This is intimate, low key, reflective and passionate poetry about one man's respones to life. They are often musings for himself with the reader is a trusted listener. It is poetry to read as the sun goes down, as you watch a river flow or listen to insects at dusk. It reminds me, in mood, of Ishiguro's Remains of the day. This is not the first time that I have felt Anhava's sensibility to be essentially Japanese, but that may be because he is the only Finnish author I have read. Or else it could be that the form sets the mood. It is written in a haiku like form, which seems to me to be the perfect medium for these thoughts of Anhava's. Whatever, it provoked intense responses when I first read this book 20 years ago, and I have since then frequently looked for other works by this author. My partner went to Finland this year in connection with work and was under strict instructions to find me any other translations available there. Unfortunately his time constraints did not allow for shopping, though his colleagues assured him that Anhava was a very well known poet in Finland. I do not know why there are so few works in translation. I would like a second copy of the book, as I illustrated my own copy as a present for a friend. I have since "borrowed" this back last year, and should really return it!