The novel was particularly reviled by the literary circles of Kivi's time, who disliked the unflattering image of Finns it presented. The titular characters were seen as crude caricatures of the nationalistic ideals of the time. Foremost in this hostile backlash was the influential critic August Ahlqvist, who called the book a "ridiculous work and a blot on the name of Finnish literature".

At first, the brothers are not a particularly peaceful lot and end up quarreling with the local constable, jury, vicar, precentor and teachers – not to mention their neighbours in Toukola village. No wonder young girls' mothers do not regard them as good suitors. When they should learn to read before they can accept church confirmation and therefore official adulthood, they escape.

Eventually they end up moving to distant Impivaara in the middle of relative wilderness but their first efforts are shoddy – in a Christmas Eve they end up burning their new house. Next spring they try again and manage to kill a hostile herd of bulls. Ten years of clearing forest for fields, hard work and hard drinking – and Simeoni’s delirium tremens – eventually make them change their ways. They learn to read on their own and eventually return to Jukola.

In the end most of them become pillars of the community and family men. Still, the tone of the tale is not particularly moralistic.