Purge
Sofi Oksanen
Translated by Lola Rogers
2008
390 pages
Published by Black Cat
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Hey FTC, check this out: Я купил это. Also, ostin sen. Unfortunately, Estonian wasn’t an option.
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I seem to be reading a lot of books lately that alternate stories. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. This one falls somewhere in between.
Aliide Truu is an elderly Estonian living alone in her ancestral farmhouse. When a young woman appears asleep under a tree in her yard, Aliide is suspicious. She suspects that the girl is a thief, scouting out her house and lands for valuables. Yet, the girl also looks weary, and skittish, and Aliide has her doubts. So she takes the girl in, offering her food and a place to sleep.
Zara has escaped a horrific life as a sex worker. After a year of sexual slavery she has managed to evade the men keeping her captive and make her way to her family’s ancestral farmhouse. Yet she is wary of Aliide, a woman who does not know that she has taken in her great-niece. She offers up small lies, that she is running from her husband, that she has been overseas.
Aliide and Zara’s true stories are slowly revealed, as the author goes back in time. Aliide’s life as a young girl during WWII and a young women, and later wife and mother, living under Communism is parceled out, with minimal history to inform the reader. Zara’s tale, where she is tricked into captivity, is also shared, although Aliide is the true focus.
Did you know that cumin is grown in Estonia? I never would have guessed. While the author shared many details about canning and crops, the history was a little harder to come by. The Communists play a huge role in Aliide’s life, and there is mention of rebels who are fighting for a free Estonia, but it was hard to place it all into context. I was confuzzled. I am confuzzled. I think I need to find a book on Estonian history.
I don’t know the first thing about Estonian history. I’m guessing this isn’t the place to start, huh?
Amanda´s last [type] ..Books I Havent Read
I was so not expecting that sex worker sentence. I’m all like farmhouse, old woman, tree, young girl, how sweet and lovely. Then bam…sex worker. Crazy. ; )
Trisha´s last [type] ..Movie Review- The Spirit
Oh darn. Too bad this was in the middle for you, as I picked this up a few months ago! I haven’t started it yet though… bookseller at the airport highly recommended it to me though.
Amy´s last [type] ..Happy Canada Day Six Month Giveaway
Would have never guessed about the cumin!
rhapsodyinbooks´s last [type] ..June 29- 1900 – Birthday of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Your review is great, but I’m not sure the book is for me.
Sofi Oksanen’s Purge which is called “Renselse” (means Purge, so that is not surprising) is a huge bestseller in Denmark and it got one of the most prestigious literary prizes in Scandinavia this year. It has been on the Top Ten for a long time now, and readers seem to keep buying it.
Many sex workers in Copenhagen (and rest of Denmark and Scandinavia) are trafficked from the old Eastern Block and this “theme” (trafficking) has been the plot of a large number of especially Scandinavian crime litterature for some years now. Not mentioning the obvious humanitarian problems, trafficking is a big problem in Copenhagen and I see those poor gals every day, walking their precincts, looking doped and tired. Some of them are not more than 15 years old. Anyway, I am digressing.
Oh, and by the way – I live on Estonia Street!
And another piece of useless trivia: The Danish flag called Dannebrog fell from the sky in Estonia in 1219 in a battle. At least that is what the legend says. And so the street next to mine is called Dannebrog Street. See how everything come together
Louise´s last [type] ..While I Live – The Ellie Chronicles I by John Marsden
I have been reading a lot of reviews on this book lately, and must admit that the title had me fooled. I would have thought it was a book about something else entirely. I do think that it sounds like an interesting book, and one that I think I’d enjoy. I am going to be looking out for it, though I will keep in mind that the history is a bit fuzzy. Great review! I also don’t know a whole lot about Estonia.
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I know very little about Estonia. A good fiction book would be a way to start learning! I’m curious about the details on crops grown- cumin! really?
Jeane´s last [type] ..The Pen and Ink Book
I don’t know a thng about Estonia–other than that they were Communist. Perhaps the author assumed that all readers would know more. It does sound like one to stir up a lot of questions which I’m not totally opposed to.
Lisa´s last [type] ..Captivity by Deborah Noyes
No, I did not know that cumin was grown in Estonia! I love learning things like that from books, although I am not sure this is the right one for me
Amused´s last [type] ..Dissapointment
I know embarrassingly little about Estonia. I knew a Latvian kid in grade school, and I lived with two Lithuanians one year at university, and they both assured me that Estonia was crap and not worth learning about…however, I suspect bias in both cases. :p
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Interesting to see your review today. The cover caught my eye when I was in Barnes and Noble yesterday, and I thought it looked pretty interesting. I would have considered buying it were it not for my overflowing shelves and a couple of upcoming trips to some bargain warehouses. One of my favorite professors in grad school is Estonian, so that adds to my interest level.
Teresa´s last [type] ..Cold Comfort Farm reread
Hmmm, sounds like a bit of a stretch for me, but I liked the cover. I expected the Amish.
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Ooops on the history gaps. I love cumin and didn’t know where it was grown. Now I want to read the book for the canning and crops! (Yeah, I’m weird.)
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Hehehe…you used Russian! Love it.
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So I love books that are historically grounded and hate them all at the same time. Sometimes, they work so well: teaching you about a period of history while also introducing you to fascinating characters but other times they don’t provide enough background for you to really connect. And for me, that is frequently the case. My American history is pretty good but my world history sucks. Maybe that’s something I should work on so that I could learn how to enjoy historically grounded books more.
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It sounds like an interesting one but maybe I’ll just have to read up on Estonia on the ever trusty Wikipedia first? I usually like alternating stories, but it does take a good writer to be effective!
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