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Püha ja õudne lõhn
Suvevaheaja eelviimasel päeval haihtuvad avalikust rannast haridusminister Ann-Margret Lundi neli tütart. Esmareisil kaob värskelt sisseõnnistatud alus tuhande viiesaja reisijaga pardal. Tüdrukute kolm klassivenda ei jäta uurimist ka kakskümmend aastat hiljem. Maailm on hävimas aga lootus Lundi lapsed üles leida veel mitte.
240 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2013
316 people are currently reading
4297 people want to read
About the author
Robert Kurvitz
1 book282 followersRobert Kurvitz is an Estonian novelist, video game designer, and musician.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 236 reviews
October 5, 2022
Surprising as it may sound, Robert Kurvitz intended to write several novels in a row. As the 2013 year edition cover reveals, 'Sacred and Terrible Air' is a preface to the series that, fortunately for the roleplaying game (RPG) 'Disco Elysium' fans, didn't materialize. So instead of writing in an RPG manner, the author decided to create one.
Here is a synopsis for those waiting for the English version of the book (the translation of the synopsis is mine and may be subject to changes upon the official release.).
On the day before the last of the summer break, four daughters of the education minister Ann-Margret Lund disappear on a public beach. A new ship with one thousand five hundred passengers vanishes on its first trip. Three classmates of the missing girls do not stop their search even after twenty years. The world comes to its end, but the hope to find Lund children is still alive.
The book starts slow, with two alternating realities, one of the crime itself, the girls' disappearance, and the second depicting grown-up men who meet again after twenty years to resume an investigation. The parallel lines go hand-in-hand, and there is not much to speculate about. The interesting thing happens when the story strays aside and multiplies to the level of surreal. Differences in time can be one day or one hundred fifty. Space pulsates, expanding to the whole fictional world and then deflating to a single car. Languages - Estonian, Swedish, Russian, Finnish - are shuffled like colors in Rubik's Cube. The stakes rise higher and higher until the slow, yet unstoppable greyness destroys the whole planet.
The central theme of the book is vanishment. Death means vanishment. To vanish means to die. One of the examples is the missing girls. They disappear and stay exceptionally in the minds of their grieving classmates. Nobody cares about them like they never existed. The greyness (similar to the wave in 'Far Rainbow' by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky) is the epitome of vanishment. Everything that it devours dies, if not instantly physically, then mentally.
The book is constructed as an RPG game. In the game, the main character moves, unaware of the upcoming dangers, thus creating a surrounding area map. Yet, in a sense, the map is still unreal, like the contorted figures in the twilight. Like the past and future compared to the right here and right now. The only reality lies in the eyes of the observer.
Communism vs. capitalism, vanishment vs. dizzy reality, and otherworldly Sweden vs. Estonian language. I'd recommend being patient and wait for the English edition. The book is much more than worth reading time.
PS. I have no affiliation neither with the author nor his translation team. I read the book in Estonian and left a review in English for English-speaking fans.
Here is a synopsis for those waiting for the English version of the book (the translation of the synopsis is mine and may be subject to changes upon the official release.).
On the day before the last of the summer break, four daughters of the education minister Ann-Margret Lund disappear on a public beach. A new ship with one thousand five hundred passengers vanishes on its first trip. Three classmates of the missing girls do not stop their search even after twenty years. The world comes to its end, but the hope to find Lund children is still alive.
The book starts slow, with two alternating realities, one of the crime itself, the girls' disappearance, and the second depicting grown-up men who meet again after twenty years to resume an investigation. The parallel lines go hand-in-hand, and there is not much to speculate about. The interesting thing happens when the story strays aside and multiplies to the level of surreal. Differences in time can be one day or one hundred fifty. Space pulsates, expanding to the whole fictional world and then deflating to a single car. Languages - Estonian, Swedish, Russian, Finnish - are shuffled like colors in Rubik's Cube. The stakes rise higher and higher until the slow, yet unstoppable greyness destroys the whole planet.
The central theme of the book is vanishment. Death means vanishment. To vanish means to die. One of the examples is the missing girls. They disappear and stay exceptionally in the minds of their grieving classmates. Nobody cares about them like they never existed. The greyness (similar to the wave in 'Far Rainbow' by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky) is the epitome of vanishment. Everything that it devours dies, if not instantly physically, then mentally.
The book is constructed as an RPG game. In the game, the main character moves, unaware of the upcoming dangers, thus creating a surrounding area map. Yet, in a sense, the map is still unreal, like the contorted figures in the twilight. Like the past and future compared to the right here and right now. The only reality lies in the eyes of the observer.
