Finnish grammar whaat?

This is what I saw at the window of Waterstone's when I walked past it this morning. Seems normal to you? Novels displayed in a shop window. oih. Look more carefully. The bottom left corner. Ha! See? New Finnish Grammar! What is that book doing there with the novels? Why is a book about Finnish grammar specially displayed?

That's what I wanted to know. So I went inside. And it's a novel. In which Finnish grammar plays a central part. It's written by Diego Marani, an Italian author. It was published in Italian in 2000 (Nuova grammatica finlandese) and published in English only this year. The book tells a story of a soldier who is found in Trieste in 1943, but doesn't remember anything about himself. His tags tell he's Finnish, but that's all. The doctor is Finnish and decides to teach him Finnish hoping that would trigger his memory back on.

The book seems really interesting. No, I didn't buy it. Yet. I'm thinking that will be my reward when I'm done with my essays. The question remains - read it in English or Italian? English translation was according to some a bit wonky and possibly not conveying exactly what Marani did originally. And the Italian would be good exercise for reading comprehension.

Oh, I know! Someone could read it with me in Italian during the holidays.. you know who you are. think of the fun! check it out. now. We could talk about it. Super.

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If you're interested in it in Finnish, it's Sotilas ilman menneisyyttä, and was apparently translated in 2004.

Diego Marani has written another book that has something to do with Finland and that's L'ultimo dei vostiachi.

PS. I saw that in Finnish the book was more than 20€... And I was thinking the £10 price tag on it here was a bit too much...