Dark Paradise by Rosa Liksom

Dark Paradise Reviews

• 
  Jim Fonseca

  Dark indeed are the worlds of these often mentally ill, mainly Finnish people. These 40-or-so short-short stories are usually one or two pages long; five at most. And what depressing tales they tell!
  
  
  
  A sample: a group of cutters are in the hospital. One woman thinks of another in the group: “He was the one who’d been cut deepest, of course, since he was never one for leaving things half-done. A pathetic kind of perfectionist.” When she rips off her bandages and leaves, “The woman at the reception desk watched me go with the same sullen look of disgust as she had when I arrived.” When she goes back to a friend’s apartment, “I cut first, as usual.”
  
  A woman sits home all day watching TV, smoking and eating candy bars. She can’t wait for her daughter to start smoking and drop out of school so they can relax together all day.
  
  An old man loses at cards to five younger men. As they walk home, he trails behind them and shoots them all.
  
  A woman shoots her useless alcoholic husband in cold blood. Neither the police nor her two boys ask any questions. The boys don’t even watch the police remove the body from the house because there is a good show on TV.
  
  A man is driven to lose everything he cares about. His wife has died, so he shoots his son.
  
  A woman is so obsessively clean that she ceases having sex. When her father comes to visit her she makes him put baggies on his shoes, wear a white doctor’s coat, a sterile mask and latex gloves.
  
  Another woman marries a man who is so lazy that he can’t even get out of bed. After a month of marriage she stabs him in the heart and the police believe her story that it was suicide. “…the girls at work thought I’d absolutely done the right thing.”
  
  Not for the squeamish but we need to know what the world is dealing with. Translated from the Finnish.
  
  The author grew up among reindeer herders and farmers in Lapland in a village of only eight houses. As a youth she bummed around Europe in communes and as a squatter. She is also a painter, filmmaker and cartoonist.
  
• 
  karen

  so i don't know much about finland, apart from tove jansson and arto paasilinna. it seems nice - plenty of hills and snow and salmon. long healthy lives and peaceful calm people. nice brisk weather.
  
  but then i read this book.
  and it's not all
  
  
  
  and
  
  
  
  it turns out, finland is also like this:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  that last one may not actually be from finland, but it made me laugh, so into the review it goes!! i am not a purist.
  
  this is a collection of shortie short stories mostly about lonely people committing acts of violence. frequently unexplained, often unprovoked, violence. and in a two-and-a-half page story, i suppose the explanation would be clutter, but still, it is chilling to have that absence of psychological motivation. these are like o. henry stories, except instead of a "twist" it usually ends in bloodspill or reader discomfort, or as the back cover fancily states: "...an emotional intimacy that draws the reader into uncomfortable empathy with the extremity of their deeds"
  
  so what i said, only better.
  
  they aren't all violent - i don't want to give the wrong idea. maybe 3/4?? the rest are simply bleak, or at their mildest, nostalgic.
  
  so, more like this:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  are there more pictures than words in my review?
  yup.
  and you know you love it like cotton candy, as insubstantial as it is.
  
  
  come to my blog!
• 
  César

  Estes microcontos são como shots de 40 graus, intensos e fortes, para serem bebidos (lidos) num segundo.
  Não chegam a ser contos são mais uma ideia, um instante.
  Fantástica descoberta esta Rosa Liksom em quem as noites de 6 meses tiveram um claro efeito.
• 
  Teresa

  Solidão, Tristeza, Ódio, Morte, Assassínio, Sadismo, Vazio, Tédio, Desespero, Indiferença, Violência, violência,...
  Em menos de cem páginas - e em pequenos contos com cerca de duas páginas - Rosa Liksom concentrou todo o horror da existência humana.
  Se a vida fosse assim não valeria a pena...
  
  "Olhou para a sua imagem reflectida no espelho do tecto. (...) Apanhou do chão uma pesada jarra e atirou-a ao tecto. O espelho caiu por cima dela em lascas pequenas e grandes. Os fragmentos abriram-lhe cortes sangrentos no corpo. (...) Saltou para o chão. As lascas do espelho penetraram-lhe os pés, mas não sentiu nada. Dançava, excitada, de uma parede à outra, entoando uma melodia desconhecida."
  
  "- O meu homem foi morto a tiro há três anos. Foi com uma caçadeira de canos serrados e de tão perto que lhe arrancou a cabeça e lhe espalhou tudo pelas paredes da barraca. (...) Deu-me um trabalhão horrível limpar toda a porcaria."
  
