Jacob's Stairs
A captivating novella takes you through the ancient myths and snowfalls right into the heart of humanity.
A man gets a phone call: his brother is being treated at a psychiatric hospital in Jerusalem and needs an escort to get home. Upon arrival, the man stays in his brother’s rented apartment on the outskirts of the old town and finds his grandfather, who served as a sailor’s priest, old notebook.
The notebook has a mysterious entry: Jacob’s Stairs. The entry begins to fascinate the man, and it makes him travel deeper and deeper into the city. A psychotherapist who spends his nights on the roof terrace acts as a travel guide. But why can you smell the lilac during in winter in Jerusalem? Why did the man actually arrive there?
info
Year of publication
2022
Original title
Jaakobin portaat
Page count
192
Original publisher
Otava Publishing Company
Reviews
Kulttuuritoimitus
"Despite interweaving thoughts and memories, Jacob’s Stairs has a chronologically clear structure. The language is also meticulous, thought-out, and vivid. You follow mental associations right till the end with a soothingly steady rhythm. Powerful ideas are ostensibly concise in their expression. However, there appears an ethereal reality between the lines. … As the story progresses, the fascination with mysteries opens – a simultaneous presence and absence, familiarity and foreignness, openness and evasiveness."
Keskisuomalainen
"Haahtela’s text is simultaneously thoughtful, classically timeless, poetic, and rejects today’s trends. There is a ripple of something greater than the human being in the background. … In this flimsy contemporary world, Haahtela’s book is a refreshing read. The human being is comprised of a lot, but he is not invincible."
Kirjavinkit
"The plot of the book is simple and followed effortlessly, it progresses steadily and it is always lovely to return to the story. Therefore, this book should not be read during one sitting but you should always again immerse yourself into it! … The timelessness of Jacob’s Stairs reminded me of how pointlessly running through life always ends you up in the same place as others. You have merely forgotten to look at the lilacs on your right and left and lost a part of the beauty life has to offer."
Awards & Nominations
Nominations
Runeberg Prize
2023
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