The newly independent Estonia may be moving forward from its dark past, but not quickly enough for young lovers Oskar, an Estonian university student, and Erika, a Baltic German descended from a now defunct nobility. The old prejudices remain, and they are strong between the Baltic Germans and the Estonians who once worked on their estates. After meeting Erika's grandfather to request her hand in marriage, Oskar questions the source of his love: is he merely a slave pining after his master? Does he really love Erika as a person, or is he subconsciously drawn to her ancestry and the dynamics of the old order? Published in 1935, I Loved a German is one of the final and best-known works of celebrated Estonian author A.H. Tammsaare. It has been praised for its psychological realism, its diary format and its rare Baltic German perspective, and has been adapted for both stage and screen.
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Will deliver when available. Publication date 30 Sep 2024
Product Details
Dimensions: 140 x 210mm
Publication Date: 12 Mar 2018
Publisher: Vagabond Voices
Publication City/Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
ISBN13: 9781908251831
About A. H. Tammsaare
A.H. Tammsaare who became the leading figure in Estonian literature and has been translated into many languages was born in 1878 into a poor farming family in a small Estonian village. Due in part perhaps to his family's unusual intellectual curiosity Tammsaare was able to raise money for his education and studied law at the University of Tartu until he was hospitalised with tuberculosis in 1911. After a year in hospital he spent six years recovering on his brother's farm. When Estonia became independent he moved to Tallinn. His greatest influences were Russian realists such as Dostoyevsky Tolstoy and Gogol but his work also shows the influence of Oscar Wilde Knut Hamsun and Andre Gide.