• 
  Nate D

  I pulled this off the shelf at the library because of the Dalkey logo on the spine, then knew I had to read it when the back blurb informed me that Rosa Liksom grew up on a reindeer farm in Lapland and spent a while roaming Europe as a squatter. Both in its series of maybe-but-not-really-connected vignettes and in its tidy unadorned prose, this reminds me a lot of
  Steps, which unfortunately instantly underscores the ways in which this is inferior. Namely, Steps tended to have more narrative force (whereas these can be more like miniature sketches or flash fiction), and at the same time to provoke much more thought via far more morally complex scenarios. So I'm a little underwhelmed by these bleak but ultimately fleeting images.
• 
  Ronald Morton

  This was okay, but underwhelming. It's basically 50 or so vignettes, not really connected in any real meaningful way. They're all suffused with this kind of casual desperation; casual is the operative word: as the scenes of murder, suicide, bored fucking, and general lawlessness, madness, or insanity all come off as fairly deadpan, bland even. Of course, it feels intentional on the part of the author, but if there's something actually intentionally being said here, it mostly just passed me by.
• 
  Helena

  Olipa mainiota kuunneltavaa äänikirjana, pidin Eeva-Maria Mutkan kertojanäänestä tosi paljon - varsinkin murrekieliset jutut olivat ihania! Kaikessa pimeydessään ja outoudessaan pidin myös Liksomin tarinoiden sisällöistä, mukana muutamia varsin helmiä :)
• 
  Linda

  Not my cup of tea.
  
  An odd collection of short stories that encapsulates the worst and most utterly mundane parts of human nature. A majority if not all the stories within this book involve murder, sex, assault (physical or sexual or both), and an air of casualness in the writing that gave me an uncomfortable feelings of how unnerving each perceptive was. The normalcy of each murder and the descriptions that perfectly paint an image of real life in each story is to be praised. The author did an amazing job in creating highly believable scenarios. However, that in itself was why the short stories were so unsettling; I would like to state there are a great deal of triggering topics in this short book from the obvious murder to mental illness/suicide to even casual mentions of child rape. There is also a fair amount of stories focusing on sexual content, and by that I mean the worst aspects of sexuality from shame to sexual assault. It was a book that, despite the fact I didn't enjoy it, I couldn't stop reading due to sheer curiosity and horror.
• 
  Boukhalfa Inal Ahmed

  Des nouvelles cinglantes, glaçantes, puissantes, plutôt déconcertantes, ...
  Comme avec un appareil photo avec des éclairs de flashs permettant de commenter ce que pourrait être notre vie ou ce qu'elle est en Finlande !
  L'importance donnée à de petites choses de rien du tout qui éclairent ce qu'est devenue notre civilisation et comment un pays comme la Finlande vit confronté aux autres : les médicaments, les tocs, les histoires de cul, le poids de l'histoire, des religions, de l'apparence, ...
  L'importance de certaines valeurs comme de "Ne rien devoir à la société, payer sa dette à l'Etat", le poids de la disparition des autres, ne pas oublier de se préparer à sa propre mort dans la dignité pour partir comme on l'a choisi !
  L'importance de ces rencontres avec ces étrangers à sa propre personne, aux lieux, à la culture, à la religion, à son désir, à son image, à cette société de consommation, ....
  L'importance de ces phrases "De moi, il veut tout et vite. Je lui offre tout ce que je peux lui donner de mieux." Et puis décider de ce qu'on veut faire !
  "Nous sommes allés à l'usine de poisson, mais on ne nous a pas donné de travail. Lui, parce qu'il était trop noir et qu'il avait un corps primitif. Moi, parce que j'étais venue avec lui." Comprendre qu'il y a tant de choses à faire et à dire pour faire accepter l'autre, l'étranger.
  Souvenir d'ailleurs, d'enfance, de séparation.
  L'importance d'un pays comme la Finlande avec des nouvelles déroutantes de notre monde à l'envers, avec des acteurs à l'endroit ou à l'envers. le narrateur, homme puis femme, violeur puis violée, s'acheter un homme, s'acheter une femme...
  Histoires de jour ordinaire ou de jour pas ordinaire, histoires de week end, d'escapades pour faire la fête en buvant et faire l'amour encore et encore jusqu'à plus soif.
  Histoire d'êtres qui se croient parfaits ou qui en rêvent, d'êtres qui veulent se retaper pour repartir mais où et surtout pour faire quoi !
  Des histoires de tortures et de mort dans le sac pourquoi pas ...
  Finalement la vie a t elle vraiment de l'importance !
• 
  Anne Dahl

  
  Kokoelma pullistelee tarinoita. Kirjaan mahtuu monen monta kertomusta, lyhytproosan taidonnäytöstä koska useimmat kertomukset ovat sivusta kolmeen mitaltaan, mutta lyhyydestään huolmiatta täysiä, rikkaita, tiiviitä, elämyksellisiä ja kertomuksiin mahtuu kaikki mitä lukija tarvitsee ymmärtääkseen, nauttiaakseen.
  
