Arto Paasilinna

alt=Sepia photo: Face shot of Arto Paasilinna, speaking in a microphone. Arto Tapio Paasilinna (, approximately ; 20 April 1942 – 15 October 2018 ) was a Finnish writer, being a former journalist turned comic novelist. One of Finland's most successful novelists, he won a broad readership outside of Finland translated into 18 His parents were Väinö Paasilinna (born Gullstén, changed his surname in 1934 after a family conflict) and Hilda-Maria Paasilinna (born Niva).

Paasilinna studied at the General and Elementary School Line at the Lapland Folk Academy.

Career Paasilinna initially worked as a journalist at Nuoren Voiman Liitto, Nuori Voima and various newspapers as writer and editor.

In 1975, at the age of 33, Paasilinna found journalism growing "more superficial and meaningless" and desired a change; that summer, he sold his boat to fund the writing of The Year of the Hare. in the 6th edition of literary critic Pekka Tarkka(fi)'s dictionary Suomalaisia nykykirjailijoita ("Finnish Literary Authors", 1st ed. 1967).

In 2002, for Paasilinna's 60th anniversary, journalist Eino Leino published a biography of Paasilinna called Lentojätkä. Arto Paasilinnan elämä" ("The Flight Dude"). The same year Paasilinna published his own autobiography called Yhdeksän unelmaa ("Nine Night's Dream"). and 18 of his books have been translated overall into at least 27 languages: the translations beyond neighboring Scandinavian countries include: 17 into Italian, 16 into German, 11 into French, 9 into Slovenian, 6 into Dutch, 4 into Korean, and 2 into English, Ukrainian and Catalan. Described as "The brightest star in the Finnish translated-literature firmament" by Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, his success is claimed as having been "instrumental in generating the current level of interest in books from Finland" Fast-paced, light and humorous in style, many of these narratives can be described as picaresque such as The Year of the Hare, which sets an ex-journalist's quest for authentic life and values in the Finnish backwoods against the emptiness and meaninglessness of modern consumer society. Vatanen, the hero of this novel, takes an injured young hare with him on his quest, nursing the animal back to health, while his own dissatisfaction with his former urban lifestyle becomes ever more evident.

His 1974 novel Paratiisisaaren Vangit is the humorous story of a UN charter that crashes on a deserted Pacific island. The passengers are lumberjacks and other forestry workers, midwives and nurses. As with The Year of the Hare, the narrator is a journalist. The multinational castaways (Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian and English) give Paasilinna ample opportunity to poke fun at issues of language domination and national stereotypes. The castaways set up a cashless society in which the only remuneration comes in the form of a cup of alcohol distilled in their jungle café in exchange for work for the collectivity. There is also a family planning clinic offering free IUDs. Soon, they find that they are not alone on the island and come up with a plan to get help.

Two of his novels, Lentävä kirvesmies and Rovasti Huuskosen petomainen miespalvelija were adapted to graphic novels by Hannu Lukkarinen.