CZAR'S MADMAN

My first Estonian novel! This book is a great read. It helps to familiarize yourself with a bit of information about Czar Alexander and some highlights of the era. After that, I couldn't put the book down. Great story, delightful prose, no pathos in spite of the serious subject matter. The author has such a straightforward style, it is refreshing. Despite the fact we are dealing with Russian names, there isn't the confusion which sometimes comes from the fact that several names are used for the same characters. This is a unique book that will appeal to readers who like history, languages and rich details of life in another time, in a different world.One can look for many layers of the themes of morals, ethics, politics, truth, faith or madness. Truly a novel which can inspire discussions, if the reader is so inclined, or you can just enjoy the story for the well written narrative with a keen eye for the human condition. I'm so glad I picked this book. It's one of the best I've read in a long time. I am tempted to write down some of the statements made by the wonderful Eeva. So perfect, just perfect!

A very engrossing tale.

Chances are you haven't heard of this novel or of its author, which is quite understandable.The reason I knew about it is that some years ago I went to Estonia and wanted to red an Estonian novel.In Tallinn , I found this English translation.In typical fashion , I didn't read it for a number of years.It is to say the least a rewarding novel.It centers around Timo ,a Balt(German)Estonian nobleman who marries outside his class and is narrated by his brother in law, Jakob.Timo decides to marry the Estonian peasant Eeva but not until she is educated and brought up to his level.He decides Eeva will be happier if accompanied by Jakob ,who also gets an education.Prior to this he has to buy them because they are serfs.The time setting is 1810's through 1820's.The novel functions successfully on a number of different levels.It's a good historical primer that does an excellent job of conveying the flow of 19 th century Baltic history.Estonia and Latvia were subject to a "double bind" oppression.Since the middle ages these lands were dominated by a German aristocracy that conquered and ensersfed the locals, who didn't necessarily speak their language and were most assuredly looked upon as inferior beings.The national sovereignty of these territories shifted over time with Russia gaining control of them in the 1700's.Hence , the unfortunate Letts and Estonians wound up with German lords and Russian overlords.In Western Europe, your closest comparison would probably be with Ireland, a country with a peasant mass dominated on all levels by assorted "foreigners".Politically the novel is astute.It is very much a novel of the Communist era written while Estonia was still under Soviet control and it's author had the experience of Siberian deportation.One common denominator of Eastern European novels of the Communist era is the focus on , not simply the cruelties of and irrationalities of oppression but on its corrupting personal effects.Jakob considers marrying a much younger woman but that proves impossible when he realizes her father has enlisted her to spy on him for the Russians in order to get information on Timo.Timo has made the huge mistake of trying to be truthful with the Czar who has him tortured and imprisoned for his effrontery.To add injury and unnecessary insult his jailers knock his teeth out. You are expected to lie and grovel and punishment goes well beyond not getting that bonus you wanted.The characters of Timo and Eeva, and Jakob on the other side, are effectively and plausibly contrasted against one another.There is a bit of Don Quixote vs Sancho Panza here.The first two are a perhaps a bit foolish but genuinely noble.Jakob wants to get on and get along but even he gets tired of the petty indignities imposed on him and resists in his own way.This fine novel deserves much more attention than it has received.

This book, based on an actual journal, tells the story of a Baltic baron (Timo von Bock)in the 1800's set in Livonia (now Estonia).Timo, who doesn't beleive in the class structure of the time, and falls in love with and marries a poor Estonian girl (unheard of for a baron to do). But it is his mysterious letter to the Czar that lands him 9 years in jail and costs him all his teeth. He is only released after he is deemed a "Madman" and is allowed to return to his home, but remains under "house arrest".The journal is written by the brother of Timos wife who lived with them at the time, and the book is the journal re-written and made into a more fictional story by the author Jaan Kross. The story is tragic and sad, but well written and even tho there is no real climax to the story, the day-to-day life of these interesting people keeps you turning the pages to see what happens next.It's also an interesting fact (altho not mentioned in the story, only in the authors notes) that Timo was actually the great-grandson of Peter the Great!

After a trip to the encylopedia for a quick refresher on CzarsAlexanderI and Nicholas I, a look at the atlas to realize that Estonia is very close to St. Petersburg and a dictionary search for "Livonia," The Czar's Madman became a fascinating novel of post-Napoleonic Russia. Clearly Timotheus ("Timo") von Bock, an Estonian aristocrat, has been effected by the French philosophes and the Age of Reason. His ideas are "mad" by Russian uppercrust standards. The narrator of the book is Timo's brother-in-law, Jakob, whose journal writing over 32 years gives the reader a glimpse of many richly detailed and vivid characters and locations. This literary devise lends an air of unfolding mystery. While writing about life going on around him, Jakob emerges as a character, with all his human flaws, that we care about.Kudos to the author and the translator.

This is a great book. The author, Jaan Kross, was nominated for the Nobel prize for literature, so it should be. Although this isn't anespecially light read, I don't usually have the patience for heavy literature and this was perfect. It is a work of fiction written in the late 1970s, but it announces itself at the start to have been a first hand story of actual events in the early 1800s. It is well researched and references various people, events and works that were in the contemporary thought. The story is wonderful. The language felt a little archaic at the start, but don't let this put you off, the tone has a real freshness and lightness of things happening recently. It gave me a small and wonderful insight into Estonia's place in history while I was spending a few months in the country. John Bayley (Iris Murdoch's husband) called it "spell-bindingly readable", and this sums it up well.