The Man Who Spoke Snakish

July 6, 2015
Leemet is a child of the forest who communicates with animals in the ancient
language of Snakish and dreams of seeing the godlike Frog of the North. The pull of village life is irresistible to many of the forest people, and Leemet and his family are among the few who remain in the forest. His loneliness is somewhat assuaged by his friendship with the adder Ints. At its best, this peculiar coming-of-age story explores interesting themes of religion and lost culture. However, readers unused to wandering aimlessly in the thickets of allegory and folklore may also balk at the frequent scatological references and portrayals of frisky bears that stalk young women in the hopes of mating with them. This lengthy, patience-trying work was a runaway hit in its native Estonia, making one wonder just how much was lost in translation. Agent: Frédéric Martin, Éditions Le Tripode (France).

September 1, 2015
No shortage of blood spills across the pages of Kivirahk's epic, fantastical novel, his first to appear in English. In the forest of medieval Estonia, Leemet is one of the last humans to speak Snakish. That powerful language commands deer to lie down to be slain, wolves to allow themselves to be milked, and bears to lose their free will in order to do the bidding of others. Despite these powers, most forest dwellers have swapped their hunter-gatherer existence for agrarian life in the village, taking on Christian names, forgetting the old language, and yearning to speak German, the language of the iron men. Throughout, the mindset of "We've always done things this way" does battle with "It's foreign so it must be good." Each side proclaims the foolishness of the other using logic that is equally faulty, which is, of course, the point. Naturally, violence erupts from blind convictions, whether Christian or pagan, homespun or foreign. Invasions beget witch hunts beget massacres. The endless stream of blood lust and revenge drags on a bit too long, but wry humor offers relief from myriad spilled guts and beheadings. Leemet's mother gets tearful when he can't eat entire haunches of venison; forest women take bears as lovers, who moon after them with lovelorn sighs; and villagers lament not having the opportunity to sing in monasteries as castrati. Most astonishing is the inventive imagery, from lice crossbred large enough to be ridden by people to a legless flying savior who swoops across the cold sea to bludgeon knights and monks. Bears here exude more warmth and humanity than humans. Though occasionally heavy-handed, Kivirahk's well-plotted story of language, loss, and fanaticism speaks powerfully to our world's ever present conflicts.

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October 15, 2015
Massive, disruptive change is never easy, so it stands to reason that young Leemet, one of the last of the hunter-gatherers in the forests of medieval Estonia, desperately tries to hang on to a way of life that is fading fast. The boy has the advantage of knowing Snakish, a language that molds animals' wills to his desires. There's no need for bows and arrows when a few words of Snakish are all that are required for animals to give up their lives to feed humans. Yet modernity and a new way of life with farming tools, clothes, and strange foods like bread are attractive propositions, some that many fellow forest-dwellers have succumbed to already. The heavy-handed messages notwithstanding, best-selling Estonian author Kivirahk's fantastical tale pokes holes at superstition that masquerades as religion; the newly adopted Christianity, Leemet discovers, succeeds in creating just as many problems as old, forest-steeped traditions. This allegorical story spins an element of wistful longing for anyone who has struggled between the old and the new, its lessons as relevant today as ever.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

June 15, 2015

Living with his hunter-gatherer family in the Estonian forest, a lad named Leemet is the last speaker of snakish, which allows him to command all animals. Lots of fun here, with seductive bears, flying frogs, and a viper named Ints, but Kivirahk is also concerned with the dangers of war, colonization (particularly Christianity's breakdown of traditional belief), and idealizing the past. A big best seller in Europe, with that ever-popular medieval/fantastical setting.

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