(Image source: manue.etudiante.sf.over-blog.com) 
The cosmopolitan, Stock, 2010. I received this book for Christmas. I had never heard of, I knew neither the author nor the subject. I immediately liked the editing and back cover. I immersed myself in it ... and I only came away with great difficulty. This novel haunted me throughout the reading. is a book that can not close with regret. Like a lot
novels dealing with Eastern Europe. Whether Russia and grandiose imperial or Soviet domination, this subject interests me and challenges me. Sofi Oksanen, Finnish and Estonian from his father by his mother, talking about his mother country. I knew nothing of Estonia. I loved immersing myself in the history of this small country. This novel can teach us things. And I love it! I know a little about the Soviet Union, its horrors, on Estonia, the Estonian emigration, etc. ... It is a book that grow!
While the subject is hard . Some scenes are memorable, even traumatic. Sofi Oksanen but never falls into voyeurism . The scenes are not many hard. There are, admittedly, shocking words, the images upsetting, but Sofi Oksanen is not within the overdose of violence. Some harsh scenes make us aware of the horrors of Soviet domination without invading the plot. Even if the life of Zara in Berlin is written so raw, the rest of the novel is not at all. The captivity of Aliide and that Linda is not described frankly. These are flashes, feelings, revelations after the fact, evocations, innuendo. Sofi Oksanen can write, she has an extremely pen fine and controlled. The style is strong, deep, sometimes metaphorical (the image of the fly that keeps coming up), fluid, intelligent, both personal and distant. A real work of writing a real job as a writer.
I liked the characters in this novel. Aliide is very complex, elusive and even to love. It was sometimes difficult to follow, to understand, it makes us even horror. But she has that something profoundly human is a being with his doubts, fears, anxieties, passions, we can only get to take pity (and maybe even eventually be the love a little). Zara, she is wonderful, unforgettable, deeply moving. His life takes us in the guts, we plow the heart and body. We pray that she runs away, get out of this hell. And then there's the beautiful Ingel, Hans, Linda, sickening Pasha. As significant figures.
chapters linked together, the flashbacks follow one another (a construction puzzle where each piece strives to gradually illuminate the past and present), will reveal the secrets (without ever falling into the excess of surprises, Sofi Oksanen is also mastering his pen and his style), some scenes Net halt our breathing one is immersed in this novel can not come out .
You'll understand that this novel I was completely conquered. It is beautiful, deep, violent, humane, brilliantly constructed, moving, difficult to get out even for 5 minutes. (I finished it last night around 1:30 am. After spending the majority of the day and evening with his nose in, Romanzo given me to watch a film every two. I could not refuse . I dropped my book to 20 pages from the end. Supplice! The film was finished around 1 am, I rushed over to finish my novel. I would not have slept if ... )
It's rare that a novel of contemporary literature I totally agree. Sometimes I dislike the style, the plot is too thin for my taste or easy, once the book is closed soon forget the characters, it still lacks that je ne sais quoi that makes the difference. Yet, sometimes I come across a little gem. That happened with The God of Small Things , the small bell at his hail , The Time of Our Singing , Best love Rosie and some others. I can now say that Purge has a place of choice in my favorites. A real discovery! I still have the head and the heart immersed in it ...
"Aliide. Aliide Truu. Zara's hands were detached from the bench. Aliide Truu was alive, standing before her. Aliide Truu lived in this house. The situation was equally strange tongue in the mouth of Zara. This vaguely recalled how she had found the right road and weeping willows to the right road, but if she really knew she had finally found the right house, if it had landed at night at the door without what to do if she had thought until the morning to save the people Fear of a nocturnal visitor, if she tried to sleep in the stable, if it had slipped a look in the kitchen, not daring to knock at the door if she had even considered knocking on the door, if envisioned anything. "
(Purge , S. Oksanen, Stock, 2010, p31)
(Image source: carrefourdesavantages.com) 
Folio classic 1987. Mal married to an old colonel, the young Indiana falls in love with Raymon, who becomes his lover. He quickly tired of her and abandoned ...
Well, I just spent a very pleasant time in the company of Indiana. I classify this novel in readings "relaxation". Not devoid of intelligence and interesting thoughts, this book reads, however, without much thought, nor take the lead. Repeated twists, the characters more complex than it appears, death, love, fear, happiness, exotic, sea voyages, ... A novel can be read in one go, a nice reading.
The character Ralph is my favorite, the character who is for me the more complex, richer. Hiding his tormented soul with a hard mask and cold, he immediately got my sympathy. I liked Indiana without love it. I liked some of his thoughts, his courage, his determination, but his love for bounded Raymon was particularly annoyed. I liked more Nun. Certainly, she also loves Raymon flat and bland (but what they find him?), But I find it more coherent in its actions than is Indiana. But that said, this last is a magnificent portrait of a woman (I stress ... all the same!).
The story is very romantic but it is what makes the charm of this novel based. I liked this book open because I emptied the head, did not ask for special efforts to get into it. I took it, opened it ... cétait and party! I was from Indiana.
A novel "empty-head" that reads alone, a gripping story, a thrilling plot. Featured!
"- Who is the master here, you or me?" Who wears a skirt and has a distaff spin? Pretend you take my bearded chin? It becomes you, sissy!
- I know I am the slave and you lord. The law of this country gave you my master. You can bind my body, my hands strangle, to govern my actions. You have the right of the strongest, and the company can confirm, but my will, sir, you can do nothing, God alone can bend and cut. So look for a law, a dungeon, a torture instrument that gives you power over me! it's as if you wanted to handle the air and enter the void. "
( Indiana, George Sand, The little library, leisure France, p229)
(Source Image: Hippolyte Flandrin Portrait of the Lady . artrenewal.org) 
