
A quiet voice opens the story, a father at six‑and‑a‑half years old looking back from the edge of his own childhood. He remembers wandering among the birch thickets, the glow of orange‑flowered blossoms, and the rustle of the wind before his wife's call draws him home. In a gentle, almost reverent tone he begins to address his four young children, trying to put the wonder of their existence into words that can hold the weight of a whole life.
The narrative unfolds in a modest Finnish countryside, where farms and old cottages become the backdrop for his reflections on love, memory, and the thin line between the ordinary and the poetic. He muses on how each child carries a story that deserves its own novel, while he wrestles with the limits of language and the restless imagination of a parent. Listeners are invited into a tender meditation on family, identity, and the quiet beauty of everyday moments.
Language
fi
Duration
~1 hours (59K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
Finland: WSOY, 1924.
Credits
Tapio Riikonen
Release date
Feb 10, 2023
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects

1888–1964
A Nobel Prize-winning Finnish novelist, he wrote with unusual warmth and clarity about rural life, ordinary people, and their bond with nature. His stories are quiet but powerful, finding drama in everyday struggle, love, and survival.
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