Harjunpää ja poliisin poika

Harjunpää #5

by Matti Yrjänä Joensuu

Mikaelin ja Leon elämässä on vain yksi päämäärä: saada elämään lisää säpinää. Eräänä iltana nuoret kuitenkin ylittävät viimeisen rajan ja surmaavat miehen. Tutkinnan edetessä ylikonstaapeli Timo Harjunpää joutuu kohtaamaan välinpitämättömyyttä, hätää ja puhdasta vihaa, kun nuoret käyvät sotaansa aikuisten maailmaa vastaan.

Genres: Fiction, Crime, Finnish Literature, Mystery, Detective

298 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Matti Yrjänä Joensuu (born 1948) was a Finnish writer of crime fiction. He was awarded the State's Literature Prize (1982), Vuoden johtolanka prize (1985, 1994, 2004), and he was nominated for two Finlandias. He received the Martin Beck Award in 1987. He graduated as a police in 1973 and worked as a crime investigator at the Helsinki police station's violence group.

Joensuu wrote several novels about the personal life and work of policeman Timo Harjunpää. He is a very credible and pleasant man, who treats the criminals as humanely as his own family, which consists of Timo, his wife Elisa and three children (Valpuri, Pipsa and Pauliina).

Harjunpää has also been shown on TV. Joensuu's work has been translated into English, Bulgarian, Dutch, Italian, Norwegian, French, Swedish, German, Slovak, Danish, Hungarian, Russian and Estonian.

Reviews

[Matti Karjalainen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eivät vanhemmat loppujen lopuksi tiedä juuri mitään. Ja monet eivät haluakaan. (s. 198)

Mikael on neljätoista, Leo kuudentoista. Mikaelin isä on poliisi, mutta kotona esiintyy niin henkistä kuin fyysistä perheväkivaltaa. Leon kotona asiat eivät ole sen paremmin: isä on lähtenyt kävelemään vuosia sitten ja istuu tiettävästi nykyään ruotsalaisessa vankilassa, äiti ryyppää ja huoraa.

Nuorukaiset ovat ottaneet itsekin ensimmäiset askeleensa päihteiden ja rikosten maailmassa, mutta pahin on vasta edessä... Timo Harjunpää kutsutaan paikalle kun lammesta löydetään teho-osastolle hakattu mies, joka myöhemmin menehtyy saamiinsa vammoihin. Eivätkä kuolonuhrit jää yhteen.

Suomalaisen rikoskirjallisuuden tunnetuimpiin nimiin kuuluvan Matti Yrjänä Joensuun "Harjunpää ja poliisin poika" (Otava, 2007) ilmestyi alun perin vuonna 1983. Se kuvaa helsinkiläisen rikospoliisin työtä realistisesti ja romantisoimatta.

Sävy on ahdistava ja hetkittäin jopa lohduton kuvatessaan syrjäytyneiden nuorten elämää ja perheoloja. Silmitön väkivalta kohdistuu viattomiin ulkopuolisiin ja johtaa kahden ihmisen kuolemaan, mutta kuvatessaan sen taustalla olevia syitä kirjailija joutuu lukija tuntemaan jopa pientä myötätuntoa syyllisiä kohtaan. Leo ja Mikael ovat ennen kaikkea olosuhteiden uhreja.

Luin "Harjunpää ja poliisin pojan" ensimmäisen kerran ehkä kaksitoistavuotiaana, mistä kiitos kirjaa minulle suositelleelle isälleni. Neljännesvuosisadan takainen lukukokemus oli ollut sen verran puhutteleva ja ehkä vähän järkyttäväkin, että saatoin edelleen muistaa yksittäisiä kohtauksia kirjasta.

Nyt ajattelin siirtää soihtua eteenpäin ja ottaa kirjan mukaan kahdeksasluokkalaisten genrevinkkaukseen. Toivottavasti joku koululaisista siihen tarttuu, sen verran hienosta romaanista on kyse!

[Katrin Li · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raamat sellest, kui oluline on isaroll, selle puudumine või selle väärastunud olemasolu. Huvitav keelekasutus raamatus. Üldse mõnus, värskendav lugemine.
Väga hästi kirjeldab raamatut esilehel olev tekst "Romaan kuriteost ja sellest, mida me oma silmas ei näe?"

