Here's an unusual and delightful novel with all the fierce independence, drier-than-dry humor and grumpy good-heartedness that are quintessentially Finn, packed with dozens of great scenes, including how to get your savings out of the bank with a shotgun.
Moody Gunnar Huttunen has been ruined by a fire that took his mill and the life of his wife. Now he's bought the old mill on the Suukoski rapids, and already he's got the saw working. He's tall, lean and handsome, not to mention a strong and skillful miller, but he's got an unusual quirk: sometimes at night, particularly in winter, he feels a need to howl. He just has to do it--long, hearty, wolf-like howls that drive the dogs crazy and keep the village up all night. Then a few powerful, wealthy villagers decide something has to be done.
Escaped from a mental hospital, pursued by the police and the military, Huttunen becomes a legendary renegade hermit, befriended by the loveable old constable and the drunken postman, dearly beloved by the pretty 4H adviser who's always feeding him vegetables and hated by the wealthy farmholders who are given permission by the police chief to shoot to kill.
Part-Robin Hood, part-Robinson Crusoe, Huttunen is such a likeable, down-to-earth character that it's no surprise Jesus Himself even deigns to have a chat with him, drolly offering advice on the best way to start a fire in a church He never really much liked.
Writing with deadpan starkness and a mythic simplicity, Paasilinna propels the reader forward on a lean narrative line that almost defies you to try to stop reading. You're too busy chuckling as you anxiously turn the pages, concerned about a loveable eccentric who seems to have stepped straight out of legend and to be heading straight for hell.
Endings separate a craftsman from a genius. As a reader, I was a nervous wreck through the book's final third, worrying about the inevitable outcome of Huttunen's brave little rebellion against society. When the governor sends in the military, how can one man honestly stand against it? Let me put all fears permanently to rest: this fearless and defiant little novel builds to an uncompromising, utterly unexpected and completely satisfying end.--Nick DiMartino
Shelf Talker: Written with deadpan starkness and mythic simplicity, The Howling Miller tells the story of a delightful Finnish eccentric who becomes a legendary renegade, beloved by some, pursued by others.