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Purge

by Sofi Oksanen (Goodreads Author), Lola Rogers (Translator)

3.87 of 5 stars 3.87 · rating details · 3,462 ratings · 412 reviews

An international sensation, Sofi Oksanen's award-winning novel Purge is a breathtakingly suspenseful tale of two women dogged by their own shameful pasts and the dark, unspoken history that binds them.

When Aliide Truu, an older woman living alone in the Estonian countryside, finds a disheveled girl huddled in her front yard, she suppresses her misgivings and offers her sh...more

Paperback, 390 pages

Published April 6th 2010 by Grove Press, Black Cat (first published January 1st 2007)

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Community Reviews

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Feb 01, 2013 Jake Rideout rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'm always a little nervous when I pick up a translated novel, because I've read a lot of bad translations in my day. Thanks to authors like Henning Mankell, Steig Larsson, and Ninni Holmqvist, there are more and more great translations coming from previously overlooked parts of the world. This is one of them. Oksanen is a new Finnish-Estonian novelist, and this is not the last you'll hear of her. Purge tells the story of two women: Aliide Truu, who lives alone in the Estonian countryside, and Z...more

13 likes · like · see review

Apr 16, 2012 Daisy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Daisy by: Amy Henry

Shelves: eastern-europe, estonia, finland, russia, to-re-read, favorites-2nd-place

Flies: a recurring theme. I mean presence. Character?

Interesting to grow to dislike the main character, Aliide, the more I read. The very end though has me stumped. Am I stupid? Did I miss something or is that last section unnecessary?

I didn't learn that much even though I've never read anything about Estonia before. I have read lots of Russian and Soviet stuff so some of that "tension" is familiar, all that not-knowing-who-you-can-trust stuff. I did love the details like horseradish in pickles...more

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Apr 20, 2011 rameau rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: finnish-original, historical, scandinavian, recommending

I'm still raw after reading this. Not because of the gruesome bits of the plot, but because for the first time in a really long while I read a Finnish book by a Finnish author, and I don't know what to think. Too many times the pretentiousness has kept me away from domestic literary, but this time I'm glad I gave this book a chance.

Zara is the catalyst that brings life to a dormant life and allows Aliide finally let go of her past - some of it at least. The reader is walked through two differen...more

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Sep 06, 2012 Anachronist rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Anachronist by: rameau

Shelves: simply-the-best-so-far

Synopsis:

You can call this book a tale of two sisters and indeed, it reminded me of all these folk songs about sibling rivalry. Ingel and Aliide, two Estonian peasant girls, had a very bad luck of falling for the same German boy. Ingel was very pretty, even beautiful, and whatever she did, she did it always better than other girls. Aliide was less pretty and less gifted, completely overshadowed by her perfect sister. The boy in question, Hans Pekk, chose Ingel. They married, were very happy and...more Synopsis:

You can call this book a tale of two sisters and indeed, it reminded me of all these folk songs about sibling rivalry. Ingel and Aliide, two Estonian peasant girls, had a very bad luck of falling for the same German boy. Ingel was very pretty, even beautiful, and whatever she did, she did it always better than other girls. Aliide was less pretty and less gifted, completely overshadowed by her perfect sister. The boy in question, Hans Pekk, chose Ingel. They married, were very happy and soon they had a little baby girl, Linda. Despite that fact Aliide never stopped loving Hans; her torment made her slowly ruin her own life and the life of her closest relatives, with a little help from the Russian communists who were simply great at ruining people’s lives whenever they went.

The novel starts when elderly and widowed Aliide, living alone in a half-deserted village, finds a strange girl near her house. The girl needs help very badly – she is hungry, filthy and it is obvious she’s been beaten regularly. In spite of her initial fear Aliide empathizes with her too much to ignore her; she invites her inside, gives her a bath, some fresh clothes and food. The girl is called Zara and it seems she is running from the Mafia men. Gradually, as the story unfurls, you find out it was hardly by accident that Zara wandered to Aliide’s house; she sought out that woman because they are actually related. Still at first Zara tells a lot of lies only later revealing a very disturbing and sad truth about herself and her situation. It makes Aliide reminisce about the difficult times under the Soviet rule – ironically nothing changed. Her own youth was full of horrible experiences as well, similar to those of young Zara,. Will these two women help each other? Will they understand each other’s decisions? Will they become family again?

My impressions:

I was very deeply moved by this book; as a result my review is much more personal and a bit different than usual. I felt connected to it on more than one level.

