Dr Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila is one of Finland’s most well known public intellectuals. His areas of expertise are literature, Islam, the Middle-East and the Arabic language.
(photo credit Kami Andelin)
Favorite films:
Love Actually (2003)
“A lovely comedy full of British wit, which always leaves one in a happy mood.”
The Blues Brothers (1980)
“Full of music. Need I say more?”
Nader and Simin – a separation (2011)
“A film that shows Iran as it really is and as I know it.”
Favorite books:
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, by Thomas De Quincey.
“One of the most curious books ever written, the tale meandering around with footnotes and footnotes to footnotes.”
Confessions of a Justified Sinner, by James Hogg.
“An almost postmodern book by a Scottish autodidact shepherd who learned to write in his teens only.”
Kalevala
“The Finnish national epic, which you should read in the original. The language of the poems take you centuries back in the Finnish past.”
