Short stories
Aruanne
Not translated into English
Ilmar Jaks · 1958
Synopsis
The author's first story collection, where the twist often stands in for a conclusion. Several pieces come from the Continuation War, which Jaks fought in Finland among the Estonian volunteers: in “Vuoksi ääres” and “Jooksja”, young soldiers hold the line against the Red Army, and their fears, their attitudes and their brief joys are those one reads in the letters of the volunteers of that time. Other stories leave the war behind to question the fate of man in general.
Context
The collection appeared in Lund in 1958 from the Estonian writers' cooperative. Jaks had come to literature through testimony: his labour battalion diary had appeared in 1949. His taste for the closing stroke, which he owed to journalism, led him to the short story, whose resources he then explored in other collections, in 1970, 1971 and 1977; he wrote in Estonian until a last book published in 2003.
Who it is for
Nearly three hundred pages of short stories in Estonian, never translated into French or English. It is worth knowing that each story rests on its ending.
Prizes and reception
After Ilmar Talve, the second work of fiction to bring the war of the Estonian volunteers in Finland into exile literature.