
The Beauty of History
Viivi Luik(Author)
Norvik Press
2nd Edition
Published on 31. March 2016
Book
Paperback/Softback
152 pages
978-1-909408-27-2 (ISBN)
Description
1968. 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...Viivi Luik is one of Estonia's most highly-acclaimed and well-known writers.
The Beauty of History has been published in eleven languages.
The Beauty of History has been published in eleven languages.
More details
Edition
2nd Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Edition type
Revised edition
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 9 mm
Weight
172 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-909408-27-2 (9781909408272)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Previous edition

Persons
VIIVI LUIK (b. 1946) is one of the most highly-acclaimed and well-known writers in Estonia today. She has been a freelance writer since 1968, and has published eleven collections of poetry, several children's books, and three novels. Seitsmes rahukevad (The Seventh Spring of Peace) was published in 1985, and depicts rural life in 1950s Estonia through the eyes of a child. Ajaloo ilu - The Beauty of History - was first published in 1991.