Communism vs. capitalism, vanishment vs. dizzy reality, and otherworldly Sweden vs. Estonian language. I'd recommend being patient and wait for the English edition. The book is much more than worth reading time.
PS. I have no affiliation neither with the author nor his translation team. I read the book in Estonian and left a review in English for English-speaking fans.
August 4, 2024
You will probably need this.
Two translations: tequilla_sunset5 (professional) and Group Ibex (machine + edits). Ibex is way more likeable.
My main motivation for reading it was to get the measure of Kurvitz, to see what I should expect from the new corporate ZA/UM and Kurvitz's Red Info respectively.
Verdict: he is the real deal but better in a team which can relieve him of the sole burden of imagery (via graphics) and counter his grandiosity and nastiness.
I've given this 3 stars for execution but the vision underneath is rare in any art and any head. If you want to know what artistic ambition is you can look here.
---
I am roundly obsessed with the game but this was only partially successful and would not stand on its own without the shining emotional association to carry me through. But the funhouse mirror of tragic europe, tragic eurocommunism, the metaphysicalisation of his own political disappointments, the sheer grandeur of misery, is all his.
The prison interview scene is, however, one of the most viscerally unsettling pieces of prose I have ever seen, so there's that achievement.
On revolution from below, in the brief instants before betrayal and internal tyranny:
He overuses caesura all the time. I tried to rehabilitate this by tying it a particularly broken character but no.
Two translations: tequilla_sunset5 (professional) and Group Ibex (machine + edits). Ibex is way more likeable.
My main motivation for reading it was to get the measure of Kurvitz, to see what I should expect from the new corporate ZA/UM and Kurvitz's Red Info respectively.
Verdict: he is the real deal but better in a team which can relieve him of the sole burden of imagery (via graphics) and counter his grandiosity and nastiness.
I've given this 3 stars for execution but the vision underneath is rare in any art and any head. If you want to know what artistic ambition is you can look here.
---
I am roundly obsessed with the game but this was only partially successful and would not stand on its own without the shining emotional association to carry me through. But the funhouse mirror of tragic europe, tragic eurocommunism, the metaphysicalisation of his own political disappointments, the sheer grandeur of misery, is all his.
The prison interview scene is, however, one of the most viscerally unsettling pieces of prose I have ever seen, so there's that achievement.
On revolution from below, in the brief instants before betrayal and internal tyranny:
Good people from all over the world came together. Teachers, writers, and migrant workers huddle in trenches… young soldiers desert their units. What beautiful songs they sing! Brave children are history’s favourites, so it seems to them, and they wave white flags with silver horned crowns. And they lose. Coups are crushed. Anarchists are piled into mass graves on the Great Blue. Communists, beaten back from the isola of Graad, retreat to Samara and become a degenerate worker’s state ruled by bureaucrats…
“The bravest of the kojkos. A movie star, a revolutionary. It was just recently that the riots were brutally suppressed in the spring, and now nothing has been heard of him for two months. It is said that he lurks far away in the taiga, in the Yakut reserve, and acquires special abilities from the indigenous priests. Fantastic things… “But the months pass and no news comes, and soon it’s autumn. Industrial dust falls like a mourning veil on the golden and red leaves. In October, a completely different story begins to circulate in Zsiemsk. Quiet and timid. Frantiček the Brave was shot behind a dumpster…
He overuses caesura all the time. I tried to rehabilitate this by tying it a particularly broken character but no.
June 5, 2023
You need to take anything I write here with a grain of salt, because I’m reading the May 2023 fan translation, totally unofficial and not sanctioned by the author. (This novel was originally written in Estonian, and hasn’t been published in English.) It seems likely that if an official release is ever made, it will flow a little better. The prose here is sometimes clumsy in a way that doesn’t seem right to lay at Kurvitz’ feet alone.
Robert Kurvitz is a founding member of ZA/UM, the ‘cultural association’ and later video game studio that made the superb Disco Elysium (2019). You already know about that, probably, if you’re reading this. ‘Sacred And Terrible Air’ – ‘Holy and eerie smell’ or ‘Holy and ghostly scent’, more literally, according to Google translate, which might be more apt as a title to this story in some ways – was published in 2013, some years before work on the video game started.
