We are beyond excited to see that Finlandia award-winning Destruction by Iida Rauma is doing amazingly in Sweden.
Iida Rauma’s third book turns the spotlight on school mobbing, and the violence faced by children, resulting in a sharp work of exceptional literary quality. Since its release with Ràmus earlier this spring, Destruction has received striking reviews on Swedish media, including a glowing review article on Dagens Nyheter newspaper.
The DN reviewer Katrina Sandberg wrote that ” […] when I read (and take pauses) I think that there will some who say “I don’t want to know” or “let that stay in the therapy room”. Rauma skilfully bites off these reasonings of what literature should or shouldn’t be – every act of violence is noted down, conserved as a testimony and a piece of evidence.“
On the Vi läser (“We Read”) literature magazine literary critic Yukiko Duke stated that “this is a novel that hurts so, so, so much when you read it“, while literary critic Björn Kohlström commented on the Vi recenserar (“We Review”) literature magazine that
“Rauma has written a novel that shows no mercy. Its lack of division into chapter gives no room for catching one’s breath but rather locks the reader in the story, which focuses on the formerly schoolmates A and Ira. […] It is clear that Rauma has urgent things to say on the topic of bullying, and the matter is urgent to say the least. My initial irritation towards the fact that the narration takes place in such a chaotic way also fades. It is a story that looks for its form and its structure after it has been destroyed, and the novel manages to convey its bitter lessons on peer pressure and the culture of silence that can prevail where the surface is idyllic.“
Destruction won the Finlandia prize in 2022, and it has already travelled to Sweden, Denmark and Hungary. In Finland, the book is published by Siltala.
Warmest congratulations to the author and the publishers!