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The Man Who Spoke Snakish
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivir?hk
A bestseller in the authors native country of Estonia, where the book is so well known that a popular board game has been created based on it, The Man Who Spoke Snakish is the imaginative and moving story of a boy who is tasked with preserving ancient traditions in the face of modernity. Set in a fantastical version of medieval Estonia, The Man Who Spoke Snakish follows a young boy, Leemet, who lives with his hunter-gatherer family in the forest and is the last speaker of the ancient tongue of snakish, a language that allows its speakers to command all animals. But the forest is gradually emptying as more and more people leave to settle in villages, where they break their backs tilling the land to grow wheat for their bread (which Leemet has been told tastes horrible) and where they pray to a god very different from the spirits worshipped in the forests sacred grove. With lothario bears who wordlessly seduce women, a giant louse with a penchant for swimming, a legendary flying frog, and a young charismatic viper named Ints, The Man Who Spoke Snakish is a totally inventive novel for readers of David Mitchell, Sjn, and Terry Pratchett.
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review
jenniferw88
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivireahk
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Mehso-so

It's a confusing book for new fans of fantasy but any fans of Pratchett and/or Gaiman will appreciate it. I'm glad I have read it, but it's not going on my top ten fantasy novel list.

(I should probably admit the title appealed to me because I'm a Slytherin and it reminded me of Parselmouth!)

#Estonia for #PassportLitsy completed & third book for #bookaweekchallenge @TheReadingMermaid

@TheKidUpstairs here's my review!

jenniferw88 Ps @bookandcat I've finally finished it! 6y
bookandcat @jenniferw88 I didn't get to finish it before the library asked for it back! I'm waiting for them to get it back to me lol. Was it worth finishing? 6y
Megara Stacked! 6y
jenniferw88 @bookandcat if you like fantasy or the medieval period, probably, but it's not going to be on my top ten fantasy novel list. I'd recommend it if you are a big fan of Terry Pratchett or Neil Gaiman. 6y
bookandcat @jenniferw88 the parts I did read were a bit confusing but once the book comes back to me I hope it will be more clear! I like Gaiman well enough but am not much of a Pratchett fan. We shall see! 6y
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jenniferw88
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivireahk
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Current read with today's totally random choice of sock! 😂😂😂

I couldn't have planned it better!

SandyW 🐉🐉🐉 6y
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bookandcat
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivireahk
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Help! I'm headed for Estonia next in my #backpackEurope challenge and I'm not sure which one to read.
SNAKISH is set in a "fantastical version of medieval Europe", following a young boy who is the last speaker of an ancient tongue that lets him command animals.
DOVES is a literary spy thriller set in communist Estonia in the 40s-60s. SNAKISH author is from Estonia, DOVES is set in Estonia but was translated from Finnish.
What should I pick?!?

shadowspeak17 I haven‘t read either, but Snakish sounds cool. :) 6y
jenniferw88 Do you want to do a buddy read of Snakish? I've started it but haven't got very far so will make me read it! Email me at irene_gulliver@yahoo.co.uk (there's an _ between irene and gulliver) if you're interested! 6y
bookandcat @jenniferw88 I am happy to do a joint read...but I will likely finish it in the next day or so if I read it for this challenge (especially with Dewey's Reverse Readathon tonight; I'm a speedreader). Perhaps I will read the other one for the challenge and leave Snakish for a buddy read? 6y
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jenniferw88 @bookandcat it's up to you, was just an idea but no pressure if you don't want a buddy read! 6y
bookandcat @jenniferw88 I'd be up for a buddy read! I did the other book for the backpacking challenge/readathon combined so I can read Snakish at a more buddy read-friendly pace! Did you have an idea of a pace? I can email you if you prefer to flesh out details that way. 😸 6y
jenniferw88 @bookandcat i can start anytime but think we should read at our own pace as I'm not 100% well & some days I don't feel like reading. 6y
bookandcat @jenniferw88 that sounds like a plan - I'll be adding it into my active book rotation (I always have a few going at once, lol). I'm sorry to hear you aren't feeling well - I'll be sending healthy thoughts your way. :-) 6y
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review
TheKidUpstairs
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivireahk
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Panpan

I felt rather let down by this one. I don't know if it's the writing or the translation, but the language was awkward, clunky, and juvenile. There was a potential to explore so many issues (tradition vs modernization, colonialism, man vs nature) but nothing ever got beyond a very surface level. Very disappointing.

