History Literature / TheUnknownSoldier

* CoolGun: The Suomi submachine gun.

The book has been translated into many languages; however the original English translation [[BlindIdiotTranslation is very poorly translated]]. It not only omits some scenes but even changes some character's personalities entirely. A new English translation has been made in 2015 by Penguin Classics under the title '''Unknown Soldiers'''.

* TheDitz: Private Salo is characterized by his naivety and tendency to believe nonsense. He genuinely believes in war propaganda and the idealistic drivel thrown at them. He also takes very seriously the NationalStereotypes about his own home region as the home of brave heroic warriors. He believes whatever the prisoners of war or the local civilians tell them to get their way. The others mercilessly mock him for his naivety.

The novel is based on Linna's own experiences in the war before he was promoted to Sergeant and transferred to recruit training. The book is written in a very realistic style and is considered one of the best war novels ever written. Many of the protagonist personae are loosely based on real life persons from Linna's patchwork regiment where many soldiers came from different regions of Finland. The ''Unknown Soldier'' is considered a deep analysis of the psychology of soldiers and the effects of war on people as well as the makings of a good soldier.

The book has been translated into many languages; however the original English translation [[BlindIdiotTranslation is very poorly translated]]. It not only omits some scenes but even changes some character's personalities entirely. A new English translation has been made in 2015 by Penguin Classics under the title '''Unknown Soldiers'''. It is highly recommended reading.

The novel has been made into a film several times. A black and white movie was made by Edvin Laine in 1955, and a color one by Rauni Mollberg in 1985; both films had good success. A third adaptation was released in October 27th, 2017, with a 7 million euro budget - the biggest and most expensive Finnish movie to date - with its premiere being part of the nationwide celebrations of the 100th year of Finnish independence.

''The Unknown Soldier'' is a novel by Finnish author Väinö Linna. It is a war novel set during the Second World War on the Finnish-Soviet front between 1941 to 1944 (known as the Continuation War in Finnish historiography). The story describes the tour of duty of a Finnish machine gun company and its men. The main protagonists are the men of rank and file and lower-ranking officers, who are all conscripts or reservists.

* BuxomIsBetter: Both Rahikainen and Hietanen notice the handsome bosom of their object of special attention. And even when their size is not specified, breasts are frequently the thing about the female the men notice and long for. Kariluoto and Hietanen even have the sparkling joy of having gotten to accidentally slightly brush a breast of their special someone.

* WeaponOfChoice: For Corporal Rokka, the Suomi SMG. For Private Honkajoki, a longbow.

* TheCynic: Corporal Lahtinen. He not only has a very cynical view of the world and the human societies, he's also the resident GrumpyBear who at the times of success and general excitement seemingly enjoys bringing others down with ominous predictions of future difficulties.

* WhatIsEvil: The morality behind war is once discussed by the main characters, early into the war, when [[SociopathicSoldier Lehto]] shoots an unarmed and helpless prisoner. [[TheHeart Hietanen]] argues that there should be [[EveryoneHasStandards some rules of honor ]], while [[TheCynic Lahtinen]] claims that [[BlueAndOrangeMorality war is in itself so lunatic]] there's no point in trying to make it even more lunatic with some pretentious gentleman rules. They come to no conclusion and afterwards stop caring about such questions.

* MyGirlBackHome: Rokka has his wife Lyyti and Kariluoto his fiance Sirkka. Kariluoto is completely heels-over-head in love with Sirkka and will [[TastesLikeDiabetes go on and on and on]] about her to anyone who bothers to listen.

* ADayInTheLimelight: With the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters EnsembleCast, nobody gets to keep the limelight all the time, but number of characters get to have their moment or moments. Kariluoto stands out, as he's not actually part of Koskela's platoon that the story is following, but who gets many scenes and sequences dedicated to him both at the beginning and near the end of the tale.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Apart from the about a dozen essential central characters, there are a few dozen side characters.

* AdultFear: The fate of the children orphaned by the war. Also the children who are either displaced and have to become refugees (like Rokka's family), or are left to survive in an enemy occupied territory (Aleksey, Tanya and Grisha).

* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene: Corporal Lehto shoots a Soviet prisoner of war.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: We'll now interrupt your action filled war story with an episode of our boys lazying around in an occupied city and romancing the local women. The characters would have preferred never to return back to the old formula!

* MohsScaleOfViolenceHardness: Full 10, both novel and all three films. By God, this is a ''war novel''.

* NotSoDifferent: The Soviets. Double as [[PunchClockVillain Punch Clock Villains]].