
The Beauty of History
Viivi Luik(Author)
Norvik Press
Published on 1. August 2007
Book
Hardback
152 pages
978-1-870041-73-7 (ISBN)
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Description
In 1968's Riga, news of the Prague Spring washes across Europe, causing ripples on either side of the Iron Curtain. A young Estonian woman has agreed to pose as a model for a famous sculptor, who is trying to evade military service and escape to the West. Although the model has only a vague awareness of politics - her interest in life is primarily poetic - the consequences of the politics of both past and present repeatedly make themselves felt. Chance remarks overheard prompt memories of people and places, language itself becomes fluid, by turns deceptive and reassuring."The Beauty of History" is a novel of poetic intensity, of fleeting moods and captured moments. It is powerfully evocative of life within the Baltic States during the Soviet occupation, and of the challenge to artists to express their individuality whilst maintaining at least an outward show of loyalty to the dominant ideology. Written on the cusp of independence, as Estonia and Latvia sought to regain their sovereignty in 1991, this is a novel that can be seen as an historic document - wistful, unsettling, and beautiful...
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Norwich
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paper over boards
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 8 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-870041-73-7 (9781870041737)
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Persons
Viivi Luik is one of the most highly-acclaimed and well-known writers in Estonia today. She has published eleven collections of poetry, as well as three novels. The Beauty of History (Ajaloo ilu, 1991) has been published in eleven languages.