So what about the other stories?

[danielma]

Just got done with BORDER

I got to be honest, I had no idea where this was going whilst reading. To be fair, I am for the most part unknown to Troll's and their representation in Scandinavian folklore...so I sat in stunned silence as every reveal played out...I mean the sex scene alone where Tina describes the erect penis literally made me say "What the F**k?" out loud (in a good way of course )...So yeah, I don't really knows much about Trolls or the mythology surrounding them...but I will say this that I loved the story for the reveals, twists and turns alone...at every turn, it kept me guessing...and the ending threw me for a nice loop

Actually I have one question that maybe someone who is familar with Trolls can answer...is a Hiisit apart of the mythology, or is it a creation on John's behalf? I know I sound like a complete Noob, but I tried Googling this out of curiosity and I got no results (no matter which way I Googled)...also regarding the ending, If I'm correct then the Hiisit that Elizabet was given will die (at least according to Tina's belief), yet the Hiisit conceived by Tina and Vore will have a chance of survival...yet there is a passage in the story where Tina says that "If a Hiisit is found by a human, then it will be hospitalized, operated on to remove the tail and taught English language".

Obviously Tina was a Hiisit yet remolded in a human image after being discovered. So would the same fate happen with the Hiisit now in Elizabet's company? Or is it something to do with being an unfertilized Hiisit that decreases chances of survival? Sorry if this sounds like a stupid question...maybe I need to go back and re-read the ending, but I just feel like I missed something here...like I said, I don't know a lot about this and Google turned up nothing...I got the ending, but I'm a bit confused with this. I'm not sure if it's the tiredness and me not processing it correctly or what

So yeah I really liked BORDER

[drakkar]

Actually I have one question that maybe someone who is familar with Trolls can answer...is a Hiisit apart of the mythology, or is it a creation on John's behalf?

A Hiisit is some sort of a changeling, and as such a part of Norse mythology. The story rests firmly within the gist of the mythology, only with the now familiar ingenious JAL twist to it. So yes, the Hiisit it is a creation on John's behalf, no wonder you weren't able to google it (however, now when we are discussing it, I guess we can try again tomorrow )

[Nightrider]

"Village on the hill"
What starts out innocently as a slice of life parable, soon turns into all too real plunge into paranoia which ends with an old-fashioned monster show.
This story is another enjoyable descent into the psyche of the protagonist whose thoughts are mostly occupied by anticipation of impending doom and loneliness. The story nicely illustrates one persons world slowly coming apart, both literally and figuratively. It is unknown whether the events described in the pages are happening in real life or is the main character experiences some sort of mental, catastrophic crisis. Whatever the Idea was behind this tale it is a wonderfully laid out chronicle which wisely takes it's time to create a proper climate for apocalyptic conclusion that tests the limits of reader's inclination towards adventurous storytelling. Author takes a big chance at the end of the piece by introducing a fantastic phenomenon that would appear more at home in the writings of H.P. Lovecraft (who's works were probably an inspiration), but the device works regardless of it's origin by creating appropriately grim finale that is at once tragic and liberating for our hapless hero. Very good story. One of my top 5 favorites (so far) in the whole book.
"Village on the hill" also has a unique distinction of being another work by JAL that is set in Blackeberg and subtly references pool massacre from LTROI.
Also, entire anthology reminds me of writings by Alois Hotsching who's book of short stories "Maybe This Time" suggests Lindquist, but only with less dialogue.
Vitaly

[drakkar]

"Village on the Hill" also takes place next to Oskar's/John's school. Remember in the novel, when Oskar rushes back to Eli just in time to save him from Lacke? Running past the school and the poolhouse he has the view shown below, and Village on the hill takes place in one of the three high rises he passes, the one shown on the picture, or one of the two next to it.

[danielma]

Actually I have one question that maybe someone who is familar with Trolls can answer...is a Hiisit apart of the mythology, or is it a creation on John's behalf?

A Hiisit is some sort of a changeling, and as such a part of Norse mythology. The story rests firmly within the gist of the mythology, only with the now familiar ingenious JAL twist to it. So yes, the Hiisit it is a creation on John's behalf, no wonder you weren't able to google it (however, now when we are discussing it, I guess we can try again tomorrow )

Yeah I kind of gathered it may have been after the search turned up nothing about it...thanks for that Drakkar much appreciated

[drakkar]

Actually I have one question that maybe someone who is familar with Trolls can answer...is a Hiisit apart of the mythology, or is it a creation on John's behalf?

A Hiisit is some sort of a changeling, and as such a part of Norse mythology. The story rests firmly within the gist of the mythology, only with the now familiar ingenious JAL twist to it. So yes, the Hiisit it is a creation on John's behalf, no wonder you weren't able to google it (however, now when we are discussing it, I guess we can try again tomorrow )

Yeah I kind of gathered it may have been after the search turned up nothing about it...thanks for that Drakkar much appreciated

I'm sorry, I have mislead you. Hiisit is a Finnish word for a kind of trolls, not the big ones (like in Trollhunter), but the smaller ones, like in "Border"! .
So John didn't make up this word, it already exists within the mythology.

[danielma]

I'm sorry, I have mislead you. Hiisit is a Finnish word for a kind of trolls, not the big ones (like in Trollhunter), but the smaller ones, like in "Border"! .
So John didn't make up this word, it already exists within the mythology.

It's all good, don't worry about it...the more we both know now

[Swaefheard]

Now drakkar has given a pointer I found that Wikipedia has this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiisi which must be related to JAL's hiisit.

[StefL]

It seems that once again I have to accept that a story in LTODD/Paper Walls has gotten a crap name in English, this time it's Village on the hill. I think Vertical Village would be a bettar name, since it refers to the flat block, which obviously can be seen as a number of houses/homes stacked on top of one another.
Nevertheless, it's of course the story itself that matters and I'm glad to see that also the English readers have started to get to reading it. Guess I'll have to get the English issue soon, and in the meantime I'll dig Paper Walls out of my book shelf and start re-reading

[Nightrider]

It seems that once again I have to accept that a story in LTODD/Paper Walls has gotten a crap name in English, this time it's Village on the hill. I think Vertical Village would be a bettar name, since it refers to the flat block, which obviously can be seen as a number of houses/homes stacked on top of one another.
Nevertheless, it's of course the story itself that matters and I'm glad to see that also the English readers have started to get to reading it. Guess I'll have to get the English issue soon, and in the meantime I'll dig Paper Walls out of my book shelf and start re-reading

Correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't the name of the story in the original Swedish release of Paper Walls is By på höjden,
which is translated in English as Village on the Hill? Great story regardless of the title!