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Purge
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
40 posts | 28 read | 36 to read
An international sensation, Sofi Oksanens award-winning novel Purge is a breathtakingly suspenseful tale of two women dogged by their own shameful pasts and the dark, unspoken history that binds them. When Aliide Truu, an older woman living alone in the Estonian countryside, finds a disheveled girl huddled in her front yard, she suppresses her misgivings and offers her shelter. Zara is a young sex-trafficking victim on the run from her captors, but a photo she carries with her soon makes it clear that her arrival at Aliides home is no coincidence. Survivors both, Aliide and Zara engage in a complex arithmetic of suspicion and revelation to distill each others motives; gradually, their stories emerge, the culmination of a tragic family drama of rivalry, lust, and loss that played out during the worst years of Estonias Soviet occupation. Sofi Oksanen establishes herself as one the most important voices of her generation with this intricately woven tale, whose stakes are almost unbearably high from the first page to the last. Purge is a fiercely compelling and damning novel about the corrosive effects of shame, and of life in a time and place where to survive is to be implicated.
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Dilara
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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I've almost finished Purge by Estonian writer Sofi Oksanen. It's a terrific and engrossing read, but my god is it grim!

#Estonia

Photo of an Estonian forest by Ireen Trummer - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18000554 , found on this page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forestry_in_Estonia

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Texreader
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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Panpan

An older Estonian woman takes in a stranger—a young Russian woman—and this is their stories mixed and mingled over time and place—both confronting shame forced upon them by awful human beings. But it‘s in large part boring interspersed with excruciatingly detailed sex scenes. Followed by sheer confusion—I have no idea how it ended—but that may be a result of listening rather than reading it. This book was not for me. #readingeurope2020 ⬇️

Texreader I feel just awful killing the book‘s perfect record on Litsy. I tried so hard to like it. But the ending sealed its fate for me. I just haven‘t any idea what that ending was about. I‘ve just read more reviews on LibraryThing; it appears most folks have no idea what that ending was. So it wasn‘t about it being an audiobook. The ending just was 😬. #Estonia (edited) 4y
63 likes1 comment
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Texreader
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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Audio gardening again today and finished the tagged book. Review to come.

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Texreader
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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Just purchased this audiobook for #readingeurope2020 #Estonia. I‘ve now accomplished two goals for #superseptember readathon:

1) I‘ve picked out my next audiobook, and
2) I finished HHhH

Andrew65 Well done, going well 👏👏 4y
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Addison_Reads
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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Pickpick

Trying to play catch-up on my reviews for July. I read 57 books for the month, which is a personal best.

This satisfies my #ReadingEurope2020 prompts for #Estonia and #Finland. @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

Dark family secrets, tragedies from the past, and a chance encounter between two women all make this an exciting, although slow building read.

Librarybelle Wow! An impressive stat...congratulations! 4y
BarbaraBB 57... that is incredible!! This book sounds good too. 4y
Reggie That‘s amazing!! 4y
39 likes3 comments
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Texreader
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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I‘ve also updated options for #Estonia for #readingeurope2020

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Texreader
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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Tove_Reads Is the book supposed to be set in the country or the author supposed to be from there? Sofi is half Finnish, half Estonian, but born and raised in Finland, and officially Finnish. 4y
Texreader @Tove_Reads either one works 4y
47 likes2 comments
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Martta
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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Sofi Oksanen is helding My bookish corona kitchen -live Instagram shows twice a week. If there is any positive sides on this Corona situation it is this! She is talking about her books and writing in general, making book recommendations and cooking at the same time! It's just pure gold! 💎😍

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AnneCecilie
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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Pickpick

It‘s 1992 and on the Estonian countryside an old women one day finds a young woman hiding in her garden. She invites her inside. So we get the old women‘s story from the 20s until we meet her. Though a free Estonia, WWII and what society was like after WWII. We also get the young woman‘s backstory.

