Seven Brothers

Seitsemän veljestä

The first words of the novel in Finnish.
Author	Aleksis Kivi
Translator	Alex Matson, Richard Impola, Douglas Robinson
Country	Finland
Language	Finnish
Publication date	1870

Seitsemän veljestä (Finnish for "seven brothers") is the first and only novel by Aleksis Kivi, the national author of Finland, and it is widely regarded as the first significant novel written in Finnish and by a Finnish-speaking author. Indeed, some people regard it still today as the greatest Finnish novel ever written.

Published in 1870, Seitsemän veljestä ended an era dominated by Swedish-speaking authors, most notable of whom was J.L. Runeberg, and created a solid basis for new Finnish authors like Minna Canth and Juhani Aho, who were, following Aleksis Kivi, the first authors to depict ordinary Finns in a realistic way. Seitsemän veljestä has been translated three times into English, by Alex. Matson, Richard Impola, and Douglas Robinson; and 56 more times into 33 other languages.

The novel was particularly reviled by the literary circles of Kivi's time, who disliked the unflattering image of Finns it presented. The title characters were seen as crude caricatures of the nationalistic ideals of the time. Foremost in this hostile backlash was the influential critic August Ahlqvist, who called the book a "ridiculous work and a blot on the name of Finnish literature".

At first, the brothers are not a particularly peaceful lot and end up quarreling with the local constable, juryman, vicar, churchwarden, and teachers—not to mention their neighbours in the village of Toukola. No wonder young girls' mothers do not regard them as good suitors. When the brothers are required to learn to read before they can accept church confirmation and therefore official adulthood—and the right to marry—they decide to run away.

Eventually they end up moving to distant Impivaara in the middle of relative wilderness, but their first efforts are shoddy—one Christmas Eve they end up burning down their sauna. The next spring they try again, but are forced to kill a nearby lord's herd of bulls and pay them back with wheat. Ten years of hard work clearing the forest for fields, hard drinking—and Simeoni’s apocalyptic visions from delirium tremens—eventually lead them to mend their ways. They learn to read on their own and eventually return to Jukola.