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Treading Air

Treading Air

by Jaan Kross (Author), Eric Dickens (Translator)

  • Used

    Paperback 2003

    $52.06
Synopsis

Translated by Eric Dickens. Treading Air follows the life of Ullo Paerand through 30 years of violent political upheaval. Abandoned by his father as a child, he grows up to become an electoral assistant to the parliamentary office in Tallinn and it is in this position that Ullo witnesses first the Soviet and then the German occupation of Estonia. Forced out of his honest profession Ullo becomes involved with the Resistance but, when many Estonians flee the country, he chooses to remain. An interlude of a decade shows much has changed since the end of the War; Soviet influence is marked in the style of government and the manner of the people. The narrative unfolds in stories imparted to an unknown author by a 70-year-old Ullo. Just before the end, however, Kross introduces a teasing ambiguity: Ullo dies before he is able to answer the last question about his life.

$52.06

Quantity

1 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
 Pages: 368
 Publisher: Harvill Press
Published: 22 May 2003
ISBN 10: 1843430363
ISBN 13: 9781843430360
Book Overview: The author's own life, as his novel's hero's, has spanned the course of 20th century Estonia. He survived his country's tragedies to become the author of Estonia's post-Soviet constitution and a writer of world renown.

Media Reviews
A major Estonian novel by a great Estonian writer. Kross was born in 1920 and deported to Siberia in 1946. After his release in 1954 he translated classics and wrote poetry, and later started writing historical novels. Some indication of his international standing as a novelist is to be gained from the fact that for many years he has been listed as a Nobel candidate. Treading Air is historical fiction with a broad scope, encompassing the life and times of one Ullo Paerand as he grows up and witnesses the Soviet and German occupations of Estonia. You have to admire Random House for acquiring Harvill last year, and Harvill for publishing novels like this. Estonian fiction would not be well represented in Britain without the determination of the Harvill team.
Author Bio
KROSS was born in 1920. He studied law at the University of Tartu and taught law until his arrest and deportation, with countless other Estonians, to Siberia in 1946. He, on his release in 1954, returned to Tallinn and devoted himself to poetry and to translating the classics, including Shakespeare, Balzac and Stefan Zweig. Later, his interest in Estonia's chequered history made him turn his attention to the historical novel, and he established his reputation as one of Europe's outstanding practitioners of this genre. He is now generally regarded as an Estonian writer of world class.