Veikko Huovinen
Veikko Huovinen (7 May 1927 – 4 October 2009) [1] was a Finnish novelist and forester. As a novelist, his writing was known for its realism, pacifism, sharp intellect, and peculiar humor. He wrote 37 books.
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Early life
Huovinen was born in Simo, Finland. When he was six months old, his family moved to Sotkamo, where he lived until his death. As a child, Huovinen was known as well-mannered, yet he had a reputation for outlandish stories and occasional mischief. He went to high school in Kajaani, but his studies were interrupted in 1944 when he served as a volunteer AA gunner in the Finnish Army. He graduated after the war in 1946, enrolling in the University of Helsinki, from where he graduated with a M.A. in forestry in 1952.
Huovinen worked as a forester from 1953 to 1956, until becoming a full-time author. In 1999, he was awarded an honorary professorship for his services to Finnish literature. He was married and had 3 children.
Literary career
Huovinen started writing in 1949 when working in a fire watch post in Vuokatti. His first short story collection, Hirri was published in 1950, followed by the novel Havukka-ahon Ajattelija in 1952. Both of these concern the life and its peculiarities in the Kainuu region in Finland, written in a unique style of humor and characterized by their inventive use of language. The main character in Havukka-ahon Ajattelija, Konsta Pylkkänen, has since become ingrained into Finnish modern folklore as the archetype of a rustic, backwoods philosopher.
Huovinen's further works never strayed far from humor, but started to exhibit the author's pacifistic philosophies and later took a turn towards black humor. A good example of such is the trilogy, referred by the author as "Three devilish mustached men"; Veitikka – A. Hitlerin elämä ja teot, Joe-setä and Pietari Suuri hatun polki, concerning Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Peter the Great respectively.
Veitikka prompted some controversy at the time, as it portrays Hitler in a humoristic light. Huovinen countered the claims of impropriety by contending that by laughing at dictators, one strips them of their power to influence people. Veitikka is ostensibly a researched study into the character of Hitler, but the totally outlandish stories quickly betray the book as a work of fiction. The two subsequent books follow the same pattern of telling a ridiculous history of the dictators while letting the author lament the effects such people have on mankind.
Huovinen's 1980 novel Koirankynnen leikkaaja (translation: Dog Nail Clipper) was adapted into a 2004 film of the same name.
Bibliography
- Hirri, novelleja suurista metsistä, WSOY 1950
- Havukka-ahon ajattelija, WSOY 1952
- Ihmisten puheet, WSOY 1955
- Rauhanpiippu, WSOY 1956
- Hamsterit, WSOY 1957
- Siintävät vuoret, WSOY 1959
- Konstan Pylkkerö, WSOY 1961
- Kylän koirat, WSOY 1962
- Kuikka, WSOY 1963
- Talvituristi, WSOY 1965
- Lemmikkieläin. Fantasia ihmisistäni, WSOY 1966
- Lyhyet erikoiset, WSOY 1967
- Pohjoiset erätarinat, WSOY 1967
- Mikäpä tässä, WSOY 1969
- Tapion tarhat. Metsäpoliittista tarkastelua, Otava 1969
- Lampaansyöjät. Suomalainen reippailutarina, WSOY 1970
- Veitikka – A. Hitlerin elämä ja teot, WSOY 1971
- Rasvamaksa, WSOY 1973
- Pylkkäs Konsta mehtäämässä ja muita erätarinoita, Otava 1975
- Humusavotta. Kirjailijan päiväkirja 1974–75, Otava 1976
- Kainuun kuvia, kuvat Jorma Komulainen, Helsinki 1976
- Ronttosaurus, novelleja, Otava 1976
- Lentsu. Kertomus suomalaisten räkätaudista, Otava 1978
- Koirankynnen leikkaaja, Otava 1980
- Suomen saloilla. Kertomuksia ja perimätietoa savotoilta ja uittopurojen varsilta, Helsinki 1981
- Ympäristöministeri. Ekotarinoita, Otava 1982
- Puukansan tarina, Otava 1984
- Seitsemän sinisen takana, Otava 1986
- Matikanopettaja. Littlejuttuja eri aihelmista, Otava 1986
- Joe-setä – Aikalaisen kertomuksia Josef Stalinista, WSOY 1988
- Kasinomies Tom, Otava 1990
- Kukuskat, WSOY 1993
- Pietari Suuri hatun polki, WSOY 1995
- Porsaan paperit, eläinaiheiset erikoiset, WSOY 1999
- Sinisilmäinen ohjus, WSOY 2003
- Kolme viiksiniekkaa, mahtimiestrilogia, WSOY 2003
- Konsta Pylkkänen etsii kortteeria, WSOY 2004
- Plays
- Tiikeri ja leijona, Helsingin Kansallisteatteri 1961
- Vapaita suhteita. Valitut erikoiset, WSOY 1974
- Lohkaisuja, Otava 1979
- Kootut teokset (Collected works) 1–10, WSOY 1984–86
- Pirunkalan leuat. Ajatuksia sodasta ja loistavista voitoista, WSOY 1991
- Naiset on kultia, WSOY 1996
- Viime talvi, WSOY 1998
- Memoir
- Muina miehinä, WSOY 2001