Veikko Huovinen

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Veikko Huovinen (May 7, 1927 in Simo, Finland) is a Finnish novelist known for his realism, pacifism, sharp intellect, and peculiar humor. He has written 37 books.

[edit] Early life

When Huovinen was six months old, his family moved to Sotkamo, where he lives today. As a child, Huovinen was known as well-mannered, yet he had a reputation for outlandish stories and occasional mischief. He went to high school in Kajaani, but his studies were interrupted in 1944 when he served as a volunteer AA gunner in the Finnish Army. He graduated after the war in 1946, enrolling in the University of Helsinki, from where he graduated with a M.A. in forestry in 1952.

Huovinen worked as a forester from 1953 to 1956, when he became a full-time author. In 1999, he was awarded a honorary professorship for his services to Finnish literature. He is married and has 4 children.

[edit] Literary career

Huovinen started writing in 1949 when working in a fire watch post in Vuokatti. His first short story collection, Hirri was published in 1950, followed by the novel Havukka-ahon Ajattelija in 1952. Both of these concern the life and its peculiarities in the Kainuu region in Finland, written in a unique style of humor and characterized by their inventive use of language. The main character in Havukka-ahon Ajattelija, Konsta Pylkkänen, has since become ingrained into Finnish modern folklore as the archetype of a rustic, backwoods philosopher.

Huovinen's further works never strayed far from humor, but started to exhibit the author's pacifistic philosophies and later took a turn towards black humor. A good example of such is the trilogy, referred by the author as "Three devilish mustached men"; Veitikka - A. Hitlerin elämä ja teot, Joe-setä and Pietari Suuri hatun polki, concerning Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin and Peter the Great respectively.

Veitikka prompted some controversy at the time, as it portrays Hitler in a humoristic light. Huovinen countered the claims of impropriety by contending that by laughing at dictators, one strips them of their power to influence people. Veitikka is ostensibly a researched study into the character of Hitler, but the totally outlandish stories quickly betray the book as a work of fiction. The two subsequent books follow the same pattern of telling a ridiculous history of the dictators while letting the author to lament the effects such people have on mankind.

[edit] Bibliography

Hirri, novelleja suurista metsistä, WSOY 1950
Havukka-ahon ajattelija, WSOY 1952
Ihmisten puheet, WSOY 1955
Rauhanpiippu, WSOY 1956
Hamsterit, WSOY 1957
Siintävät vuoret, WSOY 1959
Konstan Pylkkerö, WSOY 1961
Kylän koirat, WSOY 1962
Kuikka, WSOY 1963
Talvituristi, WSOY 1965
Lemmikkieläin. Fantasia ihmisistäni, WSOY 1966
Lyhyet erikoiset, WSOY 1967
Pohjoiset erätarinat, WSOY 1967
Mikäpä tässä, WSOY 1969
Tapion tarhat. Metsäpoliittista tarkastelua, Otava 1969
Lampaansyöjät. Suomalainen reippailutarina, WSOY 1970
Veitikka - A. Hitlerin elämä ja teot, WSOY 1971
Rasvamaksa, WSOY 1973
Pylkkäs Konsta mehtäämässä ja muita erätarinoita, Otava 1975
Humusavotta. Kirjailijan päiväkirja 1974 - 75, Otava 1976
Kainuun kuvia, kuvat Jorma Komulainen, Helsinki 1976
Ronttosaurus, novelleja, Otava 1976
Lentsu. Kertomus suomalaisten räkätaudista, Otava 1978
Koirankynnen leikkaaja, Otava 1980
Suomen saloilla. Kertomuksia ja perimätietoa savotoilta ja uittopurojen varsilta, *Helsinki 1981
Ympäristöministeri. Ekotarinoita, Otava 1982
Puukansan tarina, Otava 1984
Seitsemän sinisen takana. Otava 1986
Matikanopettaja. Littlejuttuja eri aihelmista, Otava 1986
Joe-setä - Aikalaisen kertomuksia Josef Stalinista, WSOY 1988
Kasinomies Tom, Otava 1990
Kukuskat, WSOY 1993
Pietari Suuri hatun polki, WSOY 1995
Porsaan paperit, eläinaiheiset erikoiset, WSOY 1999
Sinisilmäinen ohjus, WSOY 2003
Kolme viiksiniekkaa, mahtimiestrilogia, WSOY 2003
Konsta Pylkkänen etsii kortteeria, WSOY 2004