Believe me or not but it was a book which kept me awake at night and gave me nightmares (a very rare occurrence). It was a book that reminded me of some simple truths, namely that life is a bitch and sometimes you simply cannot do anything about it. One stupid decision might ruin your future and sometimes no decision is needed at all because, no matter what you do your life will be ruined anyway – it’s your fate, karma, politics, war, or other stupid circumstances completely beyond your control. It was a book that made me want to howl with rage and cry.

It was a book that portrayed love at its cruelest and most beautiful. It made me pet my dog for hours because animals, seen from some aspects, are far better than humans – they never judge you by appearances and, as long as you treat them well, they will pay you back with love and lasting attachment. It was a book which, like ancient tragedies, was able to trigger a haunting catharsis, a purge promised in the title. Have you read or seen “Atonement”? Compared to this one, “Atonement” seemed to me just like a child’s prattle, nothing more. Because sometimes you can’t atone for your sins, no matter what you do.

It was a book I couldn’t stop reading even though I had more pressing tasks at hand. I got sucked into it and, although I was very uncomfortable from time to time, I didn’t want to leave till the last word.

Final verdict:

Heartrending. Incredibly sad and wise. Hauntingly beautiful. The plot and the characters are like an accident waiting to happen – you can’t divert your eyes even though nobody forces you to watch. Easily the best book I’ve read this year; still hardly a novel which will leave you warm and fuzzy inside.
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Jul 30, 2010 Praj rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have an affinity to books where the characters outshine the storyline. Such volumes craft a distinct memory that never seems to fade for years creating an imaginary bond with those characters; experiencing their pain and suffrage through your smallest nerves.Zara and Aliide will never die away from my mind as long as I will remember.

'Purge' is not a book about bulimia or anorexia. It is a metaphor for all those sinister culpabilities that an individual buries within his/her heart until the mom...more

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Oct 26, 2012 Cheryl rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: international, women-s-issues, war-stories, historical-fiction, europe

You don't hear about this part of the world as often as you should. Here is one fiction writer who puts her homeland on the map with this novel of vivid imagery. A moving story of what women face during conflicts, what women faced during the Estonian conflict.

My problem was where the story started for me. Yes it was meant to be suspenseful but I felt teased. I think the plot could have been intertwined more with the suspense. It wasn't until I reached page 68, that I knew I wanted to keep readi...more

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Mar 20, 2011 Megan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 5-stars, fiction, historical-fiction

This book is bigger and stronger than it looks. I'm not sure how to do it justice, or even how to describe its place in the genre spectrum: feminist, literary, historical crime fiction, maybe, although that's still all over the spectrum. Purge most poignantly draws attention to the very clear thread between sexual violence and military occupation. It connects big picture violence (war and occupation) with more personal conflict and interpersonal tragedy (who betrays whom, and how, and why; how i...more

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Jan 19, 2011 Lisa B rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

It's tough to know where to begin when I'm reviewing this. What drew me to this book was the inside cover and hearing that the author had won the highest literary award available in Finland for her discussion of the sex trade. I'll start off by saying that the book wasn't what I expected. Second I'll say that it was a very uncomfortable read. Before I continue... 1) this will contain mild spoilers and 2) if reading about difficult (to say the least) sexual situations is not something you're comf...more

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Oct 19, 2010 Jukka added it

Shelves: continental-novel, recent-reads

Puhdistus English title: Purge - Sofi Oksanen

High compliment: This is the most like Margaret Atwood, since i last read Atwood, although there is clearly no direct influence or any attempt to copy. I still am desperately trying to put parts of the story back together in my head.

Pretty early on in the reading i anticipated the general direction and arc of the book -- or thought i did. What i could not foresee was how high you get to go along that arc, that this story just keeps going up even after...more

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Jun 06, 2010 Jenny rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wow. And I thought "Girl with the dragon tattoo" was too violent. This book takes some extreme examples of violent sexual abuse toward women and wraps a story about two women, somewhat related, around it. The authors intent here shows how little methods of control and abuse by men have changed; only the motivations have changed--as in then: political; now: profit. The horrors endured by these two have given them an uncommon common ground and their stories spin out backward from their first meeti...more

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Feb 08, 2011 Kjersti rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: darling-dear, ebook-collection

I can still smell this novel; the sweat, the onions, the rayon dresses that must be burned because a certain man looked at you the wrong way, touched you the wrong way. Aliide Truu is an older woman living alone in her house in the Estonian countryside. One morning she notices a mound in her garden. A mound with blonde hair. A mound that, once Aliide decides to go outside and have a look, is wearing expensive stockings and is missing a slipper. Through a series of flashbacks we get to know the s...more

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Apr 16, 2010 Kim marked it as to-read

Recommended to Kim by: npr.org

This book looks very interesting! There is a review and an excerpt on npr.org for those interested.