Is this a good time investment for Disco Elysium fans desperate to know more about this fictional world? If you are one of the rabid Disco Elysium cult, and I think I am, you might be starving for further information about what beloved protagonists Harrier DuBois and Kim Kitsuragi did next. Or what they did before the game. But you’re out of luck there, I’m afraid. (Personally, I think the best policy would be to leave Harry and Kim entirely behind. Tell a completely new story. Which could be why I liked this novel quite a bit.) Perhaps you like the idea of a book taking a wider view, letting you know how things have changed for Elysium in the decades since the game? That attitude may also leave you disappointed. By the halfway point, Revachol (the setting of the video game) has been mentioned once, and in a way that will probably upset you a great deal. The book takes place around 20 years after the events of Disco Elysium, far from Revachol, and no characters from the game appear in this book, as far as I can tell.
We’ve been assured that despite its one million plus word count, Disco Elysium only scratched the surface of the fictional world ZA/UM spent so long creating. (Even though playing Disco Elysium does, at times, feel like browsing an exhaustive wiki written by your smartest and most creative DM friends, there are so many more stories to tell, they say.) In contrast, ‘Sacred and Terrible Air’ is a relatively short book, and honestly doesn’t focus that much on world building. In fact, the book really focuses more on how similar Elysium is to our world, whereas I think the game was better about bringing in the differences. I can see why it was received with some confusion on publication, it doesn’t necessarily read like it’s entirely committed to being sci-fi or fantasy – which I would argue might be its strength.
‘Sacred and Terrible Air’ is set in Vaasa, a place that I don’t recall being discussed in detail – if at all – in the game. Most countries in DE seem to have at least some analogue to real world countries. I’d say Vaasa is, well, somewhere North Scandinavian, somewhere nearly Arctic. Or it could be Estonia itself? Hard to say, really. There are some fascinating new nuggets of historical and cultural information, quite a lot more writing about the mysterious Pale, and gigantic shifts in the status quo that will effect the whole world of Disco Elysium if any fiction is written or games are made after this point in the chronology. But - especially for the first half of the book - that stuff is in the background. The book’s primary focus is the mystery of four young girls disappearing one summer day, and how that affected the lives of three of their male schoolmates, who haven’t been able to stop looking for answers even as they reach adulthood. One of these is some form of policeman, yet we don’t get close to the minutiae of how the police function in this world the way we got in Disco Elysium. In some ways, it’s a predictable crime novel. You get the sense that for many of these chapters, the book could have been set in Tallinn or Helsinki or even Brighton and not changed a huge amount. However, if you like crime novels, especially those dealing with uneasy male friendships, I think it’s a good one! It’s kind of wild this came out in 2013, a year before True Detective dropped. TD was an acknowledged influence for the game Disco Elysium, and it feels like this novel echoes that first season quite a lot. But sadly the themes of this kind of crime novel are sort of eternal, aren't they...?
I started this book on the day I watched the controversial People Make Games ‘exposé’ about the ongoing ZA/UM business and legal dispute. This video doesn’t exactly show Kurvitz in a favourable light, and it’s clear the PMG guys think he’s dishonest about the extent to which Disco Elysium is ‘his’ project and that he’s also unwilling to accept at all that he behaved poorly in a management role at the company. I don't necessarily fall in with their viewpoint, but perhaps it did affect my way of thinking. So perhaps I read this with a little more cynicism about how much Robert Kurvitz is Disco Elysium. But it didn’t take me long to start thinking: actually, maybe Kurvitz kind of is Disco Elysium.
I don’t doubt that Kurvitz has set out a huge amount of DE’s lore, that he thinks of it as his creation – but there are also clearly other gifted writers who bring so much of what we think of as the heart of Disco Elysium. Even if we believe Kurvitz' dispused estimate that he wrote half the game. In ‘Sacred and Terrible Air’ there isn’t a lot of the absurdist humour or the meticulously detailed historical digressions that were such a key part of the game’s writing. (The humour is there but it’s more harsh, grim, hard-bitten, not like the semi-Pratchett goofiness that DE often used.)
On this book's evidence, what I think Kurvitz does clearly contribute a lot to is the darkness of Disco Elysium, the way DE is at its core a police procedural RPG. The unpleasant grime, the ‘vibe’. The hungover squalor of it. The spine of its political viewpoint, for sure. The obsession with dance music, too. It remains to be seen how much of this is the fault of a non-professional translation job with no authorial involvement, but his prose seems a little uneven - this isn't written as well as the game is - yet even at this point the ideas are clearly there. With so much of the world established by the game, it’s easier to meet him halfway on a lot of the weirder stuff.
As someone who would like to think he respects art and resents the way commerce and the 'content mill' have changed the way we look at people's creative processes, it feels like an acceptable sacrifice that we may not get any more Elysium writing ever. What kind of person would I be if I wholeheartedly accepted a Disco Elysium 2 from a studio that removed its primary writer from the company in an underhanded way? Or if I bought a bunch of brightly-jacketed paperbacks about Kim and Harry's further adventures written by some hired hand? Of course, after watching that PMG video I have to believe it probably never was quite that simple - yet a Disco Elysium world without any of Kurvitz' involvement feels deepy wrong to me.
