ellenkushner: (Thomas the Rhymer)
ellenkushner ([personal profile] ellenkushner) wrote2008-09-02 02:38 pm
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Finnish "Thomas the Rhymer" cover!

The book's not out yet, but my Finnish publisher, Vaskikirjat has just posted their cover for Thomas the Rhymer . It couldn't be more different from Tom Canty's or Kinuko Craft's (or any of the other that's we're working on putting up for my website) . . . but to me it really has that Kalevala flavor, all folky wildness. You?

[identity profile] oracne.livejournal.com 2008-09-02 06:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Oooh, cool.

[identity profile] coppervale.livejournal.com 2008-09-02 06:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Beautiful.

There was a set of the PRYDAIN books with a similar design some years back - so I already love this particular aesthetic!

[identity profile] ellen-kushner.livejournal.com 2008-09-02 07:00 pm (UTC)(link)
omigod, you're right!! No wonder I warmed to it immediately.

Caroline Stevermer, who was my best friend in College, actually made me an embroidered version of that cover during summer before our Sophomore year. I still cherish it.

[identity profile] elmocho.livejournal.com 2008-09-02 06:50 pm (UTC)(link)
First impression: Cave painting with better humans. Which works with a legendary story.

[identity profile] elmocho.livejournal.com 2008-09-02 08:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow good, wow bad, or "Wow I hadn't thought of that"?

I am don't know my iconography as much as I'd like, but that jumped at me first.

[identity profile] kukkaseksi.livejournal.com 2008-09-02 07:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Riiminiekka is also a very old Finnish word - not something that's usually heard in "every day" language nowadays. So that also adds to the old look of the cover. I like it, very much!

[identity profile] ellen-kushner.livejournal.com 2008-09-08 01:41 am (UTC)(link)
That is very good to hear!

I have, of course, the world's greatest translator, Johanna Vainikainen-Uusitalo...

(Anonymous) 2008-09-09 07:25 am (UTC)(link)
And now you made me blush! Thank you. :-)

-Johanna
ext_73044: Tinkerbell (Flashing Tink)

[identity profile] lisa-marli.livejournal.com 2008-09-02 07:17 pm (UTC)(link)
That's almost worth buying for the cover. Probably not, don't read Finnish. But it is an interesting interpretation.

[identity profile] naamah-darling.livejournal.com 2008-09-02 08:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah! I had the exact same reaction. I went ". . . That is SO Finnish."

Cool.

[identity profile] belledewinter.livejournal.com 2008-09-03 12:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow, that's pretty interesting.

Offtopic

[identity profile] jonquil.livejournal.com 2008-09-03 04:29 pm (UTC)(link)
My household is under a lot of stress, so I've been grabbing comfort books to read on the train. Tuesday I grabbed Swordspoint and I've been transported since. I've nearly missed my train and bus stops twice now. I'm happy and entirely focused. The best bits stand up to multiple rereadings.

Thanks so much.

(P.S. I think Katherine is right about the Duke's jealousy being the reason he removes her from St. Vier. And I grieve with her.) And I love her being the newly-Queen Victoria when she announces she's the duchess.

P.P.S. Does Riverside completely fall apart without the Duke?

Re: Offtopic

[identity profile] ellen-kushner.livejournal.com 2008-09-08 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
Aw, hon! Sorry for the stress, but exalted to hear you loved Swordspoint! (Was this a reread, or a first time?)

You're right, of course, about the Queen Victoria - which I've only just realized, thanks to you! I had the scene very clearly in my head, but thought it was coming from the Young Elizabeth - though how could it have been, when her Big Scene in all the teen biographies was of her receiving the news under a tree? I know I read at least one play about Young Vic, and that is certainly the scene. In her nightgown and all. What interesting things our magpie minds are.

Naw, Riverside doesn't fall apart - Katherine keeps it up out of a sense of duty, even though she prefers the Hill for living. And anyway, Alec's got all his charities already up and running through his various subalterns, so as long as K doesn't countermand anything, it'll all just keep going. When you read THE FALL OF THE KINGS, in fact, you'll see what's become of it 40 years later. Alec's foreign widow is living in the Riverside House (with his ramshackle posthumous son) and running a medical clinic. K's probably kept a skeleton staff in the Riverside house, as she would a country house. And it probably comes in handy for slightly illicit dealings, if she has any.

Re: Offtopic

[identity profile] jonquil.livejournal.com 2008-09-08 01:52 am (UTC)(link)
This was a reread; I meant THE PRIVILEGE OF THE SWORD; I have bad word-mixing problems. I reread, and I realized I couldn'tfind my copy of SWORDSPOINT; the new copy arrives Monday. (Two moves are as good as a fire) And I've just started THE FALL OF THE KINGS.

So, you see, you are standing me in good stead.
fufaraw: mist drift upslope (doug firs fog)

[personal profile] fufaraw 2008-09-03 05:24 pm (UTC)(link)
My goodness, that cover does have a very Kalevala feel about it. What an inspired new way to look at the mythos. I like it a lot, and I'm *very* partial to Canty, as a rule. Not that I prefer this one, but it's a great alternative look.

(Anonymous) 2008-09-03 07:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Your comments made me so happy! I'm still working on the translation. Not going to use Kalevala meter for the songs, though...

Johanna Vainikainen-Uusitalo

[identity profile] mantichore.livejournal.com 2008-09-07 10:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Yep, feels like Lemminkäinen riding out!

[identity profile] ellen-kushner.livejournal.com 2008-09-08 01:42 am (UTC)(link)
Goodness - is there anything you haven't read (doubtless in the original)??

[identity profile] mantichore.livejournal.com 2008-09-08 05:43 am (UTC)(link)
Hey, It's the Kalevala! Legends original to Finland, which inspired music by Sibelius or Rautavara, and paintings by Galen-Kalela! Of course I was going to read them! But rest easy: only in a French translation. The very few Finnish words I know would compose a rather stark story:

« Hello, Vainamoinen.
— What time is it, Ilmarinen?
— Restaurant, Vainamoinen.
— Thank you. Bye. »

Not overly mythic.

[identity profile] ellen-kushner.livejournal.com 2008-09-08 02:02 pm (UTC)(link)
But very useful for a visit!

Sigh. How lucky Europeans are to be living in, well, Europe!

(Anonymous) 2008-09-09 07:22 am (UTC)(link)
Bonjour, Monsieur Mantichore! Delighted to see you here.

If you know your Kalevala, you know Lemminkäinen was _the_ seducer of women - even his name is derived from the word lempi, (erotic) love. Thomas of course was a ladies' man but I think the power balance in his relationship with the Queen makes the analogy hard to accept...

Johanna Vainikainen-Uusitalo

[identity profile] mantichore.livejournal.com 2008-09-09 07:34 am (UTC)(link)
Quite, Johanna. But my comment wasn't about any faithfulness to the actual spirit of the book. It's just the colour scheme, the horse riding and the simple style of that cover which reminded me of the overall atmosphere of Galen-Kalleva's series about Lemminkäinen, especially the one where he's riding out to battle and blowing his horn. Which, again, I'll grant you doesn't in the least compare to Thomas's actual story.