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Dec 12, 2011 Sam rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: communism, eastern-europe, europe, historical-fiction, literary-fiction, fiction, library, favourites, owned, war, women

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. Finally, almost four months later, I managed to get my hands on a copy. Set in Estonia during the 1940s and 1990s, it is the story of two women who have both suffered abuse.

Aliide Truu is living an old-fashioned life in rural Estonia, cut off from all her neighbours. She is happy being self-sufficient until she finds Zara, a badly beaten woman, in her garden....more 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. Finally, almost four months later, I managed to get my hands on a copy. Set in Estonia during the 1940s and 1990s, it is the story of two women who have both suffered abuse.

Aliide Truu is living an old-fashioned life in rural Estonia, cut off from all her neighbours. She is happy being self-sufficient until she finds Zara, a badly beaten woman, in her garden. As Aliide begins to help Zara, she is forced to look back on her own past and involvement with both the Estonian Nationalist Movement and the Soviet state. Zara is a young Russian-Estonian girl who is visited by a friend and promised a luxurious life in the west, only to be sold as a sex slave and kept captive.

Purge is not an easy story to read. Both women go through experiences that you could only describe as horrific and some of the things that happen to Zara in particular will make your stomach churn - she loses everything except her life. Aliide's story doesn't hide from the use of rape as an interrogation technique by Soviet forces. These experiences are described graphically but not gratuitously by Oksanen, and you really feel for both women.

I went into the story knowing that there would be descriptions of sexual abuse, but for me the most disturbing thing about this book was the character of Aliide herself. Oksanen slowly reveals more and more about her and her thought processes with the result that she has created a wonderfully three dimensional and distasteful character; at times I felt very sorry for Aliide but at other times I felt disgusted with her. I didn't guess the revelation about her that comes in the closing section, and I felt that this was very clever of Oksanen.

Despite dealing with difficult subjects, Purge is definitely a worthwhile read. I finished it a few days ago and yet my mind is still buzzing with thoughts about it. It has illuminated a chapter of European history I knew very little about. Purge is also a page turner, I found it almost impossible to put this book down as I was desperate to find out what would happen to Zara and why Aliide was the way she was. It's a book that has a great impact and I would strongly recommend it.(less)

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Apr 29, 2013 Johanneke rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Een moeilijke. Ik weet niet of het twee of drie sterren moeten zijn, maar omdat drie staat voor I liked it, dan toch maar niet die drie.

Ik vond dit geen fijn boek. Voornamelijk, omdat er teveel verteld wordt, te expliciet, dingen die beter in de sluimering hadden kunnen blijven. Het gaat over de angst die ontstaat en de keuzes die je maakt, als je bent blootgesteld aan extreem geweld. Enerzijds in de Estische Sovjettijd, anderszijds in de prostitutiewereld in het vrije westen.
Het was voor mij n...more

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Apr 24, 2013 Bjorn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

World War II and the cold war gave birth to the modern spy thriller, where everything was about uncovering secrets and false loyalties. In Purge, Oksanen seems to bury it once and for all, while at the same time reminding her readers that there are always going to be those who remember where the bodies are buried. The wars are over here, democracy and freedom have won the day, the KGB archives are opened, the oppressed are getting back what they lost and all the old lies are going to be uncovere...more World War II and the cold war gave birth to the modern spy thriller, where everything was about uncovering secrets and false loyalties. In Purge, Oksanen seems to bury it once and for all, while at the same time reminding her readers that there are always going to be those who remember where the bodies are buried. The wars are over here, democracy and freedom have won the day, the KGB archives are opened, the oppressed are getting back what they lost and all the old lies are going to be uncovered... well, the ones the winners want uncovered, that is. It's not going to be easy. There's going to be deaths, both new and old, before it's over.

It's early 90s in newly independent Estonia, where the old woman Aliide has lived alone in her little cottage for years. As an old Soviet functionary she's despised and feared by her neighbours - a witch who may still have some sort of powers left. Children write insults on her door and throw rocks at her house, but nobody dares do anything more than that to drive her out. There's the big history, the collective one; 45 years of occupation and oppression can't not leave traces in a country that ceased to exist for decades and now has to be reinvented from the bits of history they can bear to remember.

