Purge
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Product Description
Review
`A phenomenon.' --The Times
`Powerful, passionately wrought, emotionally shattering, extraordinary.' --Independent
`Purge stands out. Murder, sexual violence and political history combine to place Oksanen in the front rank of crime novelists.'
--Sunday Times `Books of the Year'
`Powerful, passionately wrought, emotionally shattering, extraordinary.' --Independent
`Purge stands out. Murder, sexual violence and political history combine to place Oksanen in the front rank of crime novelists.'
--Sunday Times `Books of the Year'
Product Description
Deep in an Estonian forest, two women, one young, one old, are hiding. Zara is a prostitute and a murderer, on the run from brutal captors - men who know how to punish a woman. Aliide offers refuge but not safety: she has her own criminal secrets - traitorous crimes of passion and revenge committed long ago, during the country's brutal Soviet years. Both women have survived lives of abuse. But this time their survival depends on revealing the one thing history has taught them to keep safely hidden: the truth. A haunting, intimate and gripping story of suspicion, betrayal and retribution against a backdrop of Soviet oppression and European war.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
71 of 75 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I will begin with a warning: don't read the back cover and be careful when you read reviews of this book as they give away a lot. One of the things I like about the book is the way the story, and the issues it is about, unfold bit by bit in an interesting, intriguing way. If I had read the reviews by Claire1806 or Leigh Laitila or the back cover, the experience would have been spoiled.
Of course it's hard to write a review without giving anything away. Let's just say it's about the political history of Estonia and its relationship with Russia, and some social/sexual issues. Put like that it may not sound inspiring but I assure you it is. Even if you have no interest in politics and history, the things that happen in this book feel real and moving, and are presented in a personal way without a trace of preaching or theorising.
I don't like to disagree with other reviewers but some of the comments made are so wrong I have to challenge them. Someone says the book is "about a nasty woman's obsession". This is like saying Jane Austen's novels are about pretty women. No, Purge is about Aliide's life, how she was affected by the things that happened to her and around her, and how she dealt with it. She comes across as a very real believable person. The book made me interested in her. I wanted all the time to find out more.
That review also said the book was confusing, the fate of one of the characters wasn't clear, and that it was depressing. I think the reviewer must have had a bad day. The book is not hard to understand and it is presented in such a balanced way that despite the many dark events, I wasn't at all depressed.
Every chapter begins by stating the year in which it takes place and the book skips backwards or forwards dozens of times. You have to notice the dates carefully but it isn't at all difficult to fit it all together and you won't need to keep re-reading sections - so long as you are reasonably awake.
I had never heard of Sofi Oksanen but I believe she is a very good writer. She has managed to write a book you don't want to put down, and at the same time is thoughtful and challenging.
Of course it's hard to write a review without giving anything away. Let's just say it's about the political history of Estonia and its relationship with Russia, and some social/sexual issues. Put like that it may not sound inspiring but I assure you it is. Even if you have no interest in politics and history, the things that happen in this book feel real and moving, and are presented in a personal way without a trace of preaching or theorising.
I don't like to disagree with other reviewers but some of the comments made are so wrong I have to challenge them. Someone says the book is "about a nasty woman's obsession". This is like saying Jane Austen's novels are about pretty women. No, Purge is about Aliide's life, how she was affected by the things that happened to her and around her, and how she dealt with it. She comes across as a very real believable person. The book made me interested in her. I wanted all the time to find out more.
That review also said the book was confusing, the fate of one of the characters wasn't clear, and that it was depressing. I think the reviewer must have had a bad day. The book is not hard to understand and it is presented in such a balanced way that despite the many dark events, I wasn't at all depressed.
Every chapter begins by stating the year in which it takes place and the book skips backwards or forwards dozens of times. You have to notice the dates carefully but it isn't at all difficult to fit it all together and you won't need to keep re-reading sections - so long as you are reasonably awake.
I had never heard of Sofi Oksanen but I believe she is a very good writer. She has managed to write a book you don't want to put down, and at the same time is thoughtful and challenging.
31 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
`Purge' is going to be rather a hard book to write about in part because of how big the story is (not in terms of pages just in terms of story and subject matter) or because some of the book is harrowing to say the least but also because to give too much away with this story, I think, would lessen the impact it could have on a reader coming to it and to do that to a book/reading experience such as this would be a disservice. Anyway let's see how we get on.
