Editor-in-Chief Michelle Anne Schingler Interviews Antti Tuomainen, Author of The Burning Stones
In the main, thrillers coming out of the Nordic regions are grim, as if their writers all work for a sinister tourist bureau intent on frightening the wits out of any potential foreign travelers. So, brutal cold, unrelenting darkness, stoic people—that’s the upside to daily life in these noir novels—while shocking scenes of dismemberment and murder send the convincing message that Barcelona might be a wiser choice for spring break.
But no, that tourist bureau doesn’t exist. The great Nordic thriller writers do their thing because that’s what they love to do—with one waggish Finnish exception: Antti Tuomainen, who The Times of London called the “funniest writer in Europe.”
But just in the past ten years has that humor been a part of his writing. In 2015, after five prototypically dark Nordic thrillers, Antti felt the need to do something new and different. “So, after some soul searching,” he says in today’s interview, “I realized that I have two artistic loves that are equally strong: noir and comedies. … And I thought that it would be interesting and fun to combine those two loves.”
Since then, Antti’s written seven highly acclaimed novels that somehow balance dark and moody with hilarious.
Long a fan, our Editor-in-Chief Michelle Schingler tagged herself to fire a few questions at Antti after his latest project, The Burning Stones, scored a sparkling review in the latest issue of Foreword.
Enjoy.
Your latest novel, The Burning Stones, continues your tradition of turning otherwise prosaic settings into the scenes of somewhat absurd murders—see the “engraved sauna ladle fashioned into a dagger.” What about the spa world spoke to you while you were conceiving this novel?
Well, for quite a while I wanted to write about sauna in one way or another but I never had a suitable story. Until I did, of course, mostly in the form of the main character, Anni, who is middle-aged, and, in the beginning of the book, in a rut. The Burning Stones is her story, first and foremost, but it is also about sauna and what sauna means, especially here in Finland. I think the reason I wanted to write about sauna is that I have always loved it ever since I was a child and by this I mean that I love the traditional Finnish sauna. Which, as we all know, is the real sauna. The Finnish sauna is hot, preferably around 90 degrees Celsius, clean, well ventilated and ideally next to the sea or a lake, and you always throw plenty of water on the stove to get the steam properly going. In Finland, it’s a sort of a semi-holy place as well and you act and behave accordingly. So there’s a lot of story material there, too.
Many readers come to Nordic thrillers expecting darkness, even dreariness; they come to yours and end up laughing, despite the still dark circumstances that surround your noir comedies. How did you carve out this particular niche, and have you noticed other writers following suit?
To be honest, I don’t know if I ultimately had a choice, really. By 2015 I had published five very dark, very noir novels when I just felt that I needed to do something different and something new. It was instinctive and came from within. In retrospect, I think I felt that I wasn’t quite using 100 percent of all my capabilities as a writer and was leaving something out or on the table, so to speak. So, after some soul searching, I realized that I have two artistic loves that are equally strong: noir and comedies. I have always loved all kinds of comedies from the old Marx Brothers to Bridesmaids and everything in between. And I thought that it would be interesting and fun to combine those two loves. And so I wrote my first dark humour novel called The Man Who Died. Ever since then, that’s what I have been doing and have been enjoying it. I’m sincerely hoping it has been enjoyable for readers as well.
We also adored Little Siberia, in which a meteorite literally falls into a character’s lap. It features a disgraced race car driver and a priest who can’t have children (but who’s about to have one) in addition to its treasure from the skies. How did you make such disparate pieces fit so wonderfully together?
Thank you so much. I think that particular story really came together from all those separate elements but I would also include the central question and theme of faith and disbelief, in the broadest possible sense. I remember I had all those elements and the theme and one day they all just fell into place and I realized that’s the story, that’s all one story. And in some way that seems to be how all my stories get built, if that’s the right word. At first, I seem to have very random ideas ranging from a particular character and/or a setting and/or a theme that I would really like to use and, then, piece by piece, they sort of start fitting together. Takes a bit of time for that to happen, I must admit, but that is probably why I have so many things going on in my head at any given time.
Speaking of surprising: it’s a question that arises again and again for us with your novels. What does an Antti Tuomainen elevator pitch sound like, and how, if ever, have you pushed back on skeptics who worry that your imagination is too wild?
Oh dear. I have been so lucky and so blessed. My wife, who is my first reader, likes crazy stuff and I’m always trying to surprise her. Also my agent is a fantastic sounding board for my ideas. (Which are plentiful, I’m afraid.) I don’t know if I have ever had to push back as such but sometimes when I have told people about what I’m working on they have not been, well, to put it in kind terms, as excited as I have been. But happily, the finished product has been met with satisfaction, so far.
Several of your books are in film and television development at the moment. Can you speak a bit about what that process has been like, and about how you feel about seeing your stories transferred to the silver screen?
My involvement really seems to vary from project to project. Sometimes I’m a bit more involved and will comment on the scripts and so forth. Sometimes I see the result with the rest of the world. But I have a few rules for myself regarding film and television. The most important one is that I let go and let filmmakers tell their version of my story. A book and a film are different languages as far as storytelling goes so there will always be changes to the story, sometimes big ones. What I’m always hoping is that the adaptation stays true to the tone and mood of the original story and has the same intent. Once you have the intent, you can change particular story elements as needed to translate that story into another language.
Another thing to remember is that nothing will ever look exactly like what I saw when I wrote it the first time. At the same time, it is one of the most exciting things I have ever experienced in my life to actually see something you wrote come alive on screen, and I’m so grateful for those experiences. Movies really are magic.
We’re waiting eagerly, always: what’s coming next from the strange, curious, and wonder-inducing files of Antti Tuomainen?
It is currently being translated, but the next thing out in English will be The Winter Job. It is a story about friendship, trust, and love and of course death: two guys get a job to transfer an antique sofa from the south of Finland to the very north of Finland, from Helsinki to Kilpisjärvi, in 1982. Safe to say, things don’t go as planned.
Michelle Anne Schingler
