On Oktober 18th “The Washington Beacon” brings to its readers a review of Sofi Oksanen, “Purge” by Jenna Lifhits.
Under the headline of “Sofi Oksanen, the Most Important Eastern European Novelist You’ve Never Heard Of” she writes:
While Oksanen is celebrated in Finland and across Europe, her work deserves greater recognition in America, where it is harder to understand the manipulation of memory and the threat of a regional hegemon. Her works explain why countries like Estonia, Poland, and Ukraine are terrified of Russia and the Kremlin’s ongoing information war, as well as why the countries fight for their nationhood.
In her account of Soviet Estonia, Oksanen shows how a universalist ideology can drive men to reconstruct history and justify the subjugation of other nations, just as much as can the toxic nationalism of fascism.
Purge, along with Oksanen’s other work, shows readers why responsible nationalism is necessary today, just as it was necessary in the 20th century. Without a middle course between political extremes, the “possibility of a politics that will hear and hearken to the voice of what is eternal, true, and good” seems closed to us.
For the full review see:
