The Unknown Soldier

The Unknown Soldier (Tuntematon sotilas) is perhaps the most famous novel by Väinö Linna. Published in 1954, it is a story about the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union. The novel is based on Linna's own experiences, but is more or less fictional.

Linna excels in describing the psychology of the characters of The Unknown Soldier.

Both Edvin Laine and Rauni Mollberg have made their own movie versions of The Unknown Soldier based on Linna's novel.

An uncensored version of the book was published in 2000 under the name Sotaromaani, revealing that Linnas critique of the officer corps and the often quite coarse language of the common soldiers had been removed in the original.

Unfortunately, the only known english translation of the novel is faulty with scenes removed and added for unspecified reasons.

See also: Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

External links

• Finnish classic war film The Unknown Soldier opens old wounds in Russia (an article by Helsingin Sanomat)
• The IMDb entry on Tuntematon sotilas (by Edvin Laine, 1955)
• The IMDb entry on Tuntematon sotilas (by Rauni Mollberg, 1985)

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