TOOMAS NIPERNAADI by August Gailit
This Estonian classic, written in 1928, is still very popular almost a century later. The seven short stories centre around the main character of Toomas, a middle-aged nomad. He travels around southern Estonia doing his best to charm the local women. He does this by lying about everything in his life, including his vocation; a raftsman to a rich man. Poor folks and women are depicted as second class powerless citizens. “Men are talking here; a woman should not interfere.” As well as the detailed character studies, the author and Nipernaadi share an intense love of nature. The reader feels like, they too, are in the Estonian countryside with descriptions like, “The edge of the sky turned red in its pre-birth agony” and “Sky-blue honeysuckles are in bloom, lush crested wood ferns grow in dense clumps between the branches and puddles.” A critically acclaimed film “Nipernaadi” or “The Adventurer” was made in 1983. “This little novel has a thrill in store for the persevering, as well as the power to reveal a new, exciting literary and imaginative world.” (Mika Provota Corlone, European Literature Network)
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