A Charming Mass Suicide by Arto Paasilinna

Ironic, humorous and ingenious read.
Two Finns meet by chance in an old barn, both intending to commit suicide, each in his own way. Their initial plan fails to materialize. This situation though makes them talk for the following days about their lives and their reasons to end it. They also realize little pleasures they had never noticed. Still, they decide to put an ad in a newspaper for all those who think alike. Surprisingly many people had answered their ad so they had to adjust their plans. They end up organizing a seminar after which some of them decide to commit group suicide, by crashing with a bus into a ravine.

Despite what we may think from the title and from the first pages of this book, this is not only about suicidal plans but actually, a hymn to life - which resists despite everything, wants only to find its own way outside conformism. Life is hard but when we meet people that feel the same we may reconsider certain thoughts, decisions. This book is also an invitation to friendship, to sharing, but not the superficial one, the one that really manages to enrich, to give a new perspective, new hopes, desire to live.

Type of reader: Fans of contemporary fiction with a touch of sarcasm.

My rating: 5/5.

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