"The Rabbit Back Literature Society" Review!

I had the pleasure of reading Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen's The Rabbit Back Literature Society over the past few days. I picked it up last year on a whim from Bookoutlet, and again chose to read it recently simply because it was snowing - like it is on the cover. But luckily enough for me, this novel was exactly what I was looking for, despite not knowing it.

This story follows Ella, a literature substitute teacher who has a relatively boring life, a pair of defective ovaries, and a lonely existence. However when she finds a faulty copy of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, it leads her on a journey of books that are altering themselves, the Rabbit Back Literature Society (and the nine other members who have been there for 30 years), the mysterious disappearance of Laura White, the club's founder, and the mythical happenings that are occurring across Rabbit Back. As a book lover, this is a novel about books and people who love books. There is always a joy in reading about readers, and this is one of the many reasons I liked this book as much as I did.

This book had a way of grasping you. At about 14 pages in, and I was still a little skeptical, but it was like an immediate change by chapter two. The story skyrockets, and the plot and characters work symbiotically to push the plot along. I thought that the secret society areas of the book were well done and seemed to keep the changing to keep the reader interested. It was definitely non-predictable, and hardly felt boring.

As Ella works to solve the mystery of Laura White, deal with the death of her father, and come to terms with some of things in her own life, the town of Rabbit Back becomes more and more Twin Peaks-esque. However, at some points, I felt that Jääskeläinen was maybe trying to take on too much at once. There was a lot of different things happening, the story doesn't seem to span over a huge allotment of time. While I thought that all of the aspects worked well together, and made for a wonderfully jarring and unique story, there were some parts that I was a bit iffy on and could've done without.

It is clear that Jääskeläinen is well versed in different parts of different realities. I thought that the secret (or, I guess, in this situation, not so secret) society areas of the book were well done and seemed to stay alive. The whole concept of 'The Game', basically confessions for new writing material between the group members, went back and forth between interestingly psychological and brutally personal. And there were little things here and there that Jääskeläinen would mention, and would pop up later as more than just a insignificant detail.

The thing that kept this so afloat was not the secret society, however, it was the mythological aspects. It kept this book fresh, and similar but not copy cat to books like Donna Tart's "The Secret History". But, this is where I think Jääskeläinen may have gotten a little overwhelmed and muddled, and maybe just shoved some explanations on this unexplained mythical beast that is haunting this lovely little town of Rabbit Back.

At the end of the book, it did feel a little unfinished. There was a relationship formed within the epilogue that I found strange, and there were a lot of open-ended questions regarding that. You never really find out how Laura White disappeared, where she went, why, how - even though that seems to be one of the main plot lines of the entire novel. There is also never an official explanation for the crazy magical things that are happening around this town. There was just a lot of loose ends for a stand alone novel, which is what made me drop what could've been a 5 star read into a 4 star. Regardless, up until the epilogue, it was absolutely riveting.

The Rabbit Back Literature Society is atmospheric, lyrically composed, and has almost perfect execution. I came into this story will little to no expectations (which I think really made a difference) and was astounded with the intertwining plot lines, the characters and their arcs, and the little Finish town of Rabbit Back. It was original, creative in all aspects, and wonderful mix of Twin Peaks, Agatha Christie, and mythical beasts. I was pleasantly surprised by the speed of this novel as well as it's organized writing and novel ideas. Despite my complaints, I do recommend this book, for I can't say I've ever read a book quite like this (especially one set in Finland!), and I commend Jääskeläinen for that. All in all, I gave this book 4/5 stars.

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