#LitsyPassport - Estonia @maximoffs
#Booked2018 - Set Outdoors @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage

BarbaraTheBibliophage I hate when that happens. Good to get some prompts checked off, though! 👏🏻👏🏻 6y
Cinfhen Well at least it knocked out two challenge prompts!! 6y
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jenniferw88
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivireahk
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So my Amazon order came today...! The spines not showing are presents for my Mum, #penpal and #booktoteswap match! Tagged book & The Goat Woman of Largo Bay are for #PassportLitsy

Cinfhen Love Sunday deliveries ❤️ 6y
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TheKidUpstairs
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivireahk
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And here's the other half of my #PassportLitsy for 2018 (clockwise from top left): Estonia, Curacao, Tanzania, Norfolk Islands, Greenland, Mongolia.

I've got lots of ideas brewing, but am always happy to gather suggestions! @jenniferw88 had a great suggestion for Estonia, so I'll tag that one for anyone traveling there with me!

LeahBergen These photos make me want to travel in the worst way. 7y
TheKidUpstairs @LeahBergen me too. Putting together the collages gave me serious wanderlust. Such beautiful places! 7y
Laura317 Ooooh! I hadn't thought of doing that! What a great idea. 7y
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Emilyrjones22
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivireahk
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Book order at my door when I get home from work and new desk supplies make for a happy Monday 🙌🏻

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Mtroiano
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivireahk
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One of many #tbr piles around my house. #feistyfebruary

vivastory The Man Who Spoke Snakish looks great. It's been on my TBR for awhile. 7y
37 likes1 comment
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kimmiecatj
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivir?hk
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Pickpick

I liked this book much more than I expected to. It is an Estonian book that uses Estonian folklore to tell a story where holding on to past customs competes with adaption new technology. And it's funny.

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kimmiecatj
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivir?hk
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"I would've been much happier if Pärtel had died--then I could have mourned him in peace. But now I knew that he was still moving around in some distorted, defiled form; he existed, but not for me. I had the feeling you have when someone takes your good old trousers and shits in them; the trousers still exist but they can't be worn anymore; they are full of a disgusting alien smell".

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vivastory
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivireahk
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#SetInEasternEurope
What is special about book blurbs is when the sources are as varied as the ones for "The Man Who Spoke Snakish." Here is my favorite "How to describe this book? Imagine it is the end of the world, and Tolkien, Beckett, Mark Twain, and Miyazaki (with Icelandic sagas & Asterix comic books stuffed under their arms) are getting together in a cabin to drink & tell stories around the last bonfire the world will ever see."