As a fan of Elysium I would love there to be an 'expanded universe' of fiction for this world with multiple ZA/UM writers - not just Kurvitz - free to write and release novels and stories to deepen this world, more games, the rumoured TV series, etc. That doesn't look likely, because the rights to who gets to write and release what about Elysium are currently subject to a legal battle that seems to be just getting started. As fans, we are staring down the barrel of some pretty dark prospects for the future of the 'IP', and right now the most likely outcome feels like we never get anything more in this series - or we have to wait so long that any momentum to the story is completely gone.
Even if Disco Elysium the videogame ends up being the only real release in this world, with 'Sacred and Terrible Air' as a semi-official appendix, Kurvitz and the other ZA/UM writers can take serious pride in what they built. That still means something.
7/10
Robert Kurvitz is a founding member of ZA/UM, the ‘cultural association’ and later video game studio that made the superb Disco Elysium (2019). You already know about that, probably, if you’re reading this. ‘Sacred And Terrible Air’ – ‘Holy and eerie smell’ or ‘Holy and ghostly scent’, more literally, according to Google translate, which might be more apt as a title to this story in some ways – was published in 2013, some years before work on the video game started.
Is this a good time investment for Disco Elysium fans desperate to know more about this fictional world? If you are one of the rabid Disco Elysium cult, and I think I am, you might be starving for further information about what beloved protagonists Harrier DuBois and Kim Kitsuragi did next. Or what they did before the game. But you’re out of luck there, I’m afraid. (Personally, I think the best policy would be to leave Harry and Kim entirely behind. Tell a completely new story. Which could be why I liked this novel quite a bit.) Perhaps you like the idea of a book taking a wider view, letting you know how things have changed for Elysium in the decades since the game? That attitude may also leave you disappointed. By the halfway point, Revachol (the setting of the video game) has been mentioned once, and in a way that will probably upset you a great deal. The book takes place around 20 years after the events of Disco Elysium, far from Revachol, and no characters from the game appear in this book, as far as I can tell.
We’ve been assured that despite its one million plus word count, Disco Elysium only scratched the surface of the fictional world ZA/UM spent so long creating. (Even though playing Disco Elysium does, at times, feel like browsing an exhaustive wiki written by your smartest and most creative DM friends, there are so many more stories to tell, they say.) In contrast, ‘Sacred and Terrible Air’ is a relatively short book, and honestly doesn’t focus that much on world building. In fact, the book really focuses more on how similar Elysium is to our world, whereas I think the game was better about bringing in the differences. I can see why it was received with some confusion on publication, it doesn’t necessarily read like it’s entirely committed to being sci-fi or fantasy – which I would argue might be its strength.
‘Sacred and Terrible Air’ is set in Vaasa, a place that I don’t recall being discussed in detail – if at all – in the game. Most countries in DE seem to have at least some analogue to real world countries. I’d say Vaasa is, well, somewhere North Scandinavian, somewhere nearly Arctic. Or it could be Estonia itself? Hard to say, really. There are some fascinating new nuggets of historical and cultural information, quite a lot more writing about the mysterious Pale, and gigantic shifts in the status quo that will effect the whole world of Disco Elysium if any fiction is written or games are made after this point in the chronology. But - especially for the first half of the book - that stuff is in the background. The book’s primary focus is the mystery of four young girls disappearing one summer day, and how that affected the lives of three of their male schoolmates, who haven’t been able to stop looking for answers even as they reach adulthood. One of these is some form of policeman, yet we don’t get close to the minutiae of how the police function in this world the way we got in Disco Elysium. In some ways, it’s a predictable crime novel. You get the sense that for many of these chapters, the book could have been set in Tallinn or Helsinki or even Brighton and not changed a huge amount. However, if you like crime novels, especially those dealing with uneasy male friendships, I think it’s a good one! It’s kind of wild this came out in 2013, a year before True Detective dropped. TD was an acknowledged influence for the game Disco Elysium, and it feels like this novel echoes that first season quite a lot. But sadly the themes of this kind of crime novel are sort of eternal, aren't they...?