[Niko-Janne Vantala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harjunpää ja poliisin poika (1983) on järjestyksessään viides Matti Yrjänä Joensuun kirjoittamista 11 Harjunpää-romaanista. Vuodet 1981-1986 olivat kirjailijan tuotteliainta aikaa, jolloin ilmestyi vuoden välein yhteensä kuusi Harjunpää-romaania, minkä jälkeen seurasikin pidempi tauko. 90-luvulla Joensuu kirjoitti vain yhden Harjunpää-tarinan (Harjunpää ja rakkauden nälkä, 1993), 2000-luvulla yhden (Harjunpää ja pahan pappi, 2003) ja edelleen 2010-luvulla yhden (Harjunpää ja rautahuone), joka jäikin sitten viimeiseksi. Viimeisen romaanin jatko-osa jäi ilmeisesti kesken Joensuun menehtyessä sairauskohtaukseen 63-vuotiaana joulukuussa 2011. Tuo joulukuu oli suuri menetys suomalaiselle rikoskirjallisuudelle.

Harjunpää-romaaneissa on yleensä oma teemansa. Harjunpää ja poliisin poika -romaanin teemana on nuorisorikollisuus ja etenkin nuorison sivullisiin kohdistama väkivalta. Aihe lienee ollut tuolloin(kin) varsin ajankohtainen, sillä muistan 80-luvun keskivaiheilla varsinkin Helsingin keskusta-alueella (Rautatieasema, Kaisaniemenpuisto) esiintyneen nuorisoväkivallan olleen paikoitellen voimakkaasti esillä tiedotusvälineissä. Joensuu käsittelee teemaa totuttuun humaaniin tapaansa niin rikostutkijoiden, uhrien kuin tekijöidenkin perpektiivistä. Joensuun kuvaileman poliisityön keskiössä on kuitenkin edelleen melankolia: turhautuneisuus ja suru kaikesta siitä, mitä poliisi työssään joutuu kohtaamaan.

Romaanin tapahtumat sijoittuvat aihepiirinsä mukaisesti osuvasti Helsingin keskustaan ja Kontulaan. Vaikka poliisin Väkivaltaosasto on siirtynyt Aleksanterinkadun ja Sofiankadun kulmasta uusiin toimitiloihin Pasilaan, 80-luvun retrohenki näkyy kännykättömyydessä ja poliisien virka-Ladoissa. Puhelinkoppien sijainti on varsin oleellista, ja liikenteessä tulee vastaan Tipparelluja ja Amazoneja. Harjunpään oma auto on aikakaudelle edelleen tyypillinen Warthburg.

Joensuu ei kerronnassaan pröystäile, uhittele tai liioittele, vaan pyrkii kuvailemaan tapahtumat ja ilmiöt niin kuin ne ympäristössä esiintyvät. Joensuun kirjoitustyylin ja kerronnan voisi kategorioida humaaniksi, melankoliseksi realismiksi. Tarinakin on ihan mukaansatempaava. Romaani on taattua Harjunpää-laatua.

Arvioni: 4,0 tähteä viidestä.

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like a 3.75 (I HATE rating books) rounded up to a 4.

Set in Helsinki, The Stone Murders is the first in a series of three, followed by The Priest of Evil and To Steal Her Love. Timo Harjunpaa is a detective sergeant in homicide and he's seen his share of ugliness in the past. It's about to get uglier, as he's called out to investigate what seems to be another murder, but he finds the victim still alive yet barely clinging to life. The man has been brutally attacked -- while knocked out with a beer bottle, his assailant jumped on his chest, pounded his stomach area with a mass of heavy stones, and left him for dead. Harjunpaa gets to work on the case but has no idea what's waiting for him as he gets closer to the killer.

The Stone Murders is not really a mystery, because the criminals are revealed right away to be young men from extremely dysfunctional families and backgrounds. It is more of a police procedural, but at the same time, Joensuu interweaves into the story a brief look at the problems of 1980s Helsinki: child abuse, alcoholism, prostitution, and teen gangs that have no respect for anyone (especially the police, who fear them), to name a few. There's also a look at the police force itself -- the ridiculous bureaucracy, the lack of officers to handle the ongoing crime problems, and the ineptitude of a few who are supposed to be in charge of others. Joensuu also offers a look into Harjunpaa's personal life, which as things get worse for this particular case, becomes his safe haven.