  Liksomin tarinat ovat kuvauksia elämästä, joka on vinksallaan, elämästä, joka vinksahduksen tai tapahtuman jälkeen muuttuu - jos siis elämää enää on sillä kovin usein tarinan loppuun ilmaantuu kivääri tai puukko.
  
  Kokoelma on vuodelta 1989 ja varmasti aiheuttanut aikanaan kuohuntaa. Erityisesti, Koska kirjailijana on nuori nainen ja kokoelman aiheisto on sanalla sanoen raju, henkilögalleria kaikkea muuta kuin hauskuutta ja pehmeyttä tarjoileva.
  Liksomin maailma näissä tarinoissa on karu ja tylykin ja tarjoilee niin seksiä, makaabereja tapauksia, sadismia, masokismia, sadomasokismia seksuaalisuutta mutta niin taitavasti kuvattuna, että lukeminen sujuu, aiheistosta huolimatta. Lisäksi kuohuntaa tai ainakin kulmien kohotuksia lienee nostattanut tarinoiden henkilögalleria. Liksom tarjoilee kokoelman homoseksuaaleja juoppoja munkkeja ja kirkonmiehiä, vanhuksia eritteissään, kirosanoja suustaan suoltavia, juuri ja juuri elämän syrjässä olevia, harvoin kovin kunniallisen. Seinien sisällä tapahtuu yhtä ja toista.
  
  Liksomin kertomuksissa kuvastuu täydellinen yksinäisyys, lohduttomuus, tilanteiden hetkellisyys, ajattelemattomat päätelmät ja tämä kaikki on kirjoitettu luontevasti täydesti tarkasti riippumatta siitä onko kyseessä kirjakieli tai Helsingin tai Lapin murteet.
  
  Liksom osaa tämän(kin) kirjoittamisen genren, tämän taiteenlajin. On täysin omalaisensa taito sisällyttää sivuun kahteen, ehkä kolmeen kokonaisen maailman kuvaus.
  Upea upea kokoelma.
  
• 
  Tomaž

  Gre za povsem neposredno, surovo in eksplicitno kompilacijo temnih plati sodobne družbe. Kot taka je vir pronicljivih uvidov v posamezna poglavja sodobne deviantnosti, ki zaradi strukture izjemno kratkih zgodb, ki praviloma nimajo nikakršnega kesanja ali katarze, učinkujejo toliko bolj silovito. Zgodbe bodo dale misliti. Nekatere so pri tem bolj učinkovite, druge, seveda, nekoliko manj. Spominja na temne in hladne atmosfere skandinavskih kriminalk. Vsekakor za tiste z dobrimi živci, še bolje pa jo bodo odnesli tisti, ki premorete obilico smisla za črni humor. Temni paradiž je spoj različnih modusov zločina. Vprašanje je le, kateri se bolj dotakne sodobnega bralca. In toliko bolj, katerega bo ta bralec lahko prenesel.
  
  
  http://kon-teksti.blogspot.si/2016/12...
• 
  Outi

  Ai että, olipa näistä jotkut ihan puhdasta kultaa. Liksom luo novelleissaan kepeästi elokuvamaisia maisemia ihan pienillä kuvailuilla, huumori on ihanan lakonista, kertojat ihan pimeitä ja mitä kaikkee. Jengi posauttelee toisiaan hirvikivääreillä, pukumies kiduttaa itsensä työpäivän päätteeks rauhalliseks ja naiset nyt varsinkaan ei kato mitään vätyksiä kauaa. Kuten sanottua: "Kai miehelläkin jumalauta jotakin velvollisuuksia on jos kimpassa asutaan."
• 
  Brian Washines

  A stark mosaic of various lives, most of which are based in violence and desperation, it is one of those austere, brief novels that could not exist any other way. These nonlinear, plotless pieces of literature offer a strange release from those that are its exact opposite. To remind one that sometimes, really, we tend to force the world and its chaotic nature to make sense. It's a shot of black, black coffee against a late, icy morning.
• 
  Andrea Neves António

