An elderly woman agrees to sell her life to a blocked writer she meets at a book fair. She needs to talk – her husband has not spoken since a family tragedy some months ago.
She claims that her grown-up children are doing well, but the writer imagines less salubrious lives for them, as the downturn of Finland’s economic boom begins to bite. Perhaps he’s on to something.
The Human Part is pure laugh-out-loud satire, laying bare the absurdities of modern society in the most vicious and precise manner imaginable.
She claims that her grown-up children are doing well, but the writer imagines less salubrious lives for them, as the downturn of Finland’s economic boom begins to bite. Perhaps he’s on to something.
The Human Part is pure laugh-out-loud satire, laying bare the absurdities of modern society in the most vicious and precise manner imaginable.
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Reviews
'a beautifully crafted tale of bereavement, intimate human suffering and the curious specks of reparation that death can bring ... this is a simply stunning book. Fans of Mark Haddon and Haruki Murakami will be enraptured' Time Out.
'A humane, disconcerting and pleasurable text. In other words, it is a truly beautiful novel' Le Monde.
'a novel packed with sophisticated ideas which should, like a rare delicacy, be savoured slowly' Tribune.
'A truly stunning piece ... This is an extremely clever book, which is also deeply witty. Splendid' Image Magazine.
'Hotakainen's books are not meant to be mindlessly devoured - but demand to be read in one sitting' Savon Sanomat.
'quaint and quirky book' Irish Times.