Leniverse That sounds pretty crazy in a good way! 7y
Leniverse Where, exactly, in Eastern Europe is this set? (Planning the European leg of my Around the World in 80 books.) 7y
vivastory @Leniverse It is set in Estonia. 7y
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Leniverse Thanks. Duh. I see that now, on the book profile. (I looked it up on Goodreads and it didn't say. ) 7y
vivastory I'd be interested in hearing more about your around the world in 80 books project @Leniverse 7y
Leniverse I'm currently in Cuba, travelling by train. I'll use my trusted air balloon to get to Haiti next. I try to go only via neighbouring countries, and have a route where I'll come full circle back to my starting point in 80 books. But I do sometimes go off by plane to the other side of the world, before returning to my itinerary. I also try to stick with native guides, to avoid the white gaze. But I don't always succeed there either. 7y
vivastory @Leniverse Cuba! Reinaldo Arenas & Virgilio Pinera are two of my favorites. 7y
Leniverse I'll make a note of them! I'm afraid I broke my rule and went with a non-native guide this time. A journalist travelling from Havana to Guantanamo Bay. It's well written, but very much an outsider's perspective. 7y
Leniverse Any particular books of theirs you'd recommend? 7y
vivastory @Leniverse I recommend "Assault," "Singing from the Well" & "Before Night Falls" for Arenas, although you really can't go wrong. Pinera's "Cold Tales" is interesting. Also worth reading is Guillermo Cabrera Infante's "Three Trapped Tigers." I went through a three year period where I was reading primarily Latin American authors, glad to recommend more! 7y
Leniverse Thanks! I could use a recommendation for Brazil. I have a few potentials, but nothing that leaps out and demands to be read. 7y
vivastory @Leniverse I recommend Fernando Pessoa's "Book of Disquiet. " Known primarily for his poetry, Pessoa established elaborate and contradictory heteronyms to write poetry. Not only was the aesthetic of each heteronym unique but they would even review each other's work, sometimes unfavorably. "The Book of Disquiet" is a novel full of Schopenhauer cynicism and penetrating observations along the lines of Kafka. It is an engaging philosophical novel. 7y
Leniverse Ok, that sounds good! Much better than my potentials. It sounds like just my thing, in fact! 😃 7y
Leniverse But wait, it's set in Portugal. That's one for when I get to Europe then. 7y
vivastory @Leniverse You're right. Like Spain, Portugal always seems like it belongs more to Latin America than Europe. 7y
vivastory @Leniverse Try Clarice Lispector. I haven't read her. I'm planning on reading her novella "Hour of the Star" over the following few weeks. I've heard she is magnificent. 7y
Leniverse I've seen that name around. Didn't realise she was Brazilian. Good idea. Thanks. 🙂 7y
RadicalReader Pre history term for parselmouths who speak parseltongue 7y
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I-read-and-eat
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivireahk
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I just had the longest day. Editing footnotes on an essay collection for 8 hours followed by 2 hours of classes resulted in a massive headache. Hopefully I can unwind with this new book. Going to postpone my #orangecover and #magicalcover to tomorrow. I want some good light for these 😉 (a little obsessed with book photography) All your lovely, pretty cover pictures today really cheered me up! Thanks Littens I love you all! 💛

Alfoster That is a lovely pic!❤️ 7y
Merethebookgal Beautiful photo! 7y
britt_brooke Lovely photo. 📷💕 7y
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Bette Beautiful pic! 📸❤️️👍 7y
JonathanDunne I agree with the previous 4 Littens. 7y
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I-read-and-eat
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivireahk
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#bookmail is the best mail! Finaly my new books came in. The man who spoke snakish and Uprooted are both going with me on our travel to Edinburg and Miss Peregrine will be my Halloween read. Who has read any of these books? And if you did, what did you think?

JustTrish Uprooted and Miss Peregrine's are awesome! I haven't read the other but now I want to! 7y
RanaElizabeth I read The Man Who Spoke Snakish and had questions about the quality of the translation. Would love to hear other people's thoughts on this book as it was pretty fascinating. 7y
RealLifeReading Nice photo! I love Naomi Novik! 7y
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WOCreads Yay great stack, I really enjoyed Miss Peregrine's. 7y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa I loved Uprooted, it has the feel of a fairy tale, but with some stronger female characters. 7y
Dragon Uprooted was fun and gets my recommendation 👍 7y
I-read-and-eat @JustTrish @RealLifeReading @Riveted_Reader_Melissa @dragon I have seen Uprooted all over Litsy! Can't wait to get started 😊 @Ifyoucanreadthis_Bina I love the pictures in it! Hope it is even better than the movie. (Most books are luckely ) 7y
I-read-and-eat @RanaElizabeth Hmmm very curious about that. I felt the same about a book I read earlier, translated from Russian. Sadly I can't read Estonion but I might compare it to the Dutch translation. (The Russian book is: 7y
yayeahyeah I haven't read Uprooted yet but bought it recently having seen SO MUCH praise for it on social media! 7y
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courtney
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivireahk
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#firsteverlitsypost has it been 6 months already?! I was so excited I could have my first name as my username, and I was reading one of the wildest books I have ever read. So many fun discussions revolving around this book. Happy tears that this fab community has been part of my every day for 6 months! #booktober

