Thought-provoking Estonian novel ponders the pitfalls of progress

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This article was published 09/01/2016 (3916 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This delightful Estonian novel coils and springs with a mix of dark humour, satire and allegorical observation.

Andrus Kivirähk’s The Man Who Spoke Snakish tells the intriguing story of Leemet, a young boy faced with the burden of trying to hold on to an ancient and beloved way of life against the threat of frightening and bizarre social change.

It’s a thought-provoking tale exploring discrimination, social systems, the consequences of ignorance and the importance of respecting other ways of life — all highly relevant themes today.

A journalist by profession, Kivirähk is highly regarded in his home country for his satirical newspaper columns and literary novels. Snakish is his third novel and the first published in English.

The author’s skill for social criticism and his literary talents are evident in Snakish, and he clearly has a gift for creating suspenseful, provocative stories.

This story takes place in a fantastical version of medieval Estonia, where a tribe of hunter-gatherer families clings to its traditional life in the forest. In this world, cuddly bears seduce human women, half-ape people raise lice as pets and men and women worship vengeful forest sprites.

But their way of life is disappearing as families move to the village to live as peasant farmers, worship the new Christian religion and give up speaking Snakish, an ancient language that gives humans the power to communicate with and command animals.

Young Leemet is one of the last children being raised as a forest dweller. When he tries to convince his family to move to the village, his Uncle Vootele refuses. Instead, Vootele decides to teach him Snakish to help Leemet preserve their culture.

“I’ll teach Leemet the Snakish words so well that he won’t know anymore whether he’s a human or a snake,” Uncle Vootele tells Leemet’s mother. “One day, when I die, Leemet will be the one who won’t let the Snakish words fade into oblivion.”

Leemet masters the language and begins to realize how deeply he loves living in the forest. But as the forest civilization falls apart and the allure of the village grows stronger, Leemet realizes it may not be possible for the two to live peacefully side by side.

Anyone who has felt pulled between two different ideas can appreciate Leemet’s appreciation for his own life in the forest alongside his obsession with life in the village. Leemet’s story is long, surprising and never dull.

Rather than portray either way of life as wrong, Kivirähk shows intolerance and prejudice cause the problems: the villagers see the foresters as backwards, dirty and heathen, while the foresters see the villagers as arrogant, ignorant and stupid.

Kivirähk does throw some criticism towards organized religion, mocking both the pagan rituals of the forest and the Christianity of the village. When Leemet questions his Uncle Vootele about Jesus, his uncle replies, “One person believes in sprites and visits the sacred grove, and another believes in Jesus and goes to the church. It’s just a matter of fashion.”

Kivirähk contrasts the darker tones with humour that ranges from biting satire to black comedy to broad slapstick to the simply bizarre.

In one of the novel’s funniest scenes, Leemet and a friend go to spy on the forest women as they perform a midnight beauty ritual — only to discover the forest bears admiring the women as well.

In another, Leemet’s mother scolds his sister for “carrying on” with a bear. His sister shoots back, in typical teenager fashion, “Actually, I’m not going out with him. We just say hello when we meet.”

The Man Who Spoke Snakish is wonderful — don’t let it slither away.

 

Kathryne Cardwell is a Winnipeg writer.