This was a perspective on the period after WWII that I‘m not often introduced to

#ReadingEurope2020 Estonia

Texreader Great review 4y
Librarybelle Sounds very good! 4y
BarbaraBB Sounds good indeed 4y
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suzie.reads
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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Pickpick

Wow what a read! Thought this was fantastic, very dark and graphic at times but such a great book
#ReadingEurope2020 #Finland #Estonia (11th and 12th countries) 🇫🇮🇪🇪

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Martta
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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A few images from this weekend from the book fair. It was so amazing! 😍😍😍 There were author talks among other things. This one is from Sofi Oksanen's talk about her new book that was published a month ago.

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Emu
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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#day6 #7days7covers Post a cover you love each day for 7 days. No explanation needed

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rmaclean4
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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Quick lunch time run to my local independent bookstore (avenue books) to pick up this beauty. Hope to read it this month for Women in Translation Month! So sad that work cuts so much into my reading time!!

TheSpineView I know! Just think how much reading we could do if we didn't work!💜📚 5y
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beaconhillbooks
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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Pickpick

Purge is a dark historical fiction set in Estonia.
It opens your eyes and sticks with you.
Trigger warnings FYI.
#womenintranslation #readaroundtheworldbookclub

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Maria514626
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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Pickpick

This was a hard book to put down—even though it was a difficult and sometimes confusing story. At the end I still had so many questions. Pretty typical for a book that takes place in the USSR.

I didn‘t “like” the characters. But I could empathize with *most* of them. Their physical and emotional living conditions—in the 1940s, 50s and 90s—were atrocious. 4.5 ⭐️/5
#readaroundtheworld

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Maria514626
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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#mounttbrreadathon post 4: continued progress tonight. I was wanting an engrossing story and Purge delivers. Now off to bed for tomorrow we read. And get some other stuff done, too. 😁 #bingeread

Thanks @JenlovesJT47 and @Tiffy_Reads for this lovely excuse to binge!

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Maria514626
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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#mounttbrreadathon post 3: Much better progress this afternoon. I was a bit out of sorts so I pulled a book off my TBR shelf. I‘m only stopping to make dinner because I‘m getting hangry. #lostinabook #readaroundtheworld

Sleepswithbooks I just added this to my tbr list 📚 6y
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julesG
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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Pickpick

Finished this.

It took some time for me to get into it, but then I finished it in record time.

Thanks @Martta for introducing this to me.

Another book off #MountTBR

Martta Glad you liked it! 😊 You should try her other books as well. I especially recommend this. The English/German versions are out already (atleast English is I'm not so sure about the German one). 6y
julesG @Martta I prefer reading in English. Will add it to my list. By the way, I just saw on Goodreads that Purge is the second book of a series, have you read the other books in this series? 6y
Martta I've read this. It is more like the three books are about the same theme of Estonia under Russian/Germany rule than an traditional kind of series. So there is no continuing story between them. I did like When the doves disappeared just not as much as Purge. My absolute favourites from her are Purge and Norma. Baby Jane is good also. 6y
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julesG @Martta Thanks! I have to admit, I was glad I grew up in East Germany while the iron curtain was still standing, otherwise I would have needed Wikipedia a lot. Due to my own past, this was a tiny bit nostalgic - only a tiny but. 6y
julesG Bit, not but. ☝️ 6y
Martta @julesG Good that you felt that way. I wasn't completely certain how you'd feel about the book since I didn't know you well when I sent this. 6y
julesG @Martta that's the uncertainty of swaps. You did well! 6y
Martta Good! 😊 6y
Maria514626 I started this today and can hardly put it down. Yowza! 6y
julesG @Maria514626 Enjoy it. 6y
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julesG
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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#LitsyPartyOfOne commences after 14 hours. I was wiped out yesterday.

Since I left my kindle in another room, I'm returning to the tagged book.