Then one day, Aliide finds a young woman in her yard. Zara comes from Vladivostok and speaks the slightly archaic and accented Estonian of one born in exile. What she's doing in this part of the world is obvious from her outfit, make-up and skittishness; she's running from men in a big black car. That's the big history, the collective one: so many Balts were sent East by Stalin in the 40s and 50s, so many East European and Asian women are sent West nowadays to work in the thriving European sex trade.

Everything was repeating. Even though the ruble had been exchanged for the kroon, though there weren't as many fighter planes flying overhead, though the officer's wives had lowered their voices, though the anthem of independence blared from the speakers on Pikk Hermann every day, there was always a new leather boot, there was always a new boot, the same or different, always tramping in the same way across your throat.

But we know that, right? Dictatorship bad, democracy good, trafficking bad, etc. What makes Purge a great, entertaining, and uneasy bitches' brew of a novel is the way it interweaves the personal history with the big one, how they affect each other, and what exactly it is we build this bright new freedom on. How did these particular women end up on this particular farm of all places, what did they bring, and what's buried there? As Aliide and Zara sit there waiting for the big black car to inevitably find them Oksanen takes us back and forth through their history, tracing them from a young naive girl in the 30s through the shifting loyalties of the war, the Soviet years with its paranoia and secrets, on into the 90s. History is written by the victors, it's said, but of course losers write their history as well, why they were right, why their day will come, and what definitely didn't happen no matter what the other side may say. And in both Aliide's and Zara's life - and in the Soviet and Estonian records - there's so much that hasn't happened (can't have happened, mustn't have happened).

Purge is reminiscent of Ian McEwant's Atonement in some ways: a masterful character drama based on our ability - our need - to sometimes lie to ourselves, re-tell the story not just to justify our own actions but to make heroes of the people who may just have been victims. To be able to live with ourselves. But unlike McEwan, Oksanen dares to give the screw another turn, in both cold fury and compassion, and explore the darker sides of what the cultivation of victimhood can lead to, the righteousness, the elective blindness.

The title refers to deportation, to expulsion. To exorcism of old demons, to witch trials. To catharsis and self-delusion. To cleansing (and we know what meaning the 90s gave to that word). To execution. All of it will finally come to the surface in that little cottage on the edge of an Estonian forest, where the ground is still poisoned since Chernobyl (since 1946, since 1942, since 1917, since Adam and Eve) and Aliide has spent decades filling her dark cellar with preserved goods. When the big history and the small ones collide, something's going to explode. And then, once again, someone's going to have to clean up the blood, hide the bodies, and pick a winner. (less)

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Mar 13, 2013 Susie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Avertissement: Ce livre n'est pas pour les sensibles.
Mon corps se figeait à chaque fois que je prenais ce livre pour commencer à lire. Mais je me forçais à continuer ma lecture et je n'ai pas été désappointée.
Le livre nous présente des bouts de vie de deux femmes, l'une âgée ayant survécu l'invasion Russe dans les années 40 et l'autre jeune, essayant d'aider financièrement sa mère et grand-mère.
Il n'est pas nécessaire de dire que leur vie, à toutes deux est difficile est pleine de violence. Dan...more

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Feb 19, 2013 Jr rated it 4 of 5 stars

I wanted to give it five stars but I felt that the novel was a little disjointed in the way it jumped around in time and that it was difficult to like because the main character Aliide had little redeeming value. That being said I do believe that the book has many leyers that can only be adequately explored through several readings. Aliide may be dispicable but does she represent Estonia during the dark period of German occupation and Soviet rule desperately holding on to her myths, foods, custo...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Denis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A huge success all over Europe, and a winner of many prizes, this explosive novel hasn’t really been talked about in this country. But at least it has been translated, unlike so many other European books. I read it in French. Putting into the spotlight the little known (and quite tragic) history of Estonia during the last century, Purge is a thrilling and devastating historical drama, showing how a family is torn apart facing both the horrors of the Nazi invasion, and the soviet regime that foll...more

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Jan 17, 2013 Softymel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Je suis très mitigée concernant ce livre.

Tout d'abord, je pensais que ce livre était un peu historique, mais en fait l'Histoire n'est ici qu'un vague contexte qui permet de dramatiser l'action.

