The Thirty Years' War

by Henrik Tikkanen, George C. Schoolfield (Afterword), George Blecher (Translator)

By turns ironic and uproarious, The Thirty Years' War is about a soldier who carried on World War II by himself, years after it officially ended. In satirizing war and the making of a war hero, the controversial Finland-Swedish writer Henrik Tikkanen gives many a nod to American culture and the American military. His comic novel, reminiscent of the best writing of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., is now available in English, ten years after its original publication in Finland. The twenty drawings are by Tikkanen, a noted artist and caricaturist as well as author. The Thirty Years' War was translated into English by George and Lone Thygesen Blecher, who were named Translators of the Year in 1984 by the American Library Association. The afterword is by George C. Schoolfield, chairman of the Department of Germanic Languages at Yale University, and an authority on Scandinavian literature.

Genres: Swedish Literature, Finnish Literature

158 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Henrik Tikkanen was a Finnish-Swedish writer and artist. He worked as a columnist and cartoonist for Hufvudstadsbladet and later Helsingin Sanomat, and as an advertising illustrator.

He wrote a number of novels, mostly in Swedish. His breakthrough was the autobiographical series beginning with Brändövägen 8 (1975, translated to English as Snob's Island / A Winter's Day). Several of his books have anti-war themes.

Reviews

[Udo]

Satir över krigets vansinne som har spänst och svikt i steget trots 50 år på nacken.