I started this book on the day I watched the controversial People Make Games ‘exposé’ about the ongoing ZA/UM business and legal dispute. This video doesn’t exactly show Kurvitz in a favourable light, and it’s clear the PMG guys think he’s dishonest about the extent to which Disco Elysium is ‘his’ project and that he’s also unwilling to accept at all that he behaved poorly in a management role at the company. I don't necessarily fall in with their viewpoint, but perhaps it did affect my way of thinking. So perhaps I read this with a little more cynicism about how much Robert Kurvitz is Disco Elysium. But it didn’t take me long to start thinking: actually, maybe Kurvitz kind of is Disco Elysium.
I don’t doubt that Kurvitz has set out a huge amount of DE’s lore, that he thinks of it as his creation – but there are also clearly other gifted writers who bring so much of what we think of as the heart of Disco Elysium. Even if we believe Kurvitz' dispused estimate that he wrote half the game. In ‘Sacred and Terrible Air’ there isn’t a lot of the absurdist humour or the meticulously detailed historical digressions that were such a key part of the game’s writing. (The humour is there but it’s more harsh, grim, hard-bitten, not like the semi-Pratchett goofiness that DE often used.)
On this book's evidence, what I think Kurvitz does clearly contribute a lot to is the darkness of Disco Elysium, the way DE is at its core a police procedural RPG. The unpleasant grime, the ‘vibe’. The hungover squalor of it. The spine of its political viewpoint, for sure. The obsession with dance music, too. It remains to be seen how much of this is the fault of a non-professional translation job with no authorial involvement, but his prose seems a little uneven - this isn't written as well as the game is - yet even at this point the ideas are clearly there. With so much of the world established by the game, it’s easier to meet him halfway on a lot of the weirder stuff.
As someone who would like to think he respects art and resents the way commerce and the 'content mill' have changed the way we look at people's creative processes, it feels like an acceptable sacrifice that we may not get any more Elysium writing ever. What kind of person would I be if I wholeheartedly accepted a Disco Elysium 2 from a studio that removed its primary writer from the company in an underhanded way? Or if I bought a bunch of brightly-jacketed paperbacks about Kim and Harry's further adventures written by some hired hand? Of course, after watching that PMG video I have to believe it probably never was quite that simple - yet a Disco Elysium world without any of Kurvitz' involvement feels deepy wrong to me.
As a fan of Elysium I would love there to be an 'expanded universe' of fiction for this world with multiple ZA/UM writers - not just Kurvitz - free to write and release novels and stories to deepen this world, more games, the rumoured TV series, etc. That doesn't look likely, because the rights to who gets to write and release what about Elysium are currently subject to a legal battle that seems to be just getting started. As fans, we are staring down the barrel of some pretty dark prospects for the future of the 'IP', and right now the most likely outcome feels like we never get anything more in this series - or we have to wait so long that any momentum to the story is completely gone.
Even if Disco Elysium the videogame ends up being the only real release in this world, with 'Sacred and Terrible Air' as a semi-official appendix, Kurvitz and the other ZA/UM writers can take serious pride in what they built. That still means something.
7/10
December 27, 2013
Tavalisele vastupidises järjekorras: kõigepealt vigadest, mida on vähem.
Esiteks õpikõver. See on pigem järsk ja mõnda aega on raske vahet teha, mis on tegelikult ka oluline.
Teiseks lahtised otsad. See on tegelikult ka üks raamatu tugevusi, kuid siiski - ja ma ei saa siin rohkem öelda, et mitte spoilida - mõned neist oleks tulnud sulgeda, ja kuna seda pole tehtud, siis jääb mulje, et autor lihtsalt ei teadnud, kuidas. Sellest ka üks tärn vähem, veel paarkümmend lehekülge enne lõppu olin üsna kindel, et annan viis.
Ja nüüd siis sellest, mis oluline. Kõigepealt lause ja keel üldse. See on täpne, kiire, tabav, kohati nagu luule, aga mitte liiga kauaks, et muutuda aeglaseks. Seda keelt on väga lihtne ette kujutada kui visuaalset, aga tõenäoliselt raske visuaalsete vahenditega (näiteks filmis) edasi anda. Ma ei too näiteid, neid leiab igalt leheküljelt. Apogee saavutab see lause stseenis, kus ta ristub kirsispiidiga, seal on ta nagu palavik. Ent sama lausega saab kirjeldada nii suurlinna maastikku kui rikka disaineri armukest/magamistuba kui peaaegu inimtühja ja masuudist haisvat lumist maastikku nii, et need kõik kõnetavad üle enda piiride.
Teiseks struktuur/esituslaad. Tekst hüppab ajas edasi-tagasi (kohati tunni, kohati aasta täpsusega), narratiivsed lõigud ja pildid võivad vahelduda asjassepuutumatute kirjeldustega, mis aga hoiavad tervikut püsti. Ma ei saa öelda, et loodud maailma eri osad või isegi karakterid oleksid erandlikult huvitavad, aga nad ei ole ka mitte skemaatilised - ometi, mitte neis ei peitu raamatu tugevus. Aga oluline on see, kuidas nad moodustuvad, sõnadesse jõuavad ja toimivad.