L'histoire est avant tout celle d'une femme, Aliide, qui a vécu l'Estonie sous l'occupation soviétique. Et, bien qu'il lui soit arriver pas mal de chose, finalement, l'action est très lente. De plus, elle est raconté sous forme de flash-back, donc on alterne entre 1992, soit après la libération de l'Eston...more

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Nov 24, 2012 Najlepša leta rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Roman prikazuje zgodbo družine Truu od leta 1936 do leta 1992. Usoda dveh sester med vojno se konča v hiški starih staršev, kjer se sestri ločita zato, da bi ju vnukinja ene od sester ponovno združila.

Aliide in Ingel se zaljubita v istega moškega, Hansa Pekka, in Ingelina usoda in usoda njene hčere je pogojena z Liidino. Allide skuša prikriti in se očistiti dogodkov v kasarni ob zasliševanju zaradi Hansa Pekka.

Dogodke prikriti celo lastnemu možu, pomembnemu možu, strankarskemu voditelju. Iskaže...more

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Aug 03, 2012 Laraemilie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lorsque je termine un livre, je me mets généralement très rapidement à rédiger ma chronique et, que je l’aie apprécié ou pas, j’ai toujours de nombreuses choses à dire. En ce qui concerne Purge, de Sofi Oksanen, c’est tout différent. J’ai terminé ma lecture il y a quelques temps, mais je ne sais toujours pas réellement ce que j’en pense. Est-ce que je l’ai aimé ? Sans doute. Etait-ce un coup de cœur ? Certainement pas… Mais pourquoi ? Voilà une très bonne question.
Ce qui est sûr, c’est que ce ro...more Lorsque je termine un livre, je me mets généralement très rapidement à rédiger ma chronique et, que je l’aie apprécié ou pas, j’ai toujours de nombreuses choses à dire. En ce qui concerne Purge, de Sofi Oksanen, c’est tout différent. J’ai terminé ma lecture il y a quelques temps, mais je ne sais toujours pas réellement ce que j’en pense. Est-ce que je l’ai aimé ? Sans doute. Etait-ce un coup de cœur ? Certainement pas… Mais pourquoi ? Voilà une très bonne question.
Ce qui est sûr, c’est que ce roman n’était pas réellement ce à quoi je m’attendais. Et alors, qu’espérais-je y trouver ? Je ne le sais pas non plus. J’ai apprécié cette lecture sous plusieurs aspects, mais je n’en reste pas moins indécise, probablement en grande partie à cause de la fin.
L’action se déroule en Estonie, dans la ferme de la vieille Aliide. Elle découvre une jeune fille dans sa cour et, bien malgré elle, l’accueille chez elle. Elles feront connaissance et découvriront qu’elles ont bien plus en commun que ce qu’elles pensaient.
Forcément, dans un tel roman, le contexte est très important. L’Estonie est un pays à l’histoire compliquée, qui a passé des mains des communistes à celles des capitalistes (et inversement) à plusieurs reprises. Pour nous faire connaître cinquante ans d’histoire, l’auteure se sert de son personnage principal, Aliide. La première partie est consacrée au présent (1992) et à sa rencontre avec la jeune Zara, mais par la suite, elle se souviendra de son enfance, dès 1936, et des périodes troublées qu’a traversées son pays. L’histoire est divisée en chapitres très courts, oscillant entre le présent des personnages et leur passé. Heureusement, les lieux de l’action, ainsi que la date, sont indiqués au début à chaque fois, de manière qu’on puisse s’y retrouver facilement. Il y a toutefois un élément qui m’a gênée dans cette division : la petite phrase en italique sous les indications temporelles qui résume en quelque sorte ce qui va suivre. En effet, je n’en vois pas réellement l’utilité et je trouve qu’elles gâchent un peu la surprise de ce qu’on va lire.
