Finnish Novel Composed Entirely Of Text Messages

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The New York Sun

HELSINKI, Finland — A novel whose narrative consists entirely of mobile phone text messages has been published in Finland.

“The Last Messages” tells the story of a fictitious information-technology executive in Finland who resigns from his job and travels throughout Europe and India, keeping in touch with his friends and relatives only through text messages. His messages, and the replies — roughly 1,000 altogether — are listed in chronological order in the 332-page novel written by Finnish author Hannu Luntiala. The texts are rife with grammatical errors and abbreviations commonly used in regular SMS traffic.

The taciturn Finns have accepted text messages to communicate even the most private matters. Prime Minister Vanhanen recently made tabloid front pages after reportedly having broken up with his girlfriend with a text.


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