Beautiful writing, but I can't say I understood everything. You'd probably have to be an Estonian of the right generation to get the most out of it - which is OK: writers don't have to cater to everyone, and in any case, cryptic speech is central to the “plot“ (to get around surveillance) - hence the photo featuring examples of surreal WW2 coded messages: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Fran%C3%A7ais_parlent_aux_Fran%C3%A7aishickleb...
Started this very poetic and slightly surreal, but so far very confusing novel, written by an Estonian author about an Estonian young woman, but set in Riga (Latvia). I got this much from the back cover - the 1st pages of the book itself are far from clear 😊
There is a sentence about The Lord who did not order His angel to put sticks (or penises - the French translation is ambiguous 😮) in salt for the main character?
I so wish for footnotes...
Trying to finish High Tide quicky before I lose my motivation, because frankly, I'm finding it underwhelming. I don't like the tone (it might be the translation) - it feels contrived.
Picture of Riga (Latvia) found in wikipedia — fi:Kuva:Riian vanhakaupunki.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=116446
#Latvia
In 1654 Queen Christina of Sweden abdicated her throne so she could spend more time travelling and studying, and I feel like we would have gotten along.
pickAnother read for my Europe 2021 project, set in Latvia by a Latvian author. It spans roughly 1969-1989 and focuses on a mother and daughter as they navigate the changing political landscape. The daughter has never known Latvia as a country!
Got to hold an exact replica of a Viking sword. Can you see how red my hand is? That is how heavy it was. 😱🗡
The castle sold books about castles which was pretty cool. 🥰📚
pickI‘ve finished the 2nd Wallander book. It‘s not Mankell‘s best book but still a ‘pick‘ I liked that it was mainly set in Latvia. Made a nice change.
panThere‘s a formality when a novel is translated. It gives me a sense of one dimensionality. I find it very difficult to engage. I‘m sure in the original language this book is highly enjoyable; but for me? Not so much.
NB: I chose this French-centric (sorry!) photo because some of the things characters said reminded me of those coded messages, but the book is set in 1968, at the time of the Prague Spring, and not during WW2. 1mo