I-read-and-eat I just bought this book. Now I can't wait to read it! 7y
courtney @I-read-and-eat it is a WILD RIDE. sometimes it gets a little insane but it just makes it that much more fun to read 7y
MrBook And we love you! You're one of my favorite #Litsyans on here 😁👍🏻!!!! Keep them coming for a long time to come 😎👌🏻. 7y
courtney @MrBook thank you!! I've got lots of time left in me for Litsyin' 7y
MrBook ☺️👏🏻👌🏻 7y
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Kkhalifeh
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivireahk
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Medieval Estonia? Ancient animal commanding language? Hunter-gatherers? Sacred groves? I'M IN!!

RealLifeReading Ooh what is this book. Sounds delightful 8y
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review
jmkeene
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivireahk
Pickpick

Hot damn, this was an amazing book. Part fable, part fairy tale, part alternate history—all amazing. Read it!!

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jmkeene
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivireahk
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My souvenir from Mexico!

SusanInTiburon Beautiful! 8y
britt_brooke Stunning! 8y
LitHousewife So beautiful! 8y
Bookartbookmarks ❤️❤️❤️ 8y
Varshitha Bookmark is beautiful 💕 8y
35 likes5 comments
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jmkeene
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivireahk
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Book mail, book mail, book mail! My BOTM order FINALLY came in, aaaaannnnd I got my ebook settlement books. Woo hoo!

MrBook Double awesomeness! Eager to hear what your thoughts will be on "The Ecliptic". 8y
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MagdaRosol
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivir?hk
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It's time for an Estonian folkish fantasy that supposedly mixes influences from Tolkien, Beckett and Miyazaki. And it's a bestseller in Europe so let's not argue and read already!!

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Keegz63
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivir?hk
Mehso-so

This story was so promising! Well written, clever and witty at times - but overall disappointing. I have no doubt there will be a movie. I could say more but a lengthy review won't help this book and left me so disinclined to care that I'll just leave it at that.

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Keegz63
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivireahk
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Half-way through and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I've read that people are comparing it to a fairytale. I disagree. It's more of an anti-fairytale disguised as a folktale. Impatiently waiting to see what I think of it when I'm done.

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Cheryl_Marie
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivireahk
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Surprise rise to the top of my to be read pile, and boy is it interesting!!

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courtney
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivir?hk
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Pickpick

Holy moly, this has to be one of the most shocking and surprising books I've read in a long time. Couldn't put it down for the whole last half. It explores a lot of interesting themes (adapting/assimilating to different cultures/staying true to yourself) with a lot of twists and turns.

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courtney
The Man Who Spoke Snakish | Andrus Kivir?hk
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Reading this for book club at work. It was slow to start but now I'm hooked into the world and story. Happy to have an hour extra this morning to read more.

squibblesreads this looks SO GOOD! that cover is beautiful too! 8y
courtney @squibblesreads it is really wonderful! Like an elevated folk tale (with a really beautiful cover!) 8y
Keegz63 @courtney Just started it - five chapters in and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Well written, and quirky but starting to feel a little browbeaten regarding the continuous back and forth about the old ways vs the new. I think I get it. The story is intriguing though! 8y
courtney @Keegz63 that theme does continue throughout the book but it does get crazier and crazier!! It was the most fun my book club has had discussing a book. I'm excited to hear what else you think about it! 8y
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