The Man Who Spoke Snakish

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  • Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire for Roman étranger (2014)
  • Europese Literatuurprijs Nominee (2016)
Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.

The Man Who Spoke Snakish

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ISBN: 9780802124128
Date of Publication: 2015-11-03
Format: Paperback
Related Collections: Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Related Topics: Mythology, Magical Realism, Mythology
Goodreads rating: 4.19
(rated by 7140 readers)

Description

A bestseller in the author’s 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 forest’s 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, Sjón, and Terry Pratchett.
 

  • Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire for Roman étranger (2014)
  • Europese Literatuurprijs Nominee (2016)
Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.