A Victory of Empathy: What Cold Victory Taught Me About Finland, Friendship, and Myself鈥擸oung Leaders Board member Molly Tynjala reviews “Cold Victory” by Karl Marlantes
Written By:
Finlandia Foundation
When I discovered Karl Marlantes鈥檚 novel, Cold Victory, I was delighted. As a fourth-generation Finnish American, I spent much of my life disconnected from my heritage. Despite my efforts to fill this knowledge gap over the last 8 years, I鈥檝e had a surprisingly difficult time locating books and resources about the history of Finland. I鈥檓 not sure whether this is due to Finland鈥檚 relative youth as an independent nation or a lack of scholarly interest in the topic; regardless, the well has largely come up dry.
In this sense, Cold Victory was like a welcome sip of water. Set in Cold War鈥揺ra Finland, it explores the tension that stemmed from Finland having fought with Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. The novel follows Louise Koski, the wife of an American military attach茅, as she tentatively befriends the wife of a military diplomat for the Soviet Union. Although their countries are at odds in the struggle to gain influence over Finland, the two women bond over their shared experience as army wives. They eventually team up to support a Finnish orphanage overwhelmed in the wake of the war.
Meanwhile, their competitive husbands have challenged each other to a roughly 500 km ski race from Rovaniemi in the Arctic Circle to Kuopio in central Finland. Each man firmly believes himself the superior skier, and only a grueling exhibition of their individual talent will settle the matter. While they鈥檙e away, Louise publicizes the race as a raffle in order to raise money for the orphanage 鈥� not realizing the consequences this could have for her new Russian friend and her family. The race is a metaphor for the larger struggle between Soviet communism and American capitalism, with Finland and an innocent family鈥檚 fate hanging in the balance.
My primary critique of the novel is that Louise, characterized by naivete and American pluck, was a caricature. Her persona grated against those of the Finnish and Russian characters, who were largely stoic, reticent, and alternatingly subdued and defiant. Her inability to anticipate or grasp the all-too-real dangers of the delicate situation she entered was cringe-worthy. But then again, maybe that鈥檚 the point. America, in many ways, has often behaved like a child on the international stage: impetuous and entitled, acting before considering a situation from other perspectives. Our country has often overstepped or inserted itself where it doesn鈥檛 belong; maybe it鈥檚 hard for me to read because it鈥檚 a little too on the nose.
Louise鈥檚 cloying 鈥渃an-do鈥� attitude aside, I learned a lot reading Marlantes鈥檚 geopolitical thriller. I hadn鈥檛 known about the bud of communism that developed in Finland or just how much the young country lost to the Soviet Union: On top of ceding approximately 10 percent of its land, Finland was required to pay high reparation payments to the country that had invaded it twice. Yet, another one of the novel鈥檚 strengths was the way Marlantes humanized the characters, regardless of their position or political leaning. Although most readers will naturally sympathize with the Americans and Finns, the Russian family is clearly not the enemy here 鈥� they are merely victims in a broken, corrupt system.
I appreciate how Marlantes鈥檚 novel reminds us that it doesn鈥檛 much matter who wins the race. Rather, what matters is looking after the people around us 鈥� our family, our friends, our communities, and even those with whom we disagree. We may not be able to control the forces at the top who pull the strings and spend the most money, but we can hold our loved ones close and try to empathize with those whose experiences we do not understand. It may not always be easy, but as Louise learns, we are more similar than we are different, and finding true friends in a cold and unsympathetic world is a victory in itself.