Considering that this book is a series first, it's very well done. The characters each have a separate identity without going into overly-detailed descriptions. And every now and then Joensuu fleetingly allows the tough-guy façade of the criminals to fall away, replaced by the young and immature children that they are. Harjunpaa is a good cop, but even more, he's portrayed as a human being, with his own fears for the future of the police force, life in Helsinki, and for his family. All of this is done without ever devolving into something sappy and sentimental. The story is well paced, the plotline is quite good and believable. There were no distractions that made me want to skim, which is something I always look for in any book.

Readers of Scandinavian crime fiction will enjoy this, as will anyone who likes a good police procedural. It's definitely difficult to believe that this is Joensuu's first novel.

[Andres "Ande" Jakovlev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peab ütlema, et jube keeruline on ikka raamatuid hinnata... Midagi tegelikult halvasti ei olnud, lugu oli ajastutruu ja põnev, sissevaade inimestesse igati usutav. Ja mõned peatükid olid häirivamad kui teised. Pean siinkohal silmas, et heas mõttes häirivamad - sellise loo puhul seda ju ootakski.

Eks muidugi ole sellistes lugudes ka helgeid kiiri. Vaadates seda, mis täna maailmas toimub (terrorism, masstulistamised jms) tahaks küsida, et kuhu maailm liigub. Vaadates aga mõnekümne aasta tagusesse minevikku, on elu täna ikka oluliselt ilusam ja turvalisem. Rääkimata mõnesaja aasta tagusest olukorrast.

Kindlasti plaanin tulevikus ka teised Harjunpää lood kätte võtta.

[Artur Atson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kaheksakümnendad soomes. Lokkab joomine ja politse vastasus noorte seas. Kaks alaealist ületavad aga tavalise vägivalduses piiri. 16 ja 14 aastased poisid peksavad poolsunuks juhusliku jommis mõõduja, ajendiks pudeliavaja küsimine. Hiljem kannatanu sureb haavadesse. Nädal hiljem tapavad samuti kolme lapse isa, kes jommis peaga koju läheb. Sealt hargnevad lahti tunnistused kahe poisi kohta, mis kulmineerum vanema poisi tabamisega ja noorma, politseiniku poja, enesetapuga.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Matti Yrjänä Joensuu was one of the well-known and well liked Finnish crime writers. He died a few weeks ago, and I managed to find a copy of The Stone Murders which I read for commemorating him.
I'm fairly sure I've read the book before, probably when I was still 12 or 13 (I skipped all the young adult stuff, so I was done with all the Agatha Christies my local library had to offer by the time I was 13), as many parts of it seemed familiar.

A man is found stoned to practically death, and he later dies in the hospital. Harjunpää gets the case when the man is found (everyone thought he was already dead), and he and his team set to find who killed the man. It's Harjunpää's turn to make the dreaded visit to the dead man's home. A poor home, with no one but an old lonely mother waiting for her son, a worker who now was killed, and who, like all the killed men in this story, was drunk when the bad things happened, and the mother can read between the lines that her son is dead before Harjunpää delivers the bad news. Who could have done it?
On the same time the story follows Mikael (a policeman's son - here the original Finnish title: Poliisin poika) and his disgusting friend Leo. Mikael's father behaves like a dick, and Leo's father is not present in his daily life. These two youngsters, both around 15, really seem like a disgusting waste of oxygen. (The worst for me is that there were a few scumbags like them in my class in the elementary school over there). Add a stolen car chase with these wastes of oxygen and Harjunpää chasing them, and later another man found dead, killed with the same brutal ways. The rest I shan't spoil, so go ahead and read it if you find a copy. :)

Here's what I think is great about this book:
- It's an old-fashioned crime story. It reminded me of some of the Wallander stories (there was a character called Wallander in this book too, but not definitely the Kurt Wallander). You know early who made the crime, follow them, then follow the police, follow the cat-and-mouse thing.
- Joensuu was a policeman before he was a writer, so I'd like to think of his books as procedurals (of the Finnish style. Of the 1980s.. still)
- It's one of the few crime stories ever translated in English from Finnish (for this, +2 points)
- Some of the characters were interesting, and I guess they give light for many Finnish things. More of that in a few rows

