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S'està carregant… The Conspiracy and other storiesde Jaan Kross
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Apunta't a LibraryThing per saber si aquest llibre et pot agradar. No hi ha cap discussió a Converses sobre aquesta obra. In an effort to widen the geographical spread of my reading, I picked a bunch of writers from random countries to try. One of them was Jaan Kross from Estonia. I’ll admit to knowing nothing about Kross, or indeed Estonian literature, when buying the book; and, to be honest, I’m not a great deal wiser now. Kross apparently specialised in historical fiction set in Estonia’s past, and his best-known work is the Between Three Plagues trilogy set in the sixteenth century. The stories in The Conspiracy, however, are set shortly before, and during World War 2, in German-occupied Estonia, and are told in the first person by Peeter Mirk, a stand-in for Kross himself. The stories are rich in period and place detail (so much so, each stories has end-notes… even though some of the glossed terms are later explained in the narrative). In one story, Mirk persuades an old university friend to desert the German not-so-voluntary Hilfswilliger levy corps, only for Mirk’s plans to see his friend off to Finland fall apart, but so putting his friend in his debt that the friend takes a stupidly risky route of his own choosing and dies in the attempt. In another, Mirk is attempting his own escape from Nazi-occupied Estonia, but the boat he is aboard is caught by a German patrol boat. Mirk has with him the manuscript of his first novel, which is highly critical of the Nazis. He throws his suitcase overboard, but the Germans manage to retrieve it. But there’s nothing in the suitcase to identify the owner (not even a name on the manuscript), except for… a collectible book given to him by a friend in lieu of payment for a debt moments before they boarded the boat to Finland which has an ex libris sticker giving that friend’s name. If Mirk says nothing, then his friend will be executed… There are half a dozen stories in the collection, and they’re well-written and interesting. I doubt I’ll dash out and buy something else by Kross to read – have you seen the size of my TBR? – but at some later date I might give something else by him a go. Eric Dickens, the translator for The Conspiracy and Other Stories felt it was necessary to stress the fact these six stories were written then Estonia did not have independence. The political climate of World War II is woven into the fabric of every story. The title of each short story is a major plot twist in each tale. For example, "The Wound" is about Peeter Mirk's relationship with a woman named Flora. Flora suffers a life altering wound after taking a nasty fall. "Lead Piping" is another tragic tale involving a death by a lead pipe and "The Shahl Grammar" is a sad tale about a writer sacrificing his friend to save himself. Sense ressenyes | afegeix-hi una ressenya
Pertany a aquestes col·leccions editorialsHarvill (187)
"When these stories were written the Estonians were not masters in their own house: the Soviets had been the occupying Power since 1940, apart from the three years 1941-44 when the Nazis were in occupation. Young Estonians, conscripted into the armies of both belligerents, found themselves compelled to fight each other. This is the background to these six stories featuring Peeter Mirk, a young law student who is more often in than out of prison and labour camp during these years - like his creator Jaan Kross. Forever carrying a charge of guilt that he has only contributed to his friends' misfortunes, he describes two thwarted attempts at escape ("The Wound", "Lead Piping"), his own dilemma when he can save his life only by sacrificing a friend's ("The Stahl Grammar"), his hand in a practical joke perpetrated by prisoners on one of their number in Tallinn Central Jail, which goes badly wrong ("The Conspiracy"). The last two stories ("The Ashtray", "The Day Eyes Were Opened") involve train journeys, chance encounters, and the unavoidable necessity of giving Fate a run for its money."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved No s'han trobat descripcions de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — S'està carregant… GèneresClassificació Decimal de Dewey (DDC)894.54532Literature Literature of other languages Altaic, Finno-Ugric, Uralic and Dravidian languages Fenno-Ugric languages Fennic languages Estonian Estonian fiction 1861–1991LCC (Clas. Bibl. Congrés EUA)ValoracióMitjana:
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This collection is likely between a 3 and 4; It has been eight years and stories appear to seep from my memory without leaving much effect. I bought this at sale after my wife first arrived. I enjoyed such, and found it ironic that Tibor Fischer was dismisisve in his review, citing Estonia as a minor nation or some such: go magyars! ( )