En ce qui concerne l’histoire en elle-même, elle est très intéressante, car les deux femmes ne se connaissent pas et ont pourtant un passé qui va les rapprocher. J’ai apprécié le voyage dans leurs pensées qui nous est offert, et le fait que l’une et l’autre ne se font pas réellement confiance. Ainsi, le lecteur en sait plus que les personnages, et ce décalage m’a beaucoup plu.
J’espérais en apprendre beaucoup sur les événements historiques de l’Estonie, et je dois avouer être un petit peu déçue à la fin. Je n’avais pas de connaissances préalables, ce qui fait que j’ai eu du mal à comprendre qui était dans quel camp et ce qui se passait réellement au début de l’histoire. Après avoir fait quelques recherches personnelles, j’ai mieux saisi le déroulement de l’intrigue, mais je trouve que les explications sont un peu trop compliquées pour ceux qui ne s’y connaissent pas. Heureusement, il y a un résumé chronologique à la fin du roman, qui résume toutes les étapes importantes et explique en bref ce qu’il faut savoir pour apprécier pleinement l’histoire.
Je me suis prise d’affection pour Aliide, alors que j’aurais voulu la détester pour ses actes passés. A mesure que j’en apprenais plus sur elle, je la trouvais plus attachante et j’essayais de me représenter à sa place et d’imaginer ce que j’aurais pu faire dans sa situation. C’est un personnage étrange, et ce n’est qu’au fil des pages que l’on comprend mieux ses agissements. Du côté de Zara, bien que je l’aie appréciée également, j’aurais voulu qu’elle soit un peu plus développée, car on en sait finalement relativement peu à son sujet.
Si la première partie m’a paru compliquée – probablement à cause de tous les aspects politiques – la suite du roman m’a beaucoup plu et j’ai apprécié le style de l’auteur, mélangeant les registres, incluant des métaphores et des images. Les quelques lettres glissées dans le récit m’on aussi plu, car elles mettaient en scène un autre personnage que l’on ne rencontre pas directement.
Ce qui m’a le plus dérangée, toutefois, c’est la fin, et c’est sans doute pour cette raison que j’ai des difficultés à donner mon avis sur ce roman. En tournant la dernière page, je me suis demandé si j’avais raté quelque chose. J’ai repris les derniers chapitres, relu le tout… sans trouver de réelle réponse à mes questions. Ce livre peut-il réellement se terminer ainsi, de manière aussi simple et anodine ? Je ne voulais tout simplement pas y croire. Et surtout, quel est le but de la cinquième et dernière partie, composée uniquement de lettres et de rapports de la police secrète ? Je pensais que j’avais bien saisi les intrigues politiques du roman, mais là, j’ai été perturbée et j’avais l’impression de ne plus comprendre et d’être passée à côté de quelque chose durant toute ma lecture.
Malgré cette dernière note plutôt négative, Purge reste un roman qui vaut la peine d’être lu. Les personnes ayant quelques connaissances historiques de l’Estonie prendront sans doute plus de plaisir à la lecture, car les aspects politiques sont importants dans ce livre et parfois compliqués à comprendre. La plume de l’auteur (de même que sa traduction) est agréable à lire et l’histoire très touchante nous donne un aperçu d’une période troublée vécue par ce petit pays. Un livre que je recommande à tous ceux qui s’intéressent à l’histoire et à d’autres cultures, mais pas à un public trop jeune car certaines scènes sont violentes et crues, et les thèmes abordés – tels que le mensonge, la peur… – sont sérieux.
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Dec 08, 2011 Anna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, apl