Aliide Truu lives a slightly solitary life near woods in the Estonian countryside. One morning after waging a war with a fly, which initially you think are the only bane in her life - you'd be thinking wrong, she spots something in her garden. That something turns out to be young woman, one who is wearing expensive clothes and yet is covered in dirt and bruised, a young woman who has appeared under her tree in the dead of night, a girl Aliide knows she shouldn't take in because you can almost feel the danger coming from her, and yet Aliide does.
Slowly but surely as Aliide spends the following day or so with the girl, Zara, both Zara's recent horrific past (the fact this setting is the early nineties was quite shocking for me) starts to unfold as does Aliide's which is a past with her sister over fifty years ago which she has wiped from her brain and buried deep elsewhere. As we read on two stories unfold that look at the history of Estonia and its women, the trials they have had to face and how they endured and survived. I shall say no more on the plot other than I think this is a tale that needs to be told and therefore to be read and heard by us no matter how difficult it can get in parts.
Sofia Oksanen has written something quite amazing. It is a rare book that takes me on such an emotional journey and to such dark places and yet leaves me almost unable to put the book down. Her prose is absolutely stunning (and here I should credit Lola Rogers on a fantastic translation) and without ever being too graphic she manages to drop in enough information to let the reader work out what's going on and yet leave enough unsaid that we create the scenes in our own minds which is often the more disturbing and effective than spelling everything out.
Her two main characters Aliide and Zara are incredible creations. One initially a rather eccentric old lady living alone becomes a kind of unsung heroine, the other a girl who dreamed of a better life and took the opportunities to get there naively and with dark consequences yet who is a survivor. These characters make what could have just become a completely harrowing book (and it's not because there are some moments of humour here and there) a book that is really about triumph and how people can and will cope when pushed to the edge. It's also a tale about families.
I strongly urge people to give this book a go. I don't think books like this come around that often and it really needs to become a success worldwide (it's already done very well in the rest of Europe). No its not a cosy read for these darker nights but it's a gripping story that we all need to be told and one that Sofi Oksanen tells in a rather breath taking fashion. A must, must, must read book that may leave you changed a little after the final page.
Aliide Truu lives a slightly solitary life near woods in the Estonian countryside. One morning after waging a war with a fly, which initially you think are the only bane in her life - you'd be thinking wrong, she spots something in her garden. That something turns out to be young woman, one who is wearing expensive clothes and yet is covered in dirt and bruised, a young woman who has appeared under her tree in the dead of night, a girl Aliide knows she shouldn't take in because you can almost feel the danger coming from her, and yet Aliide does.
Slowly but surely as Aliide spends the following day or so with the girl, Zara, both Zara's recent horrific past (the fact this setting is the early nineties was quite shocking for me) starts to unfold as does Aliide's which is a past with her sister over fifty years ago which she has wiped from her brain and buried deep elsewhere. As we read on two stories unfold that look at the history of Estonia and its women, the trials they have had to face and how they endured and survived. I shall say no more on the plot other than I think this is a tale that needs to be told and therefore to be read and heard by us no matter how difficult it can get in parts.
Sofia Oksanen has written something quite amazing. It is a rare book that takes me on such an emotional journey and to such dark places and yet leaves me almost unable to put the book down. Her prose is absolutely stunning (and here I should credit Lola Rogers on a fantastic translation) and without ever being too graphic she manages to drop in enough information to let the reader work out what's going on and yet leave enough unsaid that we create the scenes in our own minds which is often the more disturbing and effective than spelling everything out.
Her two main characters Aliide and Zara are incredible creations. One initially a rather eccentric old lady living alone becomes a kind of unsung heroine, the other a girl who dreamed of a better life and took the opportunities to get there naively and with dark consequences yet who is a survivor. These characters make what could have just become a completely harrowing book (and it's not because there are some moments of humour here and there) a book that is really about triumph and how people can and will cope when pushed to the edge. It's also a tale about families.
I strongly urge people to give this book a go. I don't think books like this come around that often and it really needs to become a success worldwide (it's already done very well in the rest of Europe). No its not a cosy read for these darker nights but it's a gripping story that we all need to be told and one that Sofi Oksanen tells in a rather breath taking fashion. A must, must, must read book that may leave you changed a little after the final page.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The author is a Finn born of an Estonian mother who had emigrated in the 1970s to Finland from the Soviet Union. This novel, set in Estonia, opens in 1992 soon after the country has regained its independence. An apparently paranoid old woman, Aliide, sees Zara, a traumatized, terrified, dishevelled and almost inarticulate young woman outside her house. Aliide overcomes her paranoia and reluctantly lets Zara into the house. The atmosphere is edgy. It takes some time before we discover the horrific cause of Zara's panic (much longer still before we learn more gruesome details of her experiences and of her flight), and also why Aliide had been so suspicious; and we understand why each of them conceals the truth from the other. Zara does not let on for a while that it was not an accident that had brought her to Aliide's house.
