Hot off the press, and just in time for the Chinese
year of the hare in 2011, may I encourage you to check out the aptly-named novel,
Year of the Hare:
While driving acros the Finnish countryside, Vatanen, a young journalist, accidentally hits a bunny with his car. Leaving his companion, Vatanen finds the hare, nurses him back to health, and then decides to leave behind the life he knows in search of grand adventures, the rabbit his new companion.
In the finest traditions of the picaresque novel, Year of the Hare takes the reader on an anarchistic romp across the Finnish landscape: Ch.5 - Arrest; Ch.8 - Forrest Fire; Ch.14 - The Sacrificer; Ch.20 - Humiliation. . .well, you get the idea (ALMOST).
By turns hilarious and gripping, sparse and outlandish, Year of the Hare introduces a modern master (with more than 30 novels published in his native Finland) to a clamoring English audience. A fine read to be sure, and also a wonderful way to celebrate 2011 -
The Year of the Hare!
With an honorable mention to a plucky favorite that missed out by a few copies to the Eliot Weinberger book above. (Though we're open for 3 more hours if anyone wants to see Barbara Comyns' novel crack the top ten...)