first translation that reflects Linna’s original intention. So choose Unknown soldierS not Unkown soldier.

I have read it 23 times. Tulta munil! Fire to the balls!