作品情報
神話の闇から現れた小さな獣が、都市生活の奥に隠れた欲望を照らし出す。
原題は Ennen päivänlaskua ei voi。英訳版 Not Before Sundown は、トロールを保護した写真家と周囲の人々の関係を、文献断片や複数の視点を交えながら描く。幻想性と社会批評を重ねた作品で、ジェンダーや他者性へのまなざしが受賞理由につながっている。
書籍情報
- 出版社
- Peter Owen Ltd
- 発売日
- 2003-12-01
- ページ数
- 220ページ
- 言語
- 英語
- ISBN-13
- 9780720611717
- ISBN-10
- 0720611717
- 価格
- 1385 JPY
- カテゴリ
- 洋書/Literature & Fiction/Literary
Mikael, a young gay photographer, finds in the courtyard of his apartment block a small, man-like creature. It is a young troll. Mikael gives the troll a name, Pessi, and takes him home and hides him. The first thing Mikael does is to research everything he can about trolls from the internet, from folklore, nature journals and newspaper cuttings. What Mikael does not discover is that trolls exude pheromones that smell like a Calvin Klein aftershave and that this has a profound aphrodisiac effect on all those around him. Shooting an assignment for an ultra-hip make of jeans, Mikael finds himself fast-tracked into a dangerous liaison with Martes, the art director of the advertising agency, while others around him become obsessed with him because he carries the troll's scent. However, what Mikael fails to learn, with tragic consequences, is that Pessi the troll is the interpreter of man's darkest, most forbidden desires.
Johanna Sinisalo was born in Finnish Lapland in 1958. Even before publication of her first novel - which was awarded the prestigious Finlandia Award - she had built a stellar reputation as a writer of science fiction and fantasy stories and as an advertising guru. Also known in Finland for her television and comic strip writing, she has, in addition to the Finlandia Award, won the Atorox prize for best Finnish SF or fantasy story SIX times and has been the winner of the Kemi National Comic Strip Contest THREE times.
レビュー
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Trolls don't always live under bridges anymore
This is one of my other all-time favorite books. It was published in Finland and also has a version out called Troll. In Finland, trolls are believed to be actual wood-dwelling animals. There are not the old men under a bridge like we believe here in the US. I'll tell you straight up (no spoiler) that you will have to suspend your disbelief in order to enjoy this book. It involves inter-species love, yet it is not a science fiction novel at all. The author makes it a point to add documentation about Trolls stealing human babies to raise as their own, and also dispels all the other misinformation about Trolls. Great writing, almost magical. The ending was perfect. I love authors who end their books and an almost fairy-tale like basis, yet by the time you get to the end you realize it was the only appropriate ending. This novel won the Finnish equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. I loved it.
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Engrossing read
Read this book after 'Year of the hare' . Enjoyed it more. Description of the maturing troll endeared, notwithstanding it being a savage creature. web of relationships and connections of city life, novel ended too soon.
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Unusual!
Arrived in perfect condition. The story is brilliant and odd and disturbing and page turning!
関連する文学賞
- アザーワイズ賞 第14回（2004年） ・受賞