Tuntematon sotilas

This is probably the most iconic Finnish novel ever written, although most Finns are likely to be familiar only with Edvin Laine's movie which was released in 1955, only a year after this book was first published. I never liked the classic movie as I felt some of the characters are extremely annoying and unfortunately they do get quite a lot of space in the book as well. Usually books are always better than movies and so is this one. Linna was a war veteran himself so he very much knew what he was talking about. War is cruel and the character you just started liking might die on the next page. There isn't that much direct connection to historical events or battles and the background of the soldiers remains in most cases a complete mystery. Not much is told about their families, which is a shame. I was hoping to hear a little bit more who they were, where they came from and maybe also where they went after the war. Especially Rokka. He's a proper badass soldier who would be the ultimate hero if Hollywood ever decides to make a movie based on this book.