And here's what was less than great:
- The translation was ok, not great. A bunch of expressions and words were from a dictionary, not something I'd have imagined in common use. Not words that I'd have run to when reading other books in American English or UK English from the same era (first published in English in 1987). Finnish is definitely not the easiest source language, and it was the 1980s, so part of those can be forgiven or ignored
- A much greater issue was the decision to get rid of umlaut characters for the English editions. Umlauts are not decoration (like they try to use them in US, see e.g. Lärabar or Jâsön cosmetics), they make a difference in the meaning of the words and how they are pronounced. Let's take some examples of the source language in this case: näin = 'like this', or 'I saw', vs nain = 'I f*cked', not like messing things up but having some close interpersonal activity with another human. See why the umlauts matter? Not only did the US print have Harjunpaa as a protagonist when it should have been Harjunpää, but the same pestering was present for all the character names. Harko? I guess that would have been Härkö in the original, and so on.
- The street names were translated horribly, like Viides Line, the name of the street (including the possessive) in Finnish, the street, lane etc in English. It would have been more elegant to keep the street names intact and add the description in English after, like Viides Linja lane.
Maybe this was one of the first translations that Raili Taylor made.
- There was no map. I know where the places they were hanging around in Helsinki are, but that's because I spent time there as a kid. I'm sure the Finnish edition does not have a map, and either most locals there have a grasp where the things are located, or it's not that necessary for following the story. But it would be helpful for the English edition. Sort of like Wallander and Harry Hole have it - even with those it's not 100 % needed for the story, but it's nice to have. It would make it easier. Kontula, the suburb where the rotten apples live, is a 20 minute metro ride from downtown (where one of the men was killed). So here are some maps http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hel... (Kontula is towards the end on Nort line) and http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Fi... the fact that several characters used a bus to get from downtown to Kontula suggests that perhaps the metro line was not ready yet in 983
- Too many things would have benefited from knowledge about the Finnish culture and Finland in general. While a number of things are like in Wallander books, Finnish culture is weird compared to the Swedish one, and I prefer when a mystery does not require one to be an aficionado of a culture to follow the nuances of a crime story.
- Not too much action (and it's only 183 p)
- Also time has eaten away parts of the story.

Characterwise Harjunpää reminded me a bit of Kurt Wallander, and a bit more of inspector Erlendur but who still lives with a wife and kids. It also reminded me of some of the old, classic Sjöwall & Wahlöö stories, and of Sidetracked - similar psychopathic teenaged waste of oxygen being the one the police are chasing.

Another crime is that not much of Finnish crime is translated or available in English. This is one of the really few. If you want to try something that's easier to follow (and where all the weird cultural things are explained in the English version when needed), and easier to find as a copy as well, give a try to some of James Thompson's books, Snow Angels and Lucifer's Tears. They are also located in Finland, but in a much more modern version of it, and they have much more action one would like in a crime story. The Stone Murders did seem overall a bit disappointing, but the 3 star scoring already is adjusted for the fact that it's available in English (available, such as Austin public library having one copy from 1987).

[Lauri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Karm ja kraapiv lugu 80ndate alguse Helsingi noorte mõrvarlikust vägivallast. Purunenud kodudest tulevad katkised noored, kes ei oskagi muud kui tekitada samasugust lootusetust, vägivalda ja kurjust. Meisterlikult kirjutatud romaan jälgib võikaid kuritegusid kordamööda nii politseinike, ohvrite kui kurjategijate vaatevinklist. Psühholoogiliselt ilmselt seni meisterlikuim Harjunpää-romaan (tegu on sarja 5. osaga).
Kahjuks lugesin eesti keeles ja tõlge oli enam kui imelik. Esiteks kubises see soomekeelsetest sõnadest ja väljenditest, mida eesti keeles ei kasutata. Mitte keegi ei sõida tunnelist tee "alitse". Ninna ei karga "lemu". Ja "keittiömestari" küll "meisterkokk" pole, pigem täiesti tavaline kokk. Selliseid asju oli igal leheküljel. Väljaandmisaasta 1986 ei vabanda, sel ajal olid reaalselt korrektorid ja toimetajad, kes oleks pidanud tiheda rehaga kogu selle käsikirja üle vaatama. Aga no see selleks. Romaan ise oli karm, kraapiv ja melanhoolselt hea.

[Nightwitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scandinavian noir set in 1980s Helsinki. Less depressing than some of these books are (Harjunpaa seems to have a fairly functional marriage as well as young children), although still pretty grim overall. We learn almost immediately whodunnit and follow both sleuth and killer for the duration of the book. Occasional flashes of a four-star read but overall, just reliably decent.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completely good on so many levels...the detective reminded me of Karin Fossum's detective: you know how he feels, how he thinks. And the other detectives, as well. You know them. The bad guys are kids and we know how they feel, too. Totally great book. The author is Finnish. I enjoyed this book SOOO much!