  Um olhar, não sei se individual, colectivo, ou apenas da criação de uma mente que retrata várias e diferentes personagens e as suas muito, muito pequenas histórias, na gelada Finlândia. As descrição levam a ouvir o vento cortante, a sentir o frio glacial e a imaginar o brilho do sol nos montes de neve e gelo. O fundo remoi sempre na desesperança, na depressão e na loucura.
• 
  Manon

  C'était...étrange.
• 
  Emilia Hämäläinen

  Näiden kansien väliin mahtuu lukematon määrä maitotuotteita ja ruumiita.
• 
  JC

  Very short and shocking stories written in simplistic languange. I need to write an essay about humour in this book, though it is debatable if you can call any of this 'humour' (bad for me). I feel like most of these stories are based on subverting the readers expectations. It mostly worked for me, although the brevity of the glimpses we get into the characters lifes prevented me from being fully interested in them.
• 
  Kuu

  I honestly didn't really enjoy this. There were some stories that I found interesting, and the set-up was very good as well, but I just didn't enjoy majority of the stories. I can definitely see why it's somewhat popular here in Finland, objectively it's a good collection, but it just wasn't my cup of tea, I guess.
• 
  Mikael Kuoppala

  Less eccentric than most of Liksom’s writing, “Dark Paradise” still consist of extremely short flashes from the lives of a varied cavalcade of characters, as is the standard style of the author. Her take on storytelling is just unusually realistic here, extreme situations and absurd irony are present but only in a subtle manner.
  
  Liksom again demonstrates her ability to bring characters truly alive with only a few sentences of their inner monologue. Her prose is also beautiful and surprisingly lyrical this time around.
  
  “Dark Paradise” isn't as uniquely Liksom as many of her other works, but it’s a demonstration of how she can create an effective and accomplished collection even without resulting to unusual amounts of edginess.
• 
  Marc

  Think: Elfriede Jelinek meets Eric Chevillard. Think: sex, violence, and the grotesque. Think: uncomfortable laughter. Perhaps you'll then have some small idea of what this slim book holds in store for those brave enough to take the plunge.
  
  Originally written in Finnish, the collection-if that's the right word for it-consists of a number of untitled sketches or "flash fictions," if you will, divided between two sections: Domestic and Foreign. I'll begin by discussing the former.
  
  Read the rest of the review
  here
• 
  Elisa

  Nappasinpa Kuutos-hytin lisäks mukaani myös tämän vuonna 1989 julkaistun novellikokoelman, ja onneks nappasin! Meininki on kokoelman lyhyissä tarinoissa nyrjähtänyt pahemman kerran makaaberin puolelle, mutta silti ne ei saaneet aikaan millään lailla kolkkoa fiilistä, vaan päinvastoin saivat usein jopa naurahtelemaan tai tuntemaan epätodennäköisinäkin hetkinä myötätuntoa monenkirjavia hahmoja kohtaan. Kieli vaihtelee sujuvasti murteesta toiseen. Virkistävän häiriintynyttä luettavaa.
• 
  Kristýna Huclová

  Aka Prázdné cesty. Sto stránek mikropříběhů o podivínech, paranoiích, násilí, smrti, chtíče a vůbec o tom horším co v lidech je. Místy ta útržkovistost připomíná Tokarzcuk, místy překladem Opráski, v jednom místě pak skoro přes kopírák Topolův Dobrý člověk a nakonec jako bonus povídka Pitipusero z lekce 21 (zájmena někdo něco, pasivum préterita, podmiňovací způsob minulý) o tom jak se špatně uklízí vystřelený mozek. Zalila mě vlna nostalgie (to je ta třetí hvězdička).
• 
  Jenny

  Short, very short, carefully crafted stories about mentally unstable characters, violent crimes, sex and other dark corners of humanity. The stories are set in Finland and we get glimpses of old Churches, fish processing plants, and fishing boats, but they could be anywhere and the characters could be anyone.
• 
  Alex

  Bleak vignettes set in bleak Finland. They're not character studies, they're barely character sketches. I feel like they're ideal writing prompts, scenes 2 to 4 pages long, I could use them as story beginnings. What would happen next? I enjoyed reading these brief pieces and letting my imagination go.
• 
  Gaby

  I enjoyed the first few "stories" (Abstracts? Sketches? Outlines? Impressionist glimpses?) but halfway through it started getting repetitive. Rehashing the same idea. I'd recommend 3 or 4 stories out of this collection- while reading the rest wasn't a pain, they were in no way memorable or thought provoking.
• 
  Vincent

  Strange, quiet, violent, damn good.
• 
  Chris

  i don't know about you, but rosa liksom rocks my socks.
• 
  Taylor

  so delectably finnish. very quick read.