Anton Tammsaare: Tõde ja õigus I (Truth and Justice: Andres and Pearu ; later: Vargamäe)

The latest addition to my website is A(nton) H Tammsaare‘s Tõde ja õigus I (Truth and Justice: Andres and Pearu ; later: Vargamäe). This is the first volume of Tammsaare’s great five-volume epic novel. This one tells the story of Andres and his new wife Krõõt, as they take over a farm which is very marshy and needs a lot of work. Their problems are not only with nature but with the next door neighbour, Pearu. Throughout the book Andres and Pearu will fight and do whatever they can to cause problems to the other, spending much time in court. However it is Krõõt who suffers most, initially producing only girls and, finally, dying, as her first son is born. Andres remarries, in somewhat controversial circumstances, and more children are born. Some of them are lost in a flu epidemic. However, his struggles with nature and Pearu continue. The next generation grows up and has very different views from their parents as to what life would hold for them. It is superb novel, with a host of characters and a main character who struggles, not always successfully, with nature, his neighbour and his soul.

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