Vastutuulelaev

Vastutuulelaev (literally "The Headwind Ship ") is the title of a biographical novel by the Estonian writer Jaan Kross (1920–2007). Kross was inspired by the life story of the Estonian optician, astronomer and inventor Bernhard Schmidt (1879-1935).

novel

The novel was published in Estonian in 1987 . In the Estonian original of the first edition, it comprises 319 pages.

action

The book is subtitled Bernhard Schmidti romaan ("Novel about Bernhard Schmidts").

The story tells the life of the physicist and inventor Bernhard Schmidt (1879–1935). Schmidt was born on the Estonian island of Naissaar ( Nargen in German ) off Tallinn, but spent most of his life in Germany . He died in Hamburg in 1935 , which means that his problems during the Nazi era were also discussed.

Schmidt lost his right arm in a childhood accident. Nevertheless, he bit his way through life and became one of the greatest inventors from Estonia. The manufacture of perfect lenses and mirrors for astronomical devices goes back to him in the 1930s .

Narrative

As in most of his books, Kross mixes the real and the fictional in order to shape his character in a novel. Kross writes to the reader at the beginning of the novel:

Niisiis, raamat, mille te avate, pole Bernhard Schmidti elulugu ei taeduslikus ega populaarteaduslikus mõttes. Kui romaniseeritud eluloo mõiste romaanimõiste suunas kõvasti välja venitada, võiks ehk nimetada seda raamatut romaniseeritud elulooks. Aga ennekõike on see autori meelest ikkagi romaan. Mis tähendab kõigepealt seda, et ajaloolised ja välmitud seigad on nende kaante vahel võrdselt tõesed. Näiteks: mu vestlused Bernhard Schmidti kohanud inimestega Saksamaa Liitvabariigis (kus ma nendega vestlesin) on niisama tõesed kui mu jutud Erik Schmidtiga Mallorcal (kuhu reisimine osutus minu jaoks liiga keeruliseks, nii et ma pole seal üldudseg). Muuseas: vähemalt osa mõttevahetustest Erik Schmidtiga on postitsi või telefonitsi ka väljaspool romaanitasandit siiski toimunud.

“Well, the book you are opening is not a biography of Bernhard Schmidt, neither in the scientific nor in the popular scientific sense. If one extends the idea of ​​a biography in novel form strongly in the direction of the novel idea, one could perhaps describe this book as a romanized biography. But above all, according to the author, it is a novel nonetheless. Above all, this means that the historical and the fabricated elements between these book covers are equally true. For example: my conversations in the Federal Republic of Germany, where I spoke to people who were familiar with Bernhard Schmidt, are as true as my conversations with Erik Schmidt on Mallorca (where traveling was too cumbersome for me, so I even did not go there). By the way: at least part of the exchange of ideas with Erik Schmidt actually took place by post or by telephone outside the level of the novel. "

Famous quotes

• Meie peeglid peegeldavad meie udusid ideaalselt. Meie ise peegeldame oma ideaale üpris uduselt. - “Our mirrors reflect our blurring in an ideal way. We ourselves reflect our ideals very vaguely. "

• Mida tähendavad probleemid mingis isiklik-inimlikus mõttes? Nad on ju liiga ebamäärased, et neist lobiseda! Yes liiga õrnad ka. Yes kaugelt liiga ühekordsed, et neid probleemideks nimetada. Teaduslikud probleemid, sellest ma saan aru, sest neile on võimalik süstemaatiline lähenemine. - “What do problems mean in a personal-human way? You are too vague to talk about them! And too tender. And far too unique to call them problems. Scientific problems, of which I understand something, because you can approach them systematically. "

Translations

• Finnish: Vastatuulen laiva . Suom. E. Lille. Porvoo etc .: Söderström 1990. 429 p.
• Swedish: Motvindsskeppet . Översätting från estniskan av Ivo Iliste och Brigitta Göranson. Stockholm: Natur och Kultur 1997. 428 pp.
• French: L'Œil du grand tout . Traduit by Jean-Luc Moreau. Paris: Robert Laffont 1997. 332 pp.
• English: Sailing against the wind . Translated from the Estonian by Eric Dickens. Evanston (Ill.): Northwestern University Press, 2012. 347 pp.

A translation into German is not yet available, just an extract:

• Schmidt's dream (extract from a novel). Translated by Cornelius Hasselblatt , in: Estonia 4/1985, pp. 4–8.

Literature on the novel

• Jaan Kross: Kaks märkust Bernhard Schmidti asjus, in: Estonia 2/1985, p. 40.
• Märt Mäger: Bergedorfi nõia lugu, in: Looming 4/1988, pp. 553–555.
• Victor Terras [Review], in: World Literature Today 4/1988, p. 701.
• Pärt Lias: Kontekst ja kiri, in: Keel ja Kirjandus 3/1989, pp. 182–183.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.raamatukoi.ee/cgi-bin/raamat?14015
2. ↑ In the new edition as part of "Gesammelte Werke" (2002), the story curiously bears the subtitle Bernhard Schardli romaan ("Novel about Bernhard Schardl").
3. ↑ http://tallinn.ester.ee/search~S1*est?/tVastutuulelaev/tvastutuulelaev/1%2C5%2C5%2CB/frameset&FF=tvastutuulelaev+bernhard+schardli+romaan&1%2C1%2C  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.