Finnish Nightmares A Different Kind of Social Guide to Finland

Meet Matti, a stereotypical Finn who appreciates peace, quiet and personal space. Among the things that make Matti anxious are receiving compliments, sitting next to a stranger on a bus, and replying to small talk with lengthy descriptions of his day. Matti tries his best to give space, be polite and not bother with unnecessary chit-chat.
Finnish Nightmares have been bestsellers worldwide from Finland to Japan and from the USA to China. Matti figured in The New York Times and in The Guardian, and he even inspired a new term for social awkwardness in Mandarin: jingfen, or “spiritually Finnish.”

Finnish Nightmares is a book about what it is like to be a Finn in social occasions. For a foreigner, the book opens implied codes that can be difficult to understand but are shared with all Finns.

Meet Matti, a stereotypical Finn who appreciates peace, quiet and personal space. Among the things that make Matti anxious are receiving compliments, sitting next to a stranger on a bus, and replying to small talk with lengthy descriptions of his day. Matti tries his best to give space, be polite and not bother with unnecessary chit-chat.
Finnish Nightmares have been bestsellers worldwide from Finland to Japan and from the USA to China. Matti figured in The New York Times and in The Guardian, and he even inspired a new term for social awkwardness in Mandarin: jingfen, or “spiritually Finnish.”

Finnish Nightmares is a book about what it is like to be a Finn in social occasions. For a foreigner, the book opens implied codes that can be difficult to understand but are shared with all Finns.

info

  • Year of publication

    2016

  • Page count

    100

  • Original publisher

    Atena

  • Original language of publication

    English

Reviews

  • boredpanda.com

    "You don't need to be from The Land of the Midnight Sun, however, to appreciate Finnish Nightmares, a series of funny comics created by Finnish artist Karoliina Korhonen. After all, who doesn't feel at least a tiny bit of social anxiety when standing in an elevator with a stranger? Or what about that awkward moment when you accidentally touch the salesperson while collecting your change? A real horror story for the anti-social Finn."

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Authors

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