The Rabbit Back Literature Society

By: Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen

Narrated by: Kate Rawson

Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

A highly contagious book virus, a literary society and a Snow Queen-like disappearing author...

She came to realise that under one reality there's always another. And another one under that.

Only very special people are chosen by children's author Laura White to join 'The Society', an elite group of writers in the small town of Rabbit Back. Now a 10th member has been selected: Ella, literature teacher and possessor of beautifully curving lips.

But soon Ella discovers that the Society is not what it seems. What is its mysterious ritual, 'The Game'? What explains the strange disappearance that occurs at Laura's winter party, in a whirlwind of snow? Why are the words inside books starting to rearrange themselves? Was there once another 10th member, before her? Slowly, disturbing secrets that had been buried come to light....

In this chilling, darkly funny novel, the uncanny brushes up against the everyday in the most beguiling and unexpected of ways.

Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen, born in 1966, is one of Finland's best-kept secrets. A novelist and short-story writer, he is well known for his fantasy and sci-fi narratives and has twice won the Kuvastaja Fantasy Prize given by Finland's Tolkien Society and four times won the Atorax Award for Fantasy. He teaches Finnish language and literature and is the father of three sons.

©2013 Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen (P)2014 Audible Studios

Critic reviews

"The Rabbit Back Literature Society Mixes the small-town surrealism of Twin Peaks with the clandestine-society theme of Donna Tartt's The Secret History’ The List Unnerving, enigmatic... Hints of Let the Right One In and Haruki Murakami's elliptical early science fiction novels flavour a creepy tale about mutating books, buried secrets and ghostly encounters" James Lovegrove, (Financial Times)
"Wonderfully knotty... a very grown-up fantasy masquerading as quirky fable. Unexpected, thrilling and absurd" (Sunday Telegraph)
"Charming, chilling and gripping from its very first page" (Bizarre)
"Sly wit... characterises The Rabbit Back Literature Society" (Metro)
"Charming and intriguing, switching from playful to creepy to heartfelt and back again... good fun" (The Bookbag)
"The Rabbit Back Literature Society is a lobster pot of a book... an exquisite balance of suspense, precision-engineered structure and darkly playful humour... fascinating. And fun." 5-star review, (SFX)
"A novel about big questions ... wonderful characters... amazing" (TQR Stories)

Outstanding.

The author creates such a rich universe. Think a hybrid of Twin Peaks, Harry Potter, Philip Roth, and genuine originality.

Delightful

Loved this. The bits about the game and spilling . . . what a delightful plot device. Dark, funny, and can't put it down interesting. Such good fun.

Interesting Read

when I started this book, I honestly didn't know what to expect. As i made my way through, I realized it's a sort of fairy tale/ suspense if that can be combine between two covers of a book. there were points I wish I had more or wish the author had taken it further but overall I liked it.

interesting story

literature viewed in a new light. interesting characters. a new way to look at life. I will try this author again.

Had some promise, came up short

This has to have one of the best book jackets I've ever seen-- I skimmed the blurb and bought it immediately based on that summary and the cultural references. Yes, it does bring the surrealism of something like Twin Peaks, but in a very casual way that gets it off to a great start. But there's something about the lightness of the mystery here that never quite digs below the surface, leaving the whole story to feel a little flippant.

I also can't help feeling like there are some weird gender things at play here. The epilogue--and I'll avoid spoilers as best I can--came off as very out of character for our protagonist and a little squicky. The book, as a whole, left me feeling unsatisfied and a little uncomfortable.

doesn't live up to the hype

this book was good, not great. interesting concept. well written, sort of. there was not a lot there for me to grab onto or care about. the mystery at the heart of the story, never solved...so disappointing there. the magical realism in the story was cool, until it wasn't....because it went nowhere and kind of just made me ask more questions that were never answered.

i don't need all questions answered in a book. i'm not the "wrap this up and make everything happy" type of reader. but it would be nice to have SOME resolution. i felt that everything in this book just led to more questions and more and more and more. i feel like there were pieces of several different stories started in this book that weren't fleshed out, and therefor it they just lingered in my memory...with expectations of revisitation that were never fulfilled.

the violence in it was strange. i found it somewhat jarring in such a novel, but perhaps because it's not an American author there is something lost in translation? i mean, who twists someone's nose and/or cheek and or mouth until it bleeds while playing a "truth or truth" type game? Idk it seemed out of place.

there were a lot of interesting concepts in the story, but i'm just not 100% convinced the final execution was for me.

Refreshing storyline and gripping plot

I picked this book to broaden my horizons and get some exposure to international, particularly Scandinavian, literature. I have to say I sometimes have trouble taking interest in unfamiliar material, but this book grabbed my interest pretty quickly and sustained it throughout. I found it refreshing, profound and grippingly entertaining. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wishes to engage with good literature, but also being thoroughly entertained in the process.

A lovely experience

But there was so much lacking in the story structure. Probably lost in translating, it was disjointed and things were sometimes confusing. And there are SO many questions left unanswered, I wanted more focus on the supernatural. But it was pleasant and so was the narrator.

I have no idea what just happened.

What did you love best about The Rabbit Back Literature Society?

I had no idea what was going on. Most of the time, we like to have a general idea where we're walking, but this book liked to take a sharp left on you

Phenomenal read

A great piece of writing. it takes a little while to get going, but the story is captivating and takes you slowly into the strange world with a surprising end. Especially loved the core character Ella.