Narrative
Vari
Not translated into English
Juhan Liiv · 1894
Synopsis
In Kukulinn, a hamlet of poverty built on an island in the marsh for the poor of the place, grows up Villu, a child without shirt or shoes who dreams of seeing Lake Peipus, which the forest hides from him. A foster brother, a chambermaid's boy at the manor, teaches him to read, and the child begins to dream of writing. One evening, he asks his mother whether he has a father, and the question reopens an old wound in her.
Context
He wrote it in eight days, at the end of 1892, after leaving the editorial staff of the Olevik to devote himself to writing. At first neglected, the book appeared in 1894 in Tallinn from G. Pihelgas. Under its subtitle, “history of a recent past”, it challenges the domination of the German lords and that of men over women, and its author has been recognised in Villu, a boy of fragile health and lively mind. The work was adapted for radio in 1984.
Who it is for
About a hundred pages in Estonian, never translated into French or English; the original text can be read online. Its author is best known as a poet.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as his finest achievement in prose, it remains the best-known narrative of its author and a school classic.