@Ambrosnazzy

MinDea It looks like your sweet kitty is wiped too!!! Hope you get some nice relaxation! 6y
julesG @MinDea She's sleeping a lot, when she's not running around like being chased by lightning bolts. 6y
MinDea Sure looks like she loves her mama! 6y
rockpools Have a restful party today! 6y
78 likes4 comments
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julesG
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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Can't decide what to read, Purge or beach romance.

#firstworldproblems

Lindy Purge is outstanding! 6y
HannaPolkadots Purge is so good! 6y
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julesG
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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Tried reading while playing with the cat. Didn't work. Will need to try #AudioCatPlaying next.

rubyslippersreads 😹🐟😹 6y
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No_One
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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Five weeks of travel (for work) and I come home to tally up my goodies. Lol!! Had no idea I fixated on chocolate and tea so much! Tony's Chocolonely from Amsterdam. Fruit-flavoured black teas and Kalev chocolates from Estonia. Sour (sauer!!) Haribo and Guylian (Belgian chocolate) from Germany. Good thing the neighbour kids took all the Halloween candy! Oh, I bought a copy of #Purge, in Canada because the shop in Estonia didn't have it! 😊🍫🍵

Liz_M Welcome home! 6y
No_One @Liz_M aw, thank you!!! 😀 6y
120 likes2 comments
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DivaDiane
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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Today the 2nd of 4 books for the #PassportLitsy challenge arrived, plus a book for my son. I decided to challenge myself to 4 books for the challenge and got the countries Bolivia, Estonia, Luxembourg and Puerto Rico. I'm going to use Gods and Pawns, or rather the novella within for Bolivia even though the author is American. I may try to find another short novel by a Bolivian author though. Purge is my Estonian book.

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julesG
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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I opened this page earlier today and my inner #Potterhead made me read "Voldemort". ?

Also, the description of this man is great. Really. I can picture him easily.

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sofiaga
Purga | Sofi Oksanen
Pickpick

This book surprised me in a good way. I did not see some of the plot twists coming which is always good. I keep poking boyfriend to tell him what just happened. #spanish Este libro me sorprendió de buena manera, no me esperaba algunos de los giros en la historia. Pasé molestando a mi novio para decirle lo que acababa de pasar.

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sofiaga
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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I am in the middle of this book, but I have to go back home today

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sofiaga
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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New beach, new book :)

BarbaraBB Great picture! 7y
sofiaga @BarbaraBB Thanks! 7y
BarbaraBB Where are you? 7y
sofiaga En Manuel Antonio National Park in Costa Rica 7y
6 likes4 comments
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thereadingwomen
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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We have a special guest post on the blog today by Agata. She has compiled an amazing list of books written by Eastern European women. Go check it out, add the books to your list, and then go show her some love on twitter.

https://www.readingwomenpodcast.com/blog/2017/8/1/eastern-european-women-guest-p...

WhatDeeReads Sworn Virgin is one of my favorite books of all time. I'm re-reading it for Read Harder. 7y
batsy Nice! Magdalena Tulli and Sofi Oksanen are on the TBR 👍 7y
72 likes2 comments
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Foragingfantasy
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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Got this book at a thrift shop the other day, the cover snagged my attention. Another addition to Mt. TBR. It's translated from Finnish to English.

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MargaretPinardAuthor
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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Help, Littens! I've done some culling, purging and reorganizing so I don't trip over #books (#readerhazard) but can't decide what to read next: vote to help me decide!
#crowdsourcing #amreading #amnottripping #ammakingthemostofthisrainyday #thankspdx #whereisspring #shelfie
#asongofbullets #forgottengarden #purge #remainsoftheday #themandarins #faerytale #alienist #silentcry #bookoflostthings

