Kalevala: the graphic novel by Sami Makkonen

Kalevala: The Graphic Novel by Sami Makkonen
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Would that I could remember why exactly I decided to read this graphic novel adaptation of the Kalevala, I ended up not liking it. Maybe it's partly an issue of the Finnish not translating so easily, though I doubt it. I could not follow the story. Early into my read I realized I needed a guide* to the story and ended up referencing that guide all the way through. But that guide only went so far in helping me understand what was happening panel to panel. When dialogue in a graphic novel fails to tell the story the idea is that illustrations will fill in the blanks. The illustrations, however, were often rife with useless nudity and sexually explicit scenes. And if not sexually charged, the illustrations were highly abstract at best.

I imagine this graphic novel is a different experience for someone already experienced with the epic poem. As someone who was not previously familiar, and familiar enough, it was a struggle read. If not for obstinacy, had I not hyped in my mind that this would surely be a fast read because it was a graphic novel, I would have not finished my read. I almost gave this a 1 star rating but then realized how much I had to learn about the source story because of this read. 2 stars.

*https://kalevalaseura.fi/en/whos-who-....

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