The long wait is finally over! Lovers of Estonian literature will be pleased to know that the third volume of Anton Hansen Tammsaare's 'Truth and Justice' pentalogy is now available in English. Published by Vagabond Voices under the title When the Storm Fell Silent, the Estonian classic was translated into English by Matthew Hyde. Originally published in Estonia in 1930, the third volume has been translated into several European languages over the decades but only now into English.
When the Storm Fell Silent is an ironic, tragic and contradictory work which reflects the author’s ambivalent attitude to the 1905 Revolution in Tsarist Russia, which Estonia was then a part of. He sympathised with the policies but disagreed with the random violence. This however does not do justice to the complexity of this great work which comprehends the difficult truth that the majority’s altruism, humanity and desire to improve other people’s lives can end in so much suffering without any durable gains. What appears simple becomes entangled in a web of mendacity, double-speak and false promises.
Indrek, the central character, clearly represents Tammsaare’s own convictions, but not exactly. The author can approach any subject and stun the reader with his novel interpretations, and also gives the reader the opportunity to read his words and infer varied understandings and appreciations. Every actor in a revolution is represented here: from left to right and back again, every striking worker, every shopkeeper, every landowner, every policeman, every spy, every worker’s wife, every outsider and every starry-eyed teenager. Few people are who they first seem to be, and the shifting trends of the crowd are followed and carefully examined – a force of nature that ultimately is spent.
When the Storm Fell Silent can be purchased online here. The final two book in the series will be released next year.