MargaretPinardAuthor And is anyone else annoyed at how the picture function lops off so much of the photo?? Grumble, grumble... (edited) 7y
Mindyrecycles For the lopping issue, I recommend #nocrop. And you should definitely read The Forgotten Garden asap. 🙂 7y
MargaretPinardAuthor Ah, thank you for the pointer, @Mindyrecycles ! Hehe. #technophobe 7y
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Eyelit Book of lost things! Love that one. 7y
Libby1 Remains of the Day gets my vote! What did you choose? 7y
MargaretPinardAuthor I read The Silent Cry while I waited for votes, but winner was Book of Lost Things. (Also polled on IG) Just finished. Interesting. More dark fantasy and fable-format than I expected...but an interesting tale of courage and coming of age. :-/ 7y
10 likes6 comments
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julesG
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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A bit late...

One of the #womenintranslation on my shelves. This book I got from my #cupidgoespostal @Martta - I've started it and it's good.

#AprilBookShowers
@RealLifeReading

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Redwritinghood
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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#womenintranslation #aprilbookshowers These three have been on a shelf in my bedroom for a while. Still unread. 😇

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julesG
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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@GoodallBookHaul
Interesting sentence for me.

Pick any book near you, turn to page 45, the first sentence explains your love life.

JoeStalksBeck Oh that's a good one!!! 👏👏👏 7y
TheBookAddict Wish I had it that good! I'd be reading books like a mad bookworm on a stimulant. 😆😊👍🏽 7y
julesG @TheBookAddict Wish it was true for me. Right now I have to give up reading and have to check my son's homework. 7y
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TheBookAddict @julesG yep. Life is never that easy. 😊 good luck with the homework. 7y
julesG @TheBookAddict It was English grammar and some vocabulary. That wen't relatively well. I drummed the First Conditional into him and now he can pronounce and spell such terrible words as "to pour", " to bow", and "a whistle". ;)) 7y
TheBookAddict @julesG 😂👍🏽 awesome! 👏🏽 7y
Dragon "That's not uncommon. We're pretty good about our timing." First two full sentences page 45 ? 7y
julesG @Dragon Good ones! 7y
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julesG
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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One of my #CupidGoesPostal books. Love the little note @Martta put in the book.

tricours This is a good and important book! 7y
julesG @tricours Thanks. It's up next. Just 18% until I finish my current read. 7y
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GoneFishing
Purge | Sofi Oksanen

The Free Estonia students didn‘t worry about that sort of thing. They hadn‘t committed any crimes—what harm could come to them? It was only after the Soviet squads had spread out around the country that they started to fear that their future might be in danger.

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Martta
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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Pickpick

One of my favourite books. The story is rough and well written. It's been awhile since I read this but the story has stayed with me vividly. I didn't know much about this part of Europe's history so I liked the view into Estonia's past although it is a sad one. I have not read yet all her books but I'm going to.

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Martta
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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Finlandia award winner from the year 2008. One of my favourite books. #booktober #awardwinner

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kovacs_heni
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
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HollyQ
Purge | Sofi Oksanen
Pickpick

Somehow my original post disappeared! This is one of the best books I've read -- the two women are unforgettable and it provides an eye-opening look at a piece of history I never knew about (and does it without feeling like homework). If you generally avoid books about WWII, try this one. Also a great choice if you want to increase your repertoire of books in translation. Trigger warning for sexual abuse.

Martta You should try her other books also. "When the doves disappeared" is set in Estonia and in the same time period as Purge but (in my opinion) it's not quite as good as Purge. If you get a hold of "Norma" that's my favourite book by Oksanen. It's a strange combination of fairytale and real life. It's set in present day Finland (mostly). She has this amazing way of addressing tough subjects and that seems to be the connecting factor in all her works. 8y
HollyQ I have "When the Doves Disappeared". I think I'll move it up on the list. Purge is a book I can't stop thinking about. 8y
Martta @HollyQ I know the feeling. I read Purge back in 2008 and I still remember the story vividly. 8y
7 likes3 comments
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Cindarella
Puhdistus: romaani | Sofi Oksanen

Really gripping book...

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