Tales of Juha

Tales of Juha is an easy and entertaining read.  While I was not amused by all of his shenanigans, some of the stories were quite funny.  Most of the time it is easy to look out Juha & see how ridiculous the things he says are.  I found it interesting that in a number of the stories however, Juha is actually right in what he says—just not in the conventional sense.  Sometimes his childlike logic allows him to see things in a way that others don’t.  I found a number of the anecdotes to be quite amusing.  After chapter one however, my opinion of Juha started on a downhill slope.

In chapter two however, a much larger number of the anecdotes were demeaning towards women.  After a certain point it was just annoying.  The jokes really show how little value society sees in women in Arab countries.  I was a little surprised by how disrespectful Juha was about his mother-in-law in a number of the stories.  In-law jokes have been around for quite some time, but most people have the decency not to say mean things about people—even ones they really dislike—after they are dead.

I think chapter three would have been better titled Deceitful & Cheating.  I know that the anecdotes are supposed to be viewed in a light-hearted comedic manner, but I quickly grew tired of reading story after story of how Juha tricked people out of their money or possessions.  The stories play off his unethical behavior as clever ways to get what he wants.  Chapter four was basically a collection of Juha looking ridiculous doing completely illogical things, but I was able to find a larger number of them quite funny.  I particularly enjoyed the one where Juha runs while singing because he likes to listen to himself from a distance.