A
Arto Paasilinna
The Year of the Hare
Synopsis
After a near-fatal collision with a hare, disillusioned journalist Kaarlo Vatanen abandons his job and city life to spend a year wandering the Finnish countryside — accompanied by the very hare he rescued. What follows is a comic odyssey through remote villages, forests, and small towns as he trades convention for an unpredictable life on the road.
Genres
Characters
Kaarlo VatanenProtagonist
The HareSupporting
Frequently asked questions
Are there film adaptations of this book?
The novel has been adapted into two feature films, a 1977 Finnish production directed by Risto Jarva and a 2006 French version titled Le Lièvre de Vatanen.
What is the significance of this book in Finnish literature?
It is widely regarded as a Finnish literary classic and was included in the UNESCO Collection of Representative Works, which helped facilitate its translation into numerous languages.