Finnish author wallows in false nostalgia

The Finnish-Estonian author Sofi Oksanen has attained international celebrity with her novel Fegefeuer on the Soviet era in Estonia. But the book gives a distorted view of the past and is far too one-sided, writes Mihhail Lotman in the daily Eesti Päevaleht: "Oksanen says the Soviet Union wasn't just a horrible prison camp. Of course there were many bad things about it, she says, but life in Soviet times also had its interesting and funny sides. However such an assertion is not only wrong, it's also silly, and it shows that the famous author doesn't have a clue about modern literature. What she herself has produced is in fact 'gothic'. It doesn't even paint a black and white picture, everything is simply black. ... And as far as the oh-so-interesting and funny Soviet era goes, I recommend to all ostalgics not to confuse their memories of their youths with a totalitarian regime."

» full article (external link, Estonian)
More from the press review on the subject » Literature, » History, » Estonia, » Finland
All available articles from » Mihhail Lotman

» To the complete press review of Monday, October 18, 2010