Senlin Ascends: a wonderful journey of wits, wisdom, intelligence and wonder

'Newcomers may expect the ringdoms of the Tower to be like the layers of a cake where each layer is much like the last. But this is not the case. Not at all. Each ringdom is unique and bewildering. The ringdoms of the Tower share only two things in common: the shape of their outermost walls, which are roughly circular, and the price of beer, which is outrageous. The rest is novel.'

- Everyman's Guide to the Tower of Babel, I.X

[Another one from Daniel, mine is here if you somehow missed it!]

Embarking on a long-journey is fascinating. A compendium of new sights, people, food and climate becomes the reality of envisagement. A recent spontaneous journey lead myself and Tuuli though Aberdeen and Glasgow down to Belgium. Throughout the journey I gazed out of the window, allured by the many passing towns of Belgium meanwhile Tuuli obsessed over a specific book; the book of which I am reviewing today.

Much like our trip to Brussels, Senlin Ascends accompanies Senlin and his wife, Marya on an adventure to the tower of Babel. The tower is located in the fictional land of Ur and is a dream location for Senlin and is therefore a perfect place for their honeymoon. The tower is a pinnacle of society, housing technology beyond both the ordinary and academic mind and a heaven for greater existence. Senlin's innervation quickly deteriorates once he steps off the train, shadowed in the opulence that is the tower. Navigating through the bustling streets, bombarded by merchants, tower-dwellers and fellow tourists Senlin is abruptly separated from Marya. The only hope is a previous agreement they made, which was to meet at the top of the tower if they got separated; this begins his grand ascension of the tower.

This pulchritudinous book is imaged in our regular reading spot. It is quite an irregularly sized book but the design of the cover reflects the mystery shroud in the books content (I will divulge more into this later). The next book in the trilogy, Arm of the Sphinx, also has an mystical design which looks very nice.

The detail in this book is immense, every item is delicately crafted to bring the tower to life. I have an vibrant image in my head of the tower and of the people. They are not entirely comparable to anything that is real but hints of realism is placed eloquently in parts of the book which allows everything to seem plausible. I enjoyed going to new places in this book and meeting new characters as the descriptions where very well thought out.

Up to yet, every character, including the bad ones are complex and fine-tuned and play along constructively with the book. Each individual you meet is involved with the plot and, while existing as catalysts they make you scavenge you mind to try and figure what their end game is. Everything is not as it seems.

We get a first hand sight into he tower from Senlins viewpoint and we develop with him as he unravels (or tries) the secrets of the tower. Many of the other characters seem to know the secrets of the tower (seem...ha) and their development is greatly satisfying to watch; it was very pleasurable to join individuals finding their own paths in the tower.

Senlins nickname in the book is ostrich? (Tell me if this is correct?) He is developed as an individual who isn't the most handsome or strongest and only has intelligent. People from his town do not think he deserves his wife. We are told this story but we see how much care he does have for Marya and how he develops to care for her even more which she is missing (which could be indefinitely). The two of them do not seem to match but they work perfectly well together anyway. I usually hate love aspects of books and movies but this actually interested me. (Regrettably I do liken myself to Senlins sometimes)

I never felt bored reading this and there was something new on every page which made me want to go back to it. The words flow without interruption and even though some of the grammar is complex it was very easy to read. The pacing was excellent and evidently the author is exceptionally skilled by adding hints of deception, delight and darkness into the same pages.

Continuing from darkness, the tower is quickly painted and thickened in a coat of darkness and seriousness but light is seen in every chapter. Dark and light do not always mix but Senlin is always optimistic and wants to see the best in people, the book goes much deeper than you could possibly expect.

The wonder of the tower and its workings reminds me of a slightly darker industrial revolution age. Things do not seem fair and everything is mechanical and clunky but it works.

My only criticism is a character we meet during the latter half of the book. This individual seems to possess powers that are not explained and therefore seem unrealistic and do not fit with the style of the book. This is very minor as it goes into no significant detail about this individual, I am entirely certain we will learn more about him in the next book.