Sellest piisab.
Kas ma ootan sellele raamatule lubatud järge? Ei. Hirm Matrix 2 ees on liiga suur. Sama autori uusi raamatuid uutes ilmades aga küll, vägagi.
Esiteks õpikõver. See on pigem järsk ja mõnda aega on raske vahet teha, mis on tegelikult ka oluline.
Teiseks lahtised otsad. See on tegelikult ka üks raamatu tugevusi, kuid siiski - ja ma ei saa siin rohkem öelda, et mitte spoilida - mõned neist oleks tulnud sulgeda, ja kuna seda pole tehtud, siis jääb mulje, et autor lihtsalt ei teadnud, kuidas. Sellest ka üks tärn vähem, veel paarkümmend lehekülge enne lõppu olin üsna kindel, et annan viis.
Ja nüüd siis sellest, mis oluline. Kõigepealt lause ja keel üldse. See on täpne, kiire, tabav, kohati nagu luule, aga mitte liiga kauaks, et muutuda aeglaseks. Seda keelt on väga lihtne ette kujutada kui visuaalset, aga tõenäoliselt raske visuaalsete vahenditega (näiteks filmis) edasi anda. Ma ei too näiteid, neid leiab igalt leheküljelt. Apogee saavutab see lause stseenis, kus ta ristub kirsispiidiga, seal on ta nagu palavik. Ent sama lausega saab kirjeldada nii suurlinna maastikku kui rikka disaineri armukest/magamistuba kui peaaegu inimtühja ja masuudist haisvat lumist maastikku nii, et need kõik kõnetavad üle enda piiride.
Teiseks struktuur/esituslaad. Tekst hüppab ajas edasi-tagasi (kohati tunni, kohati aasta täpsusega), narratiivsed lõigud ja pildid võivad vahelduda asjassepuutumatute kirjeldustega, mis aga hoiavad tervikut püsti. Ma ei saa öelda, et loodud maailma eri osad või isegi karakterid oleksid erandlikult huvitavad, aga nad ei ole ka mitte skemaatilised - ometi, mitte neis ei peitu raamatu tugevus. Aga oluline on see, kuidas nad moodustuvad, sõnadesse jõuavad ja toimivad.
Sellest piisab.
Kas ma ootan sellele raamatule lubatud järge? Ei. Hirm Matrix 2 ees on liiga suur. Sama autori uusi raamatuid uutes ilmades aga küll, vägagi.
October 9, 2023
I don't recommend this book.
I love this book.
I think it is hard to read, sometimes on purpose.
It is hampered by an English translation being forced to account for near musical prose and language specific constant explanation of abstract concepts as characters.
It's bleak, it takes solace in nihilism. It routinely keeps kicking the reader over and over with the folly's of any ideology like communism, capitalism, neutrality.
It never explains itself even to a fault. It doesn't care, even to the end. Still, despite that it left me feeling perfectly empty, in the same place as the characters.
The past will eat you alive even if its all that keeps you around.
Had a terrible time 10/10.
I love this book.
I think it is hard to read, sometimes on purpose.
It is hampered by an English translation being forced to account for near musical prose and language specific constant explanation of abstract concepts as characters.
It's bleak, it takes solace in nihilism. It routinely keeps kicking the reader over and over with the folly's of any ideology like communism, capitalism, neutrality.
It never explains itself even to a fault. It doesn't care, even to the end. Still, despite that it left me feeling perfectly empty, in the same place as the characters.
The past will eat you alive even if its all that keeps you around.
Had a terrible time 10/10.
September 20, 2013
See on kõige lahedam eestikeelne raamat, mis viimastel aastatel minu kätte on sattunud.
January 9, 2024
Very interesting stuff, but I cannot possibly imagine getting even a fraction of the concepts present in this book without first playing Disco Elysium, which was made by the author years after writing this and takes place in the same universe. In fact, the modern understanding of this book is so reliant on that intertext, it might be better understood as fanfiction for the game that would come out 5 years later.
Characters are heavily undercut by the scattershot format, it feels like so much of the time, we don’t even know what is happening with the 3 main characters due to the setting shifting basically every other page. I thought the ending was so oblique, it lost any and all thematic traction it had, and fell off into an abyss made up by lost memories of the fading world, which you could say is intentional based on the apocalypse that happens in this book. While that is cool conceptually, actually reading it gives the impression you’re skipping full lines of text when you aren’t actually.