When she does, it makes Aliide recall her life during the turbulent history of Estonia - independent after the First World War, then successively under Soviet, German, and then again Soviet occupation. During this last period, those suspected of Estonian nationalism were subjected to horrific violence perpetrated by interrogators and to deportation to Siberia. Aliide had been a suspect, but had sought safety by marrying a communist organiser. Then, driven by a life-long resentment, she had committed a terrible triple act of betrayal.
The betrayal had not brought her the rewards she had expected, and her life was a torment. Now that Estonia was independent, her past counted against her; and what Zara now told her brought her yet further painful memories. The full truth, however, will be revealed to her under chilling circumstances - and not by Zara. Part IV of the book ends with how Aliide now reacts, and brings the narrative to a conclusion.
This is where I think the book should have ended; but there is then a final Part V, which consists of series of reports by the communist agents, which I found not only utterly confusing, but totally unnecessary; and the boring style of these reports adds to their anti-climactic effect.
The story has constantly moved backward and forward in time. Many of Sofi Oksanen's descriptions have been very powerful and atmospheric; at other times they were rather far-fetched; now and again they were elliptical and it was hard to make out what exactly was happening. There were a few longueurs. But on the whole, until Part V, the tension is well maintained.
When she does, it makes Aliide recall her life during the turbulent history of Estonia - independent after the First World War, then successively under Soviet, German, and then again Soviet occupation. During this last period, those suspected of Estonian nationalism were subjected to horrific violence perpetrated by interrogators and to deportation to Siberia. Aliide had been a suspect, but had sought safety by marrying a communist organiser. Then, driven by a life-long resentment, she had committed a terrible triple act of betrayal.
The betrayal had not brought her the rewards she had expected, and her life was a torment. Now that Estonia was independent, her past counted against her; and what Zara now told her brought her yet further painful memories. The full truth, however, will be revealed to her under chilling circumstances - and not by Zara. Part IV of the book ends with how Aliide now reacts, and brings the narrative to a conclusion.
This is where I think the book should have ended; but there is then a final Part V, which consists of series of reports by the communist agents, which I found not only utterly confusing, but totally unnecessary; and the boring style of these reports adds to their anti-climactic effect.
The story has constantly moved backward and forward in time. Many of Sofi Oksanen's descriptions have been very powerful and atmospheric; at other times they were rather far-fetched; now and again they were elliptical and it was hard to make out what exactly was happening. There were a few longueurs. But on the whole, until Part V, the tension is well maintained.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Really boring.
I don't understand why this book has such good reviews. I'm not even halfway through yet and I don't think that I can finish it because it is so boring. Read more
Published 8 days ago by I. courtney
my first book review. The book remind me that: no all what you see is...
The novel develops on the story of two characters: Zara and Aliide. Both stories are individual, but they are also interlinked when one sees the big picture of both stories. Read more
Published 3 months ago by caislas
Fascinating and thought provoking book
I found this a harrowing read which I had to leave at times until I was ready to assimilate more. It alludes to the mass deportation of Estonians whom the Russians thought to be... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Leicsliz
Purge
This is the author's first novel to be translated into English - hope there's more to come. Read in one day whilst sat at the beach. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Ady
Powerful Book, Highly Recommended
I first heard about Sofi Oksanen's Purge through Willa's blog, and as soon as I read her review of it I knew I had to read it for myself. Read more
Published 5 months ago by S O'Hara
interesting novel
I didn't know what to expect from this novel as I'd never read this author before but I found it an intriguing read and certainly a page turner. Read more
Published 6 months ago by earthsea
Intensely powerful
This is one of the hardest reviews I have had to write. The book is heavily layered, and I am certain that even the slightest spoiler would do just that......spoil it! Read more
Published 7 months ago by Kirsty at Book - Love - Bug
Glad I read it but not sure if I enjoyed it
I'm glad I read Purge, not sure if I enjoyed it, but will definitley go back and read it again in a couple of months. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Sab
A must read . . .
This is an amazing book which I couldn't put down. It starts when Aliide who, in her reclusive old age, finds young Zara collapsed outside her house. Read more
Published 8 months ago by margaretw
Powerful and moving but flawed
This is quite difficult to review. At times I could have easily given it from two to four stars.
It is moving and powerful but often very annoying. Read more
It is moving and powerful but often very annoying. Read more
Published 8 months ago by The Emperor
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