The Howling Miller
A dark fairytale of community, conformity and our place in the world set in backwoods Finland.
When Gunnar Huttunen turns up in a small village to restore its run-down mill, its inhabitants are wary. Gunnar is big. He’s a bit odd. And, strangest of all, he howls wildly at night.
If Gunnar is different, then he must be mad, the villagers decide. Hounded from his home, he must find a way to survive the wilds of nature and the greater savagery of civilization.
The Howling Miller is a fable of freedom and swimming against the societal current. The novel has been adapted for the stage and twice into a feature film, most recently in 2017.
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Reviews
“There is much to like here—wit, pathos and just enough of the extraordinary to transform the novel into a kind of modern fable.”
“The narrative, with its episodic chapters and fablelike tone, follows Huttunen’s interactions with an amused eye . . . Paasilinna describes the frenetic inner workings of his characters’ minds with an expert touch . . . It is Paasilinna’s gift in this gem of a novel to wring humour from the most desperate circumstances.”
“The Howling Miller has the feel of an ominous Hansel and Gretel-style bedtime story—part myth, part fable and part novel—a form that has a funny way of bypassing the head and directly affecting the animal instincts.”