That said, I thought the themes of communism vs nihilism in a collapsing world post-failed revolution is extremely relevant and relatable to me personally these days, and it was interesting to see a fun-house mirror of some of my thought spirals on my darker days being played out by a bum alcoholic arguing with the ghost of a fictionalized version of Engels (The spectre of communism indeed).
Also, the Pale as a concept is captivating and terrifying. I want more work set in this world because its implications are so cool to work with in a narrative space. Can I explain it? Not really! But it’s really neat to see things happen in/around/about it.
3.5 stars. Could have definitely used an editor.
Characters are heavily undercut by the scattershot format, it feels like so much of the time, we don’t even know what is happening with the 3 main characters due to the setting shifting basically every other page. I thought the ending was so oblique, it lost any and all thematic traction it had, and fell off into an abyss made up by lost memories of the fading world, which you could say is intentional based on the apocalypse that happens in this book. While that is cool conceptually, actually reading it gives the impression you’re skipping full lines of text when you aren’t actually.
That said, I thought the themes of communism vs nihilism in a collapsing world post-failed revolution is extremely relevant and relatable to me personally these days, and it was interesting to see a fun-house mirror of some of my thought spirals on my darker days being played out by a bum alcoholic arguing with the ghost of a fictionalized version of Engels (The spectre of communism indeed).
Also, the Pale as a concept is captivating and terrifying. I want more work set in this world because its implications are so cool to work with in a narrative space. Can I explain it? Not really! But it’s really neat to see things happen in/around/about it.
3.5 stars. Could have definitely used an editor.
January 16, 2014
See on üsna nagu Gabriel García Márquez'i "Sada aastat üksildust." Aga Robert Kurvitz on oluliselt enesekindlam, kui noor Gabriel García Márquez oli - Robert ei viska kogu aeg nalja, ta ei ole nalja asi.
Raamat on äge. Veidi keeruline algul, sest sa tõesti ei ole mitte midagi sellist varem eesti keeles lugenud. Ega ka üheski muus keeles. Aga seda ägedamalt raamat sind tänab, kui suudad ennast rütmi viia. Loe peaees sööstes. Sa saad kõigest aru. Lõpuks saad sa kõigest aru, millest vaja. Teisel korral saad veel aru. Ja veel.
Ja siis saab sellest su mõtlemise osa. Su keelemasina osa. Sinu salakeel. Ütled sõnu seltskonnas. Ja saad aru, kui keegi saab aru. Linaleumimüüja. Vidkun Hird. Ise-Chillija. Ema, ta kutsus mind kaamli sitaks! Mees, ma näen su v....
See raamat kingib eesti keelele sada aastat juurde.
Võimas.
Ja üks sõna hõõgub mu peas: VEEL!
Õnneks on tiitellehel sõnad: proloog romaanitsüklile
Raamat on äge. Veidi keeruline algul, sest sa tõesti ei ole mitte midagi sellist varem eesti keeles lugenud. Ega ka üheski muus keeles. Aga seda ägedamalt raamat sind tänab, kui suudad ennast rütmi viia. Loe peaees sööstes. Sa saad kõigest aru. Lõpuks saad sa kõigest aru, millest vaja. Teisel korral saad veel aru. Ja veel.
Ja siis saab sellest su mõtlemise osa. Su keelemasina osa. Sinu salakeel. Ütled sõnu seltskonnas. Ja saad aru, kui keegi saab aru. Linaleumimüüja. Vidkun Hird. Ise-Chillija. Ema, ta kutsus mind kaamli sitaks! Mees, ma näen su v....
See raamat kingib eesti keelele sada aastat juurde.
Võimas.
Ja üks sõna hõõgub mu peas: VEEL!
Õnneks on tiitellehel sõnad: proloog romaanitsüklile
February 4, 2014
Väga hea raamat. Nauditav, hingekriipiv ja intellekti premeeriv ühekorraga. Imelises keeles. Jääb kuklasse tuksuma ning pakub ülelugemisel täiesti teistmoodi naudingut kui esimesel korral.
***
Soovitus neile, kes on loo lõpuga hädas ja tunnevad, et see pole see pole see: mõelge koos!
ZA/UM on rühmitus, sõpruskond. Raamatus lahendavad kolm sõpra mõistatust.
Soovitage teie seda raamatut oma sõpradele ja kui nad on läbi lugenud, rääkige omavahel. Jooge midagi, ükskõik kas teed või viina või mida iganes te õigeks peate, olge ühes ruumis koos ja rääkige.
