Purge in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Jan 18, 2011 Chinoiseries rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, nordic-literature, owned, contemporary

Buddy-read with Judith.

Purge is divided into five parts, and each part has its own purpose. Part one introduces us to the main characters Aliide and Zara. The story is told in the here and now (1992), with a few flashbacks to a year before, in which Zara's misfortune and source of anguish is revealed. Personally, I found it at times difficult to get through this part; I had the feeling that for the sake of keeping the suspense going, a lot of vital information was purposely withheld.
Part two i Buddy-read with Judith.

Purge is divided into five parts, and each part has its own purpose. Part one introduces us to the main characters Aliide and Zara. The story is told in the here and now (1992), with a few flashbacks to a year before, in which Zara's misfortune and source of anguish is revealed. Personally, I found it at times difficult to get through this part; I had the feeling that for the sake of keeping the suspense going, a lot of vital information was purposely withheld.
Part two is completely dedicated to Aliide's past, from 1936 up to the 1980s. From here onwards, I found it more and more difficult to put the book down. The author did an excellent job describing a family torn up by war. On one side, there is Ingel and her Nationalist husband, two lovebirds who happen to live in the wrong era, in the wrong place. On the other side, Aliide stands alone. What else can she do but to seize the only opportunity to save herself from (more) harm? Thus, she marries Communist Martin Truu, or "the man who smells of onions". It is evident that it is a marriage of convenience and that the only thing keeping her going is the desperate hope for better days, with her true love Hans.
Part three picks up the story where it was left at the end of part one. With her past filled in, I could now understand what made Aliide the cautious and bitter woman she is today. Yet, I still could not predict how she would deal with Zara and her tormentors. That is the beauty of Oksanen's writing: all her characters have sufficient depth and the sum of their faults, hopes and dreams make them very human indeed.
Zara's terrible past is also closely scrutinized. I found it very disturbing to read in detail about her abuse. It made me feel angry and disgusted that such cold and heartless men like Pasha and Lavrenti could exist: men who see women as nothing but livestock, to carelessly dispose of after they have lost their usefulness. That is why, when reading about Zara's heart-stopping escape, even though she had to commit a terrible crime herself, I cheered for her every step of the way.
In part four everything culminates; we discover the reason for Aliide's loneliness and actions that seal her and Zara's fate are taken. The main story, in fact, ends with this part. Although I wouldn't have minded some remaining loose ends to be tied up, it was a satisfying ending nonetheless.
For me, the final part was a complete surprise; it only added even more upsetting details to the past... Yes, Ms Oksanen, I applaud you. With these last snippets you have made me want to go and re-read the book with a new perspective!

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Sep 09, 2010 Melissa rated it really liked it

Shelves: literature-by-women

Very well-written and translated. Aliide and Zara are both unreliable narrators and the reader is kept guessing as to each woman's history. Oksanen brings the awful history of World War II and Communist/Salinist Estonia to life as well as the horrors of the Eastern European sex-slave trade (it is horrific what "tourists" and "business" men do to poor girls who were only trying to find work and a better life). A psychological thriller, too, because there are two sides to every character and you'r ...more

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Jan 03, 2015 Jennifer rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, owned, translated, women-in-translation

This was my first purchase made for this year's reading goals. I don't remember how it caught my eye that it was translated, in the used section of my local bookstore, or why I felt compelled to buy it even though it's suspense, and suspense isn't typically my genre. It wasn't until after I got it home that I noticed it was blurbed by bookslut.

While this book, set in Estonia, is shaped by political events spanning multiple changes of regime, it is a story of much more personal suspense. As many ...more

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