These short texts, one on each page, with no titles, propose a small accumulation of emotional capsules, units of rhizomatic nature. What do they have in common? Is it a longer piece or are they individual portions? The writing of Vappu Jalonen in Fatigue functions as a telescope that shows close-up details of a time that could be in forty years or exactly now. The company campus and the university campus are equivalent, surfacing the economics of a world where education and profit can share the same ground. There is a scenery that comes to mind as I read: wide fields of green grass, an open sky, blue or grey depending on the day, big modern buildings, concrete or white, an urban landscape that has been redefined and carefully planned as to give the impression of wealth and well-being for its working citizens. However, something darker and emotionally fragile boils from within. The malfunction of a superficial social construction that fixes itself through support groups and alliances: a flimsy hope for friendship and romantic love. The science fiction of this book does not include chemical wars in outer space, but it alludes to some sort of systemic violence nonetheless.

The point of view keeps turning. Paragraphs rotating from first to second to third person. The narrator becomes an individualistic collective choir, shifting perspectives that mirror the act of surfing the internet while inhabiting reality. A few possibilities for permanence and enjoyment are the intimacy of interpersonal relationships and beauty. These are accessible both through natural and technological sources.

But I stop now, it wouldn't be fair to over-explain. The radiance of this book lies in an ability to see more than to say. In that sense, each text could also be a photograph or a short video. But as visual as they are, words are still the main protagonist. An image could not produce the same effect and is not interchangeable with the text. Fatigue needs to actually be read, for the vision to become its brightest self.

Amelia Bande, Publishing Puppies