This book has won a ton of prizes in Finland and all over Europe.
It's a story with nothing really missing from it, complete, and with flavors and smells mixed in it. The flavors and scents of the food and nature reminded me of Like Water For Chocolate. And it's got a lot about the history. That of Estonia, something that is new for mostly everyone who isn't from there.
Zara, a Russian girl, a sex slave, escapes and finds herself in front of the house of Aliide, an old Estonian woman. Their stor...more

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Nov 24, 2011 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, history, politics, psychology, seapax, translation, young-authors

34-year old Finnish-Estonian writer Sofi Oksanen has swept up several prestigious literary awards in Europe and garnered comparisons to Stieg Larsson and Margaret Atwood. Not much press yet in the U.S., but I expect that we'll hear her name more and more. She's certainly on my watch list!

Oksanen's most recent book is "Puhdistus", in Finnish, which translates to "Purge" in English, is a novel both stunning and subdued. Set in Estonia during the pre- and post-Soviet occupation of the small Eastern...more

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Aug 21, 2011 Bar Shirtcliff rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I couldn't put Purge down, so, I read it in one day. This is a disturbing story about how two women survived a tumultuous era in Estonian history. In particular, the story turns on the private monomania of one woman and her struggle to survive with it.

The book lacks symmetry in a way that I won't explain for fear of making this a spoiler. Okay, I'll try to explain it. Oksanen chose an impossible heroine in Aliid. By impossible, I don't mean intractable or unfriendly, which she was, but actually...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Ian Young added it

Purge has been a European best seller. It is a serious book, dealing with some of the personal consequences of the Russian occupation of Estonia after the second world war, and in the modern era the trafficking and abuse of Eastern European prostitutes in the West. The book focuses on the lives of two women, linked by a family relationship, but more importantly by a series of shared secrets and betrayals which are gradually revealed over the course of the novel. As these secrets are gradually op...more

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Apr 02, 2011 Barbora rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Just finished the book! Superb! The story describes the history of Estonian family from 1930 to 1990 mainly from a point of view of women involved. Two young sisters, Ingel and Aliide, were walking in the graveyard. Aliide saw first her dream man, but it is Ingel he felt in love with and soon married her. Aliide will never overcome her jealousy and interest in Hans. War is coming closer - first Russians arrived and parents of both sisters disappeared, than Germans are welcomed in the country by...more

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Mar 30, 2011 Inga rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read a lot of different reviews and thoughts of this book prior to reading the book itself and usually these reviews were from one extreme to another. Since the book is about very delicate and tragic topics related to Estonian history, there were lots of emotions around the Purge.

Sofi Oksanen takes the reader back to the period prior and after the WW II and to the beginning of 90s and the book follows the main character Aliide through her life.

Second World War influenced Estonia and Estonians...more

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May 25, 2010 Zohar - ManOfLaBook.com rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009

This book tells the story of three generations of Estonian women (and the men in their lives). The book chapters jump in time to tell the tale of some horrifying events in their lives which correspond to the historical events which take Estonia, in general, and their rural village specifically through WWII, soviet rule and independence.

The story centers around two women, Aliide Truu and Zara who is the victim of a sex-trafficking operation and ends up in Aliide's home while running away from he...more

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Apr 09, 2012 Ape rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: scandinavia, crime

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This was brilliant. It was such an addictive read; good reading for my Easter holidays. I don't get why they class it as crime either - there's mention of Stieg Larsson on the back cover. As writers and genres they are completely different. It's a bit dull that they have to lump everything coming out of Scandinavia as "the next Stieg Larsson" as if that's all Scandinavia can produce.

It's a good historical thriller about families, betrayal and jealousy, and also a good delve into modern Estonian...more This was brilliant. It was such an addictive read; good reading for my Easter holidays. I don't get why they class it as crime either - there's mention of Stieg Larsson on the back cover. As writers and genres they are completely different. It's a bit dull that they have to lump everything coming out of Scandinavia as "the next Stieg Larsson" as if that's all Scandinavia can produce.

It's a good historical thriller about families, betrayal and jealousy, and also a good delve into modern Estonian history. I've never read a book set in Estonia before. These books set during the war always make me cross; just seeing what people are capable of, and the sheer arrogance, to think they have the right to treat people that way. The communists crippled that country; not that the Germans and their occupation before was any better. Hans Pekk might have liked to think he was fighting for justice, the great underdog, but he wanted to team up with the Germans, and for the brief time they did occupy the country, the Jewish families had to quietly sneak out of the country and into Russia if they wanted to survive.

Aliide, the younger sister, doesn't come out of it too fantastically, but I liked her in a way. She comes over very human, having made a lot of mistakes, but she didn't have an easy life either. And you've got to wonder, if we lived her life, what would we have done? She was always overshadowed by the prettier, more competant, more perfect older sister Ingel; who even ended up marrying the man, Hans Pekk, whom Aliide had fallen in love with at first sight. Aliide then had to live with them on the farm, always hearing about how Ingel's cooking is better, Ingel is more beautiful, and Ingel scolding her for not making the preserves right, not trusting her to do certain jobs. You can understand why someone might be lacking in confidence and become bitter and resentful with that background. Then of course Hans Pekk, German sympathiser has to go into hiding, and the women are dragged off for interogation. Aliide is beaten and humilated for this little family unit. According to her side of the story, she never tells, and although she later finds out that Ingel and her daughter, Linda,'s names are on a deporation list to go to Siberia, this is a shock to her. Although if I understood the papers at the end, she was actually a spy, and more in with the communists - even more so than the communist she ended up marrying for protection, who was suspected of being a spy for the Americans?!?! It's a complicated, trechourous world and you can't trust anyone.

And then there's the story in the 90s, with Linda's daughter turning up at Aliide's farm, wanting to hide from the Russian mafia. Her problem is a common one, having being misled into prostitution and pushed into human trafficking, she is taken to Estonia and ends up killing one of the customers to get away. She then flees to the relative she sometimes heard her grandmother talking about.

And the end of the book ends so sadly, disillushioned, I suppose like everyone's lives in this book. We don't know if Zara, the granddaughter manages to escape the criminals and build a life for herself; and Aliide's planning to burn the house down, herself inside curled up with the bones of Hans Pekk (a man she never got to love her).

