The Butterfly Man & Other Stories

by Mehis Heinsaar, Adam Cullen (Translation), Tiina Randviir (Translation)

These stories, by one of the rising stars of Estonian literature, depict ordinary people undergoing extraordinary metamorphoses; it is not only their own lives that are changed forever, but also those of the bystanders drawn in by their fascinating particularities. In "The Butterfly Man," a small-time, self-e acing magician is hired to join a circus - not on account of his negligible conjuring skills, but because of the exotic butter ies that peel away from him when his emotions are excited. The night watchman in "The Beauty Who Had Seen It All," a man of base, amoral inclinations, discovers the power of invisibility - and seduces a beautiful woman with jaded tastes. "The High Season" tells of an aloof, cantankerous poet whose devotees remain protective of him even at a distance, guarding him at a local caf� where he drinks endless cups of coffee and becomes a fixture - literally.

Genres: Short Stories

80 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2018

Reviews

[Alan (the Lone Librarian) Teder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teaser Introduction to Estonia's Magic-Realist
Review of the 3 story mini-book published by Paper+Ink 2018

There are about a dozen English translations of the short stories of Estonian magic-realist writer Mehis Heinsaar that are in print or online. Many of them are available through online literary journals listed at the writer's entry at the Tartu University Estonian Writers' Online Dictionary at https://sisu.ut.ee/ewod/h/mehisheinsa.... There is also the story "Foxes and Birds" at the Estonian Literature Centre at http://www.estlit.ee/elis/?cmd=writer.... The story "Aspendal the Rainmaker" was collected in The Dedalus Book of Estonian Literature (2011).

The present collection is from a new short-story publishing house called Paper+Ink. Their initial catalogue contains several classic short-story writers along with 3 Baltic writers. Besides Heinsaar there are the Lithuanian Žemaitė and the Latvian Rūdolfs Blaumanis in their initial list. Presumably the focus will expand to other countries and languages in the future. The idea behind the catalogue is to encourage readers to explore the classics along with taking chances on writers that they may not have previously heard of, all at reasonable prices, i.e. the books list for £2.99/U.S. $4.95/ €3.50.

Mehis Heinsaar is represented by his Tuglas Award winning story Liblikmees (The Butterfly Man) (2001) translated by Tiina Randviir, Kaunitar, kes oli kõike juba näinud (The Beauty Who Had Seen It All) (2010) and Suur Hooaeg (The High Season) (2007), the last two both translated by Adam Cullen. All of the stories involve characters who develop or obtain magical / otherworldly abilities who then interact somehow with the "real" world, usually with romanticized and tragic results. All of them have a mischievous charm to them.

I was especially pleased with the quality of the production of this mini-book and that it was free of the typos and copy-editing errors that I have often found in modern translations.

[Alex Kern · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hauntingly beautiful. In the words of Banksy, "art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable," and I think many people will experience the latter. Each story is centered around an inhuman metamorphosis, challenging morals and questioning our instincts in a style some older readers may associate with "The Twilight Zone."

Clearly a quick read, I mainly used this book to get back into reading longer texts. Its brevity is notable, especially considering the book had to be translated from Estonian. For the busy commuter looking for a taste of science fiction, fantasy, and perhaps just a touch of terror, this book ranks highly.

Not to mention that even an active reader will need to be accompanied by a dictionary while reading, because of some of the high-level vocabulary words used in it.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was given this to read by a friend, along with three other mini books in translation published by Paper & Ink so perhaps not surprising that this wasn't for me, as it's not something I would have been drawn to otherwise. It's a small book with very short three stories:

1. The idea of the butterfly man was interesting and the story, as often circus stories are, was sad.

2. The story of the man who becomes invisible when he wears a beret and uses it to his advantage to try and seduce a beautiful woman, was frustrating and even sadder. Another thought provoking story about a man and magic hat, I did enjoy was Antoine Laurain's The President's Hat.

3. The cantankerous man in the cafe trying to write the Great Poem, protected and indulged by those around him was painful, it made me think of Hadley Richardson and Zelda Fitzgerald, wishing that what happened to this poet might have happened to Ernest and F.Scott. Men who regard themselves of great self-importance are of little interest to me.

[JMJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it lacks the complex strands of New Weird thinking like Miéville and not every aspect of these stories was as considered as say Angela Carter, these stories were an intriguing look into the Baltic take on magic realism. When a character physically vomited up their contentment in life and flung it away in ‘The Beauty Who Had Seen It All’ I knew I’d like to read more by the author.

[jenwalk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the quirkiness in this collection of short stories, although I would have liked if more short stories had been included in this collection. My favorite of the three was The Butterfly Man, but they were each delightful in their own way.

[Martin Perrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three witful short stories, imbued with poetry. Very appeasing and amusing to read.

[Tsehay · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful little book.