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Professor Martens' Departure
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Widely read in Europe, the Estonian novelist Jaan Kross is considered one of the most important writers of the Baltic region, and is an often-named candidate for the Nobel Prize.
His new historical novel, Professor Martens’ Departure, is written in a classic elegiac style reminiscent of Giuseppe di Lampedusa’s The Leopard, and it evokes the complex world of czarist Russian ...more
His new historical novel, Professor Martens’ Departure, is written in a classic elegiac style reminiscent of Giuseppe di Lampedusa’s The Leopard, and it evokes the complex world of czarist Russian ...more
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
May 1st 1995
by The New Press
(first published 1984)
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[Edited 3/18/21]
A great historical novel about a real person, Friedrich Martens (1845-1909), an Estonian-born Russian diplomat who was a key negotiator for the Russian Czar. For example, he helped negotiate the treaty ending the Russo-Japanese War with Teddy Roosevelt’s administration at Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1905.

Martens was involved in establishing the World Court at The Hague and the International Red Cross organization.
The book is a fictionalized but very factual biography. Unlike a ...more
A great historical novel about a real person, Friedrich Martens (1845-1909), an Estonian-born Russian diplomat who was a key negotiator for the Russian Czar. For example, he helped negotiate the treaty ending the Russo-Japanese War with Teddy Roosevelt’s administration at Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1905.

Martens was involved in establishing the World Court at The Hague and the International Red Cross organization.
The book is a fictionalized but very factual biography. Unlike a ...more

How do you write about things that you love? More to the point how can you write about the books that you love and succeed in sharing with other readers what about them captivates and enriches you?
A book and its reader are a relationship and the resulting love can be as inexplicable to the onlooker as any that we see between apparently mismatched people. I once tried to persuade my mother to read The Blue Flower but saw the look in her eyes when I had got as far as explaining that the poet Nova ...more
A book and its reader are a relationship and the resulting love can be as inexplicable to the onlooker as any that we see between apparently mismatched people. I once tried to persuade my mother to read The Blue Flower but saw the look in her eyes when I had got as far as explaining that the poet Nova ...more

A portrait of an aging diplomat and civil servant could have been as dry as reading an EU Directive on Border Controls, but this is a subtle and engaging work as Professor Martens takes us on a journey through his life and into his soul. A real person, an Estonian diplomat in the service of Czarist Russia, Martens is a proud man of achievement, a perennial candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, a master of the subtlety and precise composition of international treaties. At the turn of the 20th Cent
...more

Confessions of a Diplomat
Review of the Estonian language Kuula24 mp3 CD audiobook edition (2011) of the original Estonian edition Professor Martensi ärasõit (1984)
Professor Friedrich Martens (1845 - 1909) tells all during his final train journey.
Draft Review in Progress

Photogragh of the envoys at the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth 1905 to end the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). Friedrich Martens is the 6th from the left in the front row. File Source: Wikipedia. ...more
Review of the Estonian language Kuula24 mp3 CD audiobook edition (2011) of the original Estonian edition Professor Martensi ärasõit (1984)
Professor Friedrich Martens (1845 - 1909) tells all during his final train journey.
Draft Review in Progress

Photogragh of the envoys at the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth 1905 to end the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). Friedrich Martens is the 6th from the left in the front row. File Source: Wikipedia. ...more

It's 1909 and Friedrich Martens (a real Estonian-born Russian statesman) is returning to Russia from a break in his native Estonia. We follow his thoughts and memories as he travels through Estonia on the train, approaching the Russian border.
A novel about a man who was famous for negotiating international treaties sounds like it might be dry, but this wasn't. He has long imaginary conversations with his wife about his emotional history; he thinks about a nephew who has been arrested for his par ...more
A novel about a man who was famous for negotiating international treaties sounds like it might be dry, but this wasn't. He has long imaginary conversations with his wife about his emotional history; he thinks about a nephew who has been arrested for his par ...more

A few chapters into this book, I was scrambling for Google. What I discovered is that this novel's protagonist, Professor Martens, was a real historical figure, an international law expert in the Russian court of the early 20th Century. He was an important figure in numerous important international treaty negotiations. This novel, set late in his life, takes us with him on a train trip from his small village toward a rendezvous with his wife and official meetings with other diplomats in St. Pete
...more

One of the better books on the 1001 books to read before you die list. It was well written. Though very little happens during the course of the story, I was always eager to get back to Professor Martens and his story. Professor Martens played an important part in Russia's history in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His father, also Professor Martens played important roles some 80 years earlier. At times it was difficult to keep them apart as our professor Martens experiences flashbacks or
...more

Reason read: Reading 1001, Estonian literature, historical fiction.
The background for the story; 1909 is the year four years after the signing of the Portsmouth Treaty, after the Russo-Japanese War in which at one blow the Japanese defeated Russia's navy. Professor Friedrich Fromhold Martens, an Estonian native. Martens became a professor of international law. Shortly after his career began, he was asked to serve the Czarist regime as an expert in treaties -- asked to put together a complete hi ...more
The background for the story; 1909 is the year four years after the signing of the Portsmouth Treaty, after the Russo-Japanese War in which at one blow the Japanese defeated Russia's navy. Professor Friedrich Fromhold Martens, an Estonian native. Martens became a professor of international law. Shortly after his career began, he was asked to serve the Czarist regime as an expert in treaties -- asked to put together a complete hi ...more

Kirjeldab omal ajal oma ametis üle maailma tuntud eesti soost rahvusvahelise õiguse professori Friedrich Fromhold Martensi mõtteid ja mõningaid tegemisi Pärnust Valka sõites. Lugedes peatükki armuafäärist ühe kunstiüliõpilasega ja paari muud kohta tundus mulle uskumatu, kuidas Jaan Kross niimoodi üksikasjalikult Friedrichi vaatepunktist kirjutada suudab.