I really enjoyed this and would highly recommend you to read it. Using Tuuli's ever reliable system, I will give this 4.5 out of 5. I can't wait to read the next one in July!!!
(I have tried very hard not to spoil any characters, there is a lot more in this book, tons of little details which are just so satisfying and which also are used to set out the book. I'm not going to spoil any here, you should definitely read it)

Band of Brothers on Steroids - Unknown Soldiers

(This is a guest entry of sorts written by Daniel since I feel like as a Finnish classics, his thoughts on this one may be more intriguing than mine :) )

The inaugural premise of this book leaves a curious impression on the reader, it is introduced in a way which paves the emotional wave awaiting the reader; this is followed by brutal, desperate situations that you share with the soldiers whom you have come to know and love.

After reading this moderately long book, I have a sense of loss; one of the most memorable aspects of this novel is the connection that you gain with the characters. One can confidently compare this connection to the relationships seen between the soldiers in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. This connection does not necessarily stem from the bonding between each character but rather from the delicate descriptions and intricate stories belonging to each of the characters. Some characters I abhorred and some I highly enjoyed; but whether I hated or loved I still cared for them. I will purposefully avoid any information relating to spoilers but it was quite an exciting/traumatising ordeal following each character; that is all I will say on this.

Unknown Soldiers was translated from Finnish to English by Liesl Yamaguchi. I therefore cannot give a judgement of the novel through how the author intended it to be but for what I read I gained a sense of pride, courage and how brutal war can be. It is all too common these days for war to be glamorised in Hollywood by a single soldier, cemented in mud, blood and usually an American flag as he simultaneously eradicates numerous people with a single bullet. The beauty of Unknown Soldiers is its raw, in-depth, realistic cruelty and violence. Nothing is glamourized and it feels like the most realistic account of war I have read; this expresses the quality of the book as, it is fictional.  I have never read or watched anything similar to this, it was frightening to imagine and is definitely the closest I wish to be to a war zone.

I am a very lucky individual to have Finnish girlfriend, due to this my knowledge of Finnish history is much greater than the average non-Finnish person. This novel appropriately articulates a sense of pride and understanding from a Finnish perspective. It discusses the topic of war from a point of view that doesn’t necessarily fall under the term ‘slander’ but rather understanding. I believe my former, non-Finnish experienced self would sympathise with the characters and opinions of the book. It is not a lecture about the diplomatic decisions circulating around the ethics of war, but it highlights upon the peoples war and why ‘dancing with the devil’ might be the way to go.

On the most part, the translation was very good but sometimes the sentences did not flow as well as they could, they all made sense but seemed to stem from a verbally spoken point of view, rather from a written piece of literature.

The plot of this novel was very simple. I am very glad it is not complex and full of crazy side plots that are so very common these days. It shadows a battalion of soldiers from the completion of their training until the end of a four year long war (1941 – 1945). This is based upon the continuation war of Finland; I would recommend you read upon this war, as from an Englishman’s point of view I found this rather interesting. The simplicity and elegance of the plot did not drag, even when the book lead us through the standard lives of soldiers on the front line. There is an eloquent assortment of surprise and normality, which gives a steady and exciting pace of the novel.

An interesting point is that this book is based upon a war, yet it is entirely fictional. Some of the characters are vaguely based upon real life individuals but none of the battles actually took place. The author participated in the war and started writing the first half while at war. For myself, part of the enchantment of this book is its ability to describe and articulate situations that could be real. Instead of replicating something real, it produces a passage of text purely from abstracted imagination of events, in essence this book is more detailed than a text that stems from a real battle as little details are not missed.

The characters in this book exceeded in captivating my interest, as their development was profound. Similar to real life you get individuals who stagnate in a pitiful array of arrogance, some who have always been what they are or what they want to be and those who desire is to excel in every way manageable. The range of characters I this book satisfy these characteristics in the best way possible as you can see and feel how the war wears them down and turns them into someone new.

Unknown Soldiers was given to me as a present; gifted as a prized collective of Finnish literature and read simultaneously across four countries with my beloved girlfriend. I was pleasantly surprised with its direct, ruthless expression of war and the progression of how men can develop into inhumane machines but still hold humanity to their heart. It takes you through a relinquished journey, from childish wishes, adult impersonations to absolute abandonment; this is truly a novel that should be seated upon the greats of war related books.

PS. I love the cover.