Closer to Vainonen appears to be the Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney, of whose work he has translated two selections. They share an interest in Celtic mythology. The fantasy short story is a difficult genre, and I was not entirely persuaded by all the stories in the book. All the same, Vainonen's collection contains half a dozen unerringly fine stories. He develops the spirit of place with the certainty of a dream, he has the capacity to astonish and to jolt required of a short-story writer, and his literary culture is visible in every line without seeming like imitation.
Doors open up from everyday reality into miracles.
Short stories of this type are common from Edgar Allan Poe and Kafka onward, but they have not so far found a real home in Finnish literature. Pekkanen himself appears to have been slightly astonished by the result, and calls the reality of the 'red-beards' dream and error. Vainonen's models are international rather than Finnish. He moves effortlessly between reality and fantasy in composing miniature prose masterpieces. He is closer to a storyteller such as Roald Dahl, that entertainer of intelligent surprises.