[Jittishodan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rujo tarina rumasta tilanteesta. Suomalaisissa perheissä ei liene enää mahdollinen, mutta uusia suomalaisiakin on. Poliisin arki lienee yhtä ankeaa kuin nykyäänkin. Neljä tähteä rumasta ja realistisesta kokonaisuudesta.

[Hugues · Rating 2 out of 5]

Roman très dur, un des plus durs du genre peut-être. Dans le polar nordique, on désespère souvent de l'humanité, mais ici cela prend des proportions abyssales. Pas d'énigme, juste du désespoir.

[Saku Järvinen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brutaalia tekstiä

4.4/5

[WakenPayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Admittedly the translation is sub-par to say the least from this book. They spelled Harjunpää like Harjunpaa. It just seems off.

The basic plot is that 2 teenage delinquents go around fooling around, but the definition of "fooling around" is used very loosely because they like to beat these random people to death with stones. One of them happens to be the son of a policeman (hence the Finnish title Harjunpää ja poilisin poika). Harjunpää finds the teenagers doing things other than the killings, sooon however they do eventually find the connection (not revealing anything though).

Matti Joensuu is definetly my favourite author. His books and stories are great reads for fans of crime (and hopefully they'll learn something about Finnish police procedure - with him being a cop and all). This is actually the first book I read of Joensuu's after I found out the guy actually died... The guy was great. There is no doubt about it. He sucked me into the world of Harjunpää and the onlty way I'll ever read any more is if I learn fluent Finnish (which that's going to take a while).

So to be obvious: this book is definetly for those in for a good story for a crime novel and also the people who want accuracy in the Finnish police procedurals.

[Rowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admittedly I have read all of the Harjunpää books that have been translated into English. Of all of them, I thought Harjunpää ja Poilisin Poika was the weakest, in spite of this, I managed to enjoy it.

A man is found practically stoned to death and Harjunpaa is on the lookout as to who it was that could've done this. The answer is that two youths did it.

That is not really a spoiler if you know Joensuu books. He doesn't as much focus on the mystery nor the action as most mainstream police books would be. Its more about Police procedure. I have read many of his books and this does not differentiate. The thing is that I would imagine that if this happens at all in the police department, Joensuu would have made the closest adaptation to the books.

Overall I think its rather a travesty that these books aren't well known. Joensuu should have all the books in this series translated...at least in honor of his memory? Its a fairly decent police procedural with a split "detective/perpetrator" perspective that I find interesting

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the reviews that I see have not been overly enthusiastic here on Goodreads, I did particularly enjoy this short novel. While the action takes place in Helsinki (and it makes reference to various locations there, such as the Rider Statue, a/k/a Mannerheim Statue, the Post House and Kaisaniemi Bay and fields......all of which I hope will come in handy if I do indeed visit Helsinki in this coming year), the general theme is Karin Fossum-like, in that Joensuu's approach is pretty psychological, especially as respects the perpetrators. As a result, he is really discussing universal conditions that do effect kids, no matter what society they grow up in. I also thought that the story of the lead detective, Harjunpaa, was interesting as well. So, a thumbs up for me.

[Petra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ein weiterer finnischer Krimi, der eigentlich keiner ist. Es handelt sich eher um eine Sozial- bzw. Psychostudie. Man kennt von Anfang an die Täter und lernt sie im Laufe des Buches immer besser kennen. Die Täter sind Jugendliche aus untersten sozialen Schichten, die zu keinem Zeitpunkt eine echte Chance haben. Sobald der Leser allerdings Verständnis für die beiden entwickelt, werden ihm ihre Opfer und ihre Familien vorgestellt und die Gewalttaten in der ganzen Sinnlosigkeit beschrieben. Ein sehr eindringlicher und düsterer Roman ,der mich noch lange nach dem Lesen beschäftigt hat.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this some time ago, but wanted to add it to my list because it was such a well crafted mystery, and one of the only Finnish mysteries that I could find at my library. It seems to be out-of-print now, which is a real pity, but I believe that some of the author's other books are available to purchase through amazon.com.

[amaldae · Rating 1 out of 5]

Muisto jo karusta kirjoitustyylistä (saati tarinasta) karmii edelleen selkäpiitä, mutta uskottavuudesta tietysti tulee plussaa. En olisi lukenut omaehtoisesti loppuun, vaikka onhan tällä oma tärkeä viestinsä välitettävänä.

[Jani Kankare · Rating 4 out of 5]

tykkäsin :)