I don't read graphic novels very often (although I do like the genre).
I really don't read Finnish novels very often.
Mari Ahokoivu's Oksi is definitely the only Finnish graphic novel I have ever read.
I tend to read graphic novels too quickly, not paying enough attention to the artwork as I go, and Oksi is no exception. Worse, I read it quickly and yet over multiple sittings (it's quite a large book). So I tended to get immersed, and then break away, and then later I'd return to the book with a profound sense of dislocation, and struggle to re-capture whatever it was I was feeling the previous time.
Still, I felt that Oksi is deep, thought-provoking, disturbing, and complex. It's very effective, and I think this is a great example of why a graphic novel can be considered to be serious literature.
I found several online reviews where readers said that, having read it quickly (as I did), they now felt the urge to go back and re-read it slowly.
I think I'm different: I enjoyed the hours I spent with Oksi, but I'm going to pass it on to somebody else now.
But one last comment/question: how does this relate to Oski the Bear? I assume they're the same underlying character, although I've never heard anything about the mascot's name being related to Finnish mythology.
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