The Honest Tribe – Travels in Finland
UNAVAILABLE at the moment.
Author: Max Boyle
Published: July 2018
Publisher: Klaava
ISBN:
978-952-7074-87-9 (EPUB)
978-952-7074-88-6 (Amazon Kindle)
978-952-7074-89-3 (Apple )
How does an honest tribe live, work and think? This was Max Boyle’s enquiry when he travelled in Finland, looking for answers to the secrets of this Nordic culture.
At an age when many of his peers might be considering a cardigan and slippers lifestyle, Max Boyle departs his native Huddersfield, England, for a backpacking journey in the southern regions of Finland, taking in the cities of Helsinki, Tampere and Turku, as well as smaller towns and villages. Inspired by his own Finno-Ugric roots, he seeks out aspects of Finnish history and culture, enjoys boat trips in Finnish Lakeland and a not-so-daring funfair ride, discovers something of Finland’s celebrated heavy-metal scene, indulges in a traditional sauna and, not least, samples a variety of bars and restaurants.
His leitmotif for the trip, however, is an enquiry into Finnish national character, conducted through a number of interviews with those he encounters on his tour and prompting views on supposed Finnish characteristics such as sisu (a never-give-up attitude), concealment of feelings, modesty and, above all, ultra-honesty.
Variously basking in sunshine, assailed by rain, and targeted by mosquitoes, Boyle makes his way around the country’s South, home to the majority of Finland’s population, and duly encounters a people referred to by American Finnophile Richard D. Lewis as ‘the honest tribe’. This, Boyle’s book of that name, relates the author’s experiences in what is often a light-hearted journey in one of Europe’s most quietly successful countries.
View sample chapters
Screaming Manchester
The World of Women
Contents
Chapter 1 A LITTLE BREEZE
Chapter 2 NO PICNIC
Chapter 3 FIVE-YEAR-OLDS CAN’T DO THAT
Chapter 4 KING GUSTAV’S DREAM
Chapter 5 KISS MY TURKU
Chapter 6 SCREAMING MANCHESTER
Chapter 7 LIFE IS LIKE A ROOM
Chapter 8 ONE MILLION PER CENT
Chapter 9 RASCALS
Chapter 10 THE WORLD OF WOMEN
Chapter 11 CHRISTMAS DAY
Chapter 12 RIIKKA
Chapter 13 BIKERS GALORE
Chapter 14 TRUE FREEDOM