The Night in Whistler's Painting
A fascinating novel that shows our dreams, our fears, and behind them, a luminous love.
The narrator is convinced that he only has one year left to live. He has then decided to produce a book about butterflies with the print techniques of the 17th century to leave behind something beautiful to the world.
He travels to the Yorkshire coast to meet his penfriend Sergei, a Russian immigrant and butterfly collector who lives a secluded life.
During these autumn days in Sergei’s house, near the butterfly collection and under the spell of James McNeill Whistler’s nocturne, both men reveal their most hurtful memories. The narrator remembers his ill mother and his closest friend Saara, who died a year ago in a car accident. Sergei speaks about philosophy, art and history, and tells the story of his own family as well as of a past love.
info
Year of publication
2023
Original title
Yö Whistlerin maalauksessa
Page count
175
Original publisher
Otava
Original language of publication
Finnish
Reviews
Kulttuuritoimitus
"Haahtela’s message is comforting. “Whistler’s night” is not darkness nor emptiness, instead it can be a friend, like an open gate from which there is a gleaming light that is love."
Kirjavinkit
"I admire Haahtela’s writing style. He writes about great and profound life wisdoms with simple, ordinary words, without preaching and haste. I admire the way he refers to the immaterial and the invisible beyond the material world. The way he describes the indescribable, and how he manages to make both present at the same time."
Satakunnan Kansa
"The story moves effortlessly, the language is genius, and the reader is handed a variety of knowledge."
Kirsin Book Club
"It seems that Haahtela’s text captures something that is below the surface, which is why his books are so calming in a gentle way. The Night in Whistler’s Painting, however, is not mere philosophising – it also depicts love and friendship, memories and childhood, a father and a mother. "
Tuijata. Kulttuuripohdintoja Blog
"Joel Haahtela once again offers a reading experience which you would like to cherish and keep to yourself and, on the other hand, proclaim out loud and widely. The master of comfort books affects us again."
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