The Czar''s Madman
(JAAN KROSS)
Estonian nobleman Timotheus von Bock, friend and confidant
of Tsar Alexander I, was an idealist. Not only did he marry one of his
peasants, but in 1818 he wrote a memorandum to the Tsar saying exactly what he
thought of him. Incarcerated in prison as a result, he was freed in 1827 on
grounds of insanity but remained under surveillance. Such is the historical
background to Kross'' novel The Czar''s Madman, which purports to be a
journal kept by Jakob, the brother of Timo''s wife. (An afterword explains how
much of the novel is factual.)
While Jakob is a rather dispassionate observer and the reader never really
identifies with any of its characters, The Czar''s Madman still
compels. It has elements of a detective story, as Jakob gradually uncovers the
truth behind Timo''s arrest and the details of his imprisonment (and later the
truth about his death). At the same time he must cope with the vagaries of life
under an absolute monarchy, hiding his journal, trying to arrange a flight into
exile, and all the time wondering whether Timo really is mad. There is also
interest in his own love affairs and in the finely wrought portrait of Estonian
society in the early nineteenth century.
Kross is another novelist I had never previously heard of, for whom I will
henceforth keep a close watch. Apparently he has written a number of historical
novels, though I foresee some trouble finding English translations of them.
Resumos Relacionados
- The Conspiracy
- Translation For: Amerika
- Fugitive Pieces
- The Charioteer
- The Inquisitor
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