The man who talked to snakes

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The man who spoke to snakes ( Estonian Mees, kes teadis ussisõnu ) is a novel by the Estonian writer Andrus Kivirähk . It was published in 2007 by Eesti Keele Sihtasutus ; the German version 2017 at Klett-Cotta .

content

The protagonist of the book is Leemet, a growing Estonian who is one of the last to master the language of snakes. He lives with his mother, his sister Salme and his uncle Vootele in the Estonian forest. The usual life as hunters and gatherers in the forest is threatened by knights and monks who come from distant lands and speak German or Latin. More and more forest dwellers join the village community outside of the forest and forget or suppress the traditional ways of life like the snake language, the forest life in harmony with the animals and the religious-spiritual rites. Despite numerous setbacks, which become more and more difficult as he grows up, Leemet tries to live in the usual, original way. The Ints snake is a loyal partner to him. Finally, Leemet ventures into the village outside the forest a few times, but finds no understanding among the residents there and retreats back into the forest. Despite all the misfortunes, the protagonist finds a peaceful retreat at the end, from this perspective the story is told in retrospect.

reception

The novel has now been translated into Latvian (2011), Czech (2011), French (2013), Russian (2014), Danish (2015), Dutch (2015), English (2015), Hungarian (2015), Spanish (2017) and German (2017) translated. The French translation of the book received the Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire in 2014 for best foreign-language novel.

German edition

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Andrus Kivirähk: The man who spoke to snakes. Klett-Cotta, accessed on May 28, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Mees, kes teadis ussisõnu - The Man Who Spoke Snakish - Andrus Kivirähk | Estonian Literature. Retrieved May 28, 2018 .
  3. ↑ News | Estonian Literature Center. Retrieved May 29, 2018 .