DO OR DIE
by Tuomas Kyrö
Aleksi Suomesta, WSOY, 2023, 287pp
#1 Bestselling Non-Fiction title in Finland 2023!
Winner of the Storytel Prize 2024
Nominated for the Finlandia Prize 2023
Nominated for the Adlibris Prize 2023
An Astonishing Account of Survival
In the spring of 2022, Finnish author Tuomas Kyrö heard about a Finnish elite soldier serving on the frontline in Ukraine. Kyrö traveled to Kyiv, where he met Aleksi Lysander, a professional soldier who recounted his remarkable story amid the echoes of air raid sirens.
Aleksi recounted how a superhero-obsessed, brown-skinned boy from northern Finland, bullied at school, joined the French Foreign Legion and served in conflict zones in the war in Afghanistan and several African countries. By age 25, he was a war veteran who returned to Finland to complete his mandatory military service.
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Aleksi's life was at a dead end. He had one option: to join the Ukrainian Foreign Legion. He fought in Irpin and Eastern Ukraine, always going into heavy battles first with nothing to lose.
This book provides a unique insight into a soldier's life and the surreal nature of war. It also tells the story of a boy who always aspired to do good, despite being surrounded by a world filled with adversity.
RIGHTS SOLD: Finland WSOY (orig.)
Materials available: English sample and synopsis, Finnish edition
Praise:
“This eye-opening non-fiction book shows the reader the Ukrainian battlefield, uncensored, through the eyes of a Finnish soldier. Neither the protagonist, nor the author, nor the reader returns from this journey unchanged. The structure is insightful and the premise humane: killing is horrible, racism hurts, and even the most resilient mind can be broken.”
“Kyrö is a skilled wordsmith. The story progresses in the first person in concise sentences, and the tension does not break.”
“Aleksi’s description of the war is attentive and devoid of any kind of pathos or glorification.”
Tuomas Kyrö is one of the most versatile and prolific authors of his generation. His novel The Beggar and the Hare achieved international acclaim. Kyrö is best known for The Grump, a literary character whose stories have sold millions of copies as books and on the big screen. Kyrö was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal in 2020 and has previously been nominated for the Finlandia Prize for Literature.
Author portrait © Jari Kivelä