Väga krossilik. Kui meeldisid "Keisri hull" ja "Paigallend" peaks seegi raamat väga meelt mööda olema. Tegevustik hõlmab eeskätt 19. sajandi teist poolt.
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I didn't like it completely, but I really enjoyed it in places. The world building is magnificent!
...more

I very much enjoyed Kross’ fictionisation of the life of an Estonian scholar, who rose from humble beginnings to become a preeminent international jurist, representing Russia at peace negotiations. As peace negotiations with Russia are of paramount interest right at this moment it was a fascinating look at what such negotiations involved up to 1909, when this book was set. Kross wrote his book in 1984, before the collapse of the Soviet Union and the evolvement of Estonia as an independent countr
...more

Raamat on väga mitmetahuline ja huvitav. Kindlasti plaanin ta mõne aasta pärast, kui ajaloolised teadmised on paremad, uuesti kätte võtta. Raamat on eesti soost professori ja maailmakuulsa rahvusvahelise õiguse teoreetiku surmaeelne monoloog. Ilmsiks tuleb nii mõnigi enesemüümine keisririigi huvides. Läbivaks teemaks on truudus riigile (Vene tsaaririigile siis) vs truudus iseendale. Küsimus, et kas mõnes asjas tuleks vilistada oma karjäärile ja külmadele kaalutlustele ja teha õiget asja hingerah
...more

A very difficult book to read in the sense that there is so much detail that you absolutely must give this story your full attention, and not everything is spelled out for you in terms of the book's underlying message. It is one of those novels you really must think about while and after you're reading it. If, however, you want a very good work by an Estonian author, this is it. I've already ordered two more of Kross's books - he is a very gifted writer. I think my only criticism of this book wo
...more

*** 1/2
In this historical fiction, we follow the final journey of Friedrich Martens, Estonian international law specialist and diplomat of the late Czarist era, on the 7th June 1909 (Julian calendar) by train between Pärnu and St. Petersburg. He died suddenly at the Valga train station. During the trip from Pärnu to Valga, he reminisce about various events affecting his life, from his career successes and setbacks to his relationship with his wife, Kati, and his infidelities, also including th
...more
If Professor Martens’ Departure had to be made into a film , I would definitely resurrect Ingmar Bergman to direct it. The plot of this book is so Bergman-esque that images of his films kept popping in my head.
Professor F.Martens is returning to his native land of St. Petersburg from Estonia. On the lengthy train ride he reflects about his life , his affairs and his achievement. He also tries to see parallels between his life and another F. Martens who lived in Germany a century earlier ( the bo ...more

One of the most acclaimed Estonian novels of the twentieth century. A melancholy read, with layers of detail and intricate characterisations.
The story is sombre and slow-paced. Professor Martens, Estonian-born, a specialist in the minutiae of international law, is summoned out of retirement to consult with the ministry in tsarist St.-Petersburg. Outside his train window, the revolution of 1905 is in progress. And very slowly, very hesitantly, Martens comes to realise that he's devoted his life t ...more
The story is sombre and slow-paced. Professor Martens, Estonian-born, a specialist in the minutiae of international law, is summoned out of retirement to consult with the ministry in tsarist St.-Petersburg. Outside his train window, the revolution of 1905 is in progress. And very slowly, very hesitantly, Martens comes to realise that he's devoted his life t ...more

There are pundits who think Kross should be a Nobel laureate: they're right. This is a marvellous tale of life in the service of the Russian empire, and of being Estonian in that empire. I read it in Estonia, which added a piquancy, although it lacks the satirical edge of The Czar's Madman.
...more

Professor Martensi ärasõit'' further solidifies my belief that Jaan Kross is Estonia's greatest literary treasure.
...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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Reading 1001: Professor Martens Departure by Kross March BOTM | 10 | 11 | Apr 05, 2022 05:37PM | |
Reading 1001: Professor Martens' Departure by Jaan Kross | 8 | 19 | Mar 29, 2022 03:49PM | |
Reading the World: April 2021 Professor Marten | 5 | 9 | Apr 21, 2021 09:32PM |
Estonia's best-known and most translated writer is Jaan Kross. He has been tipped for the Nobel Prize for Literature on several occasions for his novels, but did in fact start his literary career as a poet and translator of poetry. On his return from the labour camps and internal exile in Russia, where he spent the years 1946-1954 as a political prisoner, Kross renewed Estonian poetry, giving it n
...more
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