The Man Who Spoke Snakish

by Andrus Kivirähk

Rating: 4 (12 votes)

Tags: Male author

The Man Who Spoke Snakish

Description:
Unfortunately people and tribes degenerate. They lose their teeth, forget their language, until finally they're bending meekly on the fields and cutting straw with a scythe. Leemut, a young boy growing up in the forest, is content living with his hunter-gatherer family. But when incomprehensible outsiders arrive aboard ships and settle nearby, with an intriguing new religion, the forest begins to empty - people are moving to the village and breaking their backs tilling fields to make bread. Meanwhile, Leemut and the last forest-dwelling humans refuse to adapt: with bare-bottomed primates and their love of ancient traditions, promiscuous bears, and a single giant louse, they live in shacks, keep wolves, and speak to snakes. Told with moving and satirical prose, The Man Who Spoke Snakish is a fiercely imaginative allegory about a boy, and a nation, standing on the brink of dramatic change.

Reviews:

Read Around The World Challenge user profile avatar for Lauren
(1 year ago)
15 Apr, 2025
The Man Who Spoke Snakish by by Andrus Kivirähk has an intriguing premise, but this historical fantasy never quite worked for me as well as I wished I did. I don't know but I just felt like I was missing something with this one. I wish that the female characters could have had more to do. Maybe I need to know more about Estonian history to really appreciate this one?
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(3 years ago)
13 Nov, 2022
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12 Apr, 2026
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12 Dec, 2022
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16 Sep, 2024
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Country: Estonia flag Estonia
Language: EN
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