There were a lot of flies in this book. Random thing to say maybe, but they kept being mentioned here. Being attracted to all the rot and bad meat? (less)

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Jun 07, 2010 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review for Sofi Oksanen’s book Purge is probably the most difficult I’ve ever done. I liked the book very much, but I’m terribly afraid of revealing spoilers, as the novel is so complicated and layered. I can easily describe it as one of my personal favorites, up there with Per Petterson and Tim Winton.

To begin, this book has nothing to do with eating disorders, and the only real complaint I have is that the cover art scarcely seems to apply to the complicated work within. After you’ve rea...more This review for Sofi Oksanen’s book Purge is probably the most difficult I’ve ever done. I liked the book very much, but I’m terribly afraid of revealing spoilers, as the novel is so complicated and layered. I can easily describe it as one of my personal favorites, up there with Per Petterson and Tim Winton.

To begin, this book has nothing to do with eating disorders, and the only real complaint I have is that the cover art scarcely seems to apply to the complicated work within. After you’ve read it, you realize that the cover does in fact refer to details encountered, but I’m curious if the cover itself would dissuade readers from picking it up. A pretty measly complaint, to be followed by lavish praise! However, I’m also known to pick out wine based on how artistic the bottle labels look, rather than whether it is any good or not, so maybe that's just me!

That said, there are two interlinking threads in this story. One character thinks she’s escaping her small Russian village, allured by the glamorous Western world represented to her by elegant silk stockings worn by a visiting friend. Unfortunately, while Zara focuses on the material luxury represented by those stockings, she doesn’t see the wave her friend gives her, “it looked more like she was scraping at the air with red fingernails. Her fingers were slightly curled, as if she were ready to scratch.” Desirous of that ‘better life’, frustrated with her silent mother and her fragile grandmother, Zara thinks she can escape. Instead she’s kidnapped and chained, set up by that friend, and headed for a brutal world in Germany: a place that makes Vladivostok look much more beautiful.

In the meantime, Aliide leads a quiet life in Estonia, her days spent canning and cultivating her small garden and dairy animals, dwelling in the past. Since childhoood, her life was filled with pain, suffering, and loss. Her village had suffered from Fascist and Communist occupation, with many citizens (including her own sister and niece) being sent to Siberia. The village itself was a complex array of loyalties…those that hoped for American intervention to save them, others loyal to Russia, and still others harboring German sympathies. Not even the simplest of farmers could trust one another: too much was at stake. The atrocities from all sides were fresh in everyone’s memories. The result was people who carried physical and mental scars, who were eaten up with regret and suspicion. Aliide was one of them, more damaged than most.

Eventually Zara makes an escape, and her path crosses with Aliide. Their new relationship is mistrustful and edgy, as neither knows the true identity or agenda of the other. As this developed, I was sure that “this” relationship was the core of the novel. I was wrong, and the way the story proceeds is not only unpredictable but shocking and ugly. No one is as they appear, and trust is unachievable. Because it turns out that Aliide knows far more about Zara than either realized, and the threads that connect them go back further than their chance meeting. Here unfolds the deeper part of the novel, the most disturbing, as we see that Aliide is not the warm-hearted savior we expected her to be, and her damaged psyche is revealed.

The underlying theme is that appearances can be deceptive. A person can appear good, or moral, or upstanding. But what they hide can be unimaginable, and they keep the deception up so well that they can convince themselves it doesn’t exist. Danger is present everywhere, but it can distract you with a beautiful appearance. This is well expressed in an introductory quote from Paul-Eerik Rummo: “The walls have ears, and the ears have beautiful earrings.” Such a simple quote, but it describes much of what the novel means.

This is a combination of crime fiction and historical fiction, and fans of both would be pleased. It was translated from the Finnish by Lola Rogers.
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About Sofi Oksanen

Sofi Oksanen was born in Finland to a Finnish father and an Estonian mother. In 2010 she won the Nordic Council's Literature Prize for her third novel (originally a play), Puhdistus (Purge).

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Quotes from Purge

“Selvom det var Zaras ansigt, der kunne ses på Pashas video, fortalte den ikke noget om Zara, men om Natasha, den måtte aldrig nogensinde blive en fortælling om Zara. Zaras egen historie var et helt andet sted, Natashas var på båndet.” — 1 person liked it

“Der ville aldrig komme nogen og sige de ord til hende, stå fast ved dem og sikre, at det hun havde været igennem, aldrig ville ske igen. Hun var den eneste, der kunne tage hånd om det. Ingen andre ville nogensinde gøre det for hende.” — 1 person liked it

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