Paar-kolm sõpra ühise ajurünnaku käigus lahendavad selle loo naks-naks-naks ära, sest need asjad, mis igaüks ilmsete lahendustükkidena välja nopib, on erinevad ning kahte-kolme selgust kokku liites tuleb juba nii palju puzzlepildist nähtavale, et saab suurema vaevata ka ülejäänud tükid paika.
***
Soovitus neile, kes on loo lõpuga hädas ja tunnevad, et see pole see pole see: mõelge koos!
ZA/UM on rühmitus, sõpruskond. Raamatus lahendavad kolm sõpra mõistatust.
Soovitage teie seda raamatut oma sõpradele ja kui nad on läbi lugenud, rääkige omavahel. Jooge midagi, ükskõik kas teed või viina või mida iganes te õigeks peate, olge ühes ruumis koos ja rääkige.
Paar-kolm sõpra ühise ajurünnaku käigus lahendavad selle loo naks-naks-naks ära, sest need asjad, mis igaüks ilmsete lahendustükkidena välja nopib, on erinevad ning kahte-kolme selgust kokku liites tuleb juba nii palju puzzlepildist nähtavale, et saab suurema vaevata ka ülejäänud tükid paika.
August 21, 2020
See on kõige lähedasem kogemus Gravity's Rainbow lugemisele, mida ma eesti keeles saanud olen, ning see oleks ka lugemata jäänud (see polnud just väga tuntud raamat enne Disco Elysiumi välja ilmumist), kui seda poleks mulle kingitud. Unikaalne ja oluline teos laulva revolutsiooni järgsetele generatsioonidele, kes maksavad intresse oma vabadusvõlalt ning kannavad ristina seljal põhiseaduse preambulit.
Mul on kahju neist, kes ei suuda sõnadega 'ulme' ja 'fantaasia' samas ruumis olla. Kutsuge seda siis 'maagiliseks realismiks', kui tahate, justkui see erineks tõsireaalsest teosest, mille maailm murrab standarddeviatsioonide rekordeid, et lugu üldse juhtuda saaks. 'Ulme' ja 'fantaasia' annavad autorile lihtsalt loa teose peamisi mõtteid väljendada ka tegelasi ümbritseva reaalsusega.
Nõnda on lugu ka Püha ja õudse lõhna maailmaga, mille kosmopoliitika on üles ehitatud nagu piljardilaud, millel inimeste soove, mälestusi ja uskumusi pallidena kokku põrgatatakse ja üksteise järel auku veeretatakse, jättes endast maha vaid värskelt lõpetatud mängu hõngu.
See on maailm, milles inimkond on kleepunud kinni oma ajalukku: surnud kangelastesse ja ideoloogiatesse. See meenutab meie endi surnud ideoloogiaid: ärkamisnatsionalism, kommunism ja laulevnatsionalism. Viimane on hetkel tilguti all, suutmata elada ilma oma vastandita.
Ajalukku kleepumine manifesteerub füüsiliselt ka nähtusena, mida nimetatakse 'halliks' ja mis kujutab endast ala, kus reaalsus kaob ajalukku. Ühtlaselt peegeldab see ka kolme sõpra, kelle elu on jäänud kinni päeva, kui Lundi tütred kaduma läksid. Tõsine raamat ei suudaks nii huvitavalt kirjutada kaotatud inimestest: stalinistlikest non-entiteetidest ja linoleumimüüja unustatud identiteetidest.
Mul on kahju neist, kes ei suuda sõnadega 'ulme' ja 'fantaasia' samas ruumis olla. Kutsuge seda siis 'maagiliseks realismiks', kui tahate, justkui see erineks tõsireaalsest teosest, mille maailm murrab standarddeviatsioonide rekordeid, et lugu üldse juhtuda saaks. 'Ulme' ja 'fantaasia' annavad autorile lihtsalt loa teose peamisi mõtteid väljendada ka tegelasi ümbritseva reaalsusega.
Nõnda on lugu ka Püha ja õudse lõhna maailmaga, mille kosmopoliitika on üles ehitatud nagu piljardilaud, millel inimeste soove, mälestusi ja uskumusi pallidena kokku põrgatatakse ja üksteise järel auku veeretatakse, jättes endast maha vaid värskelt lõpetatud mängu hõngu.
See on maailm, milles inimkond on kleepunud kinni oma ajalukku: surnud kangelastesse ja ideoloogiatesse. See meenutab meie endi surnud ideoloogiaid: ärkamisnatsionalism, kommunism ja laulevnatsionalism. Viimane on hetkel tilguti all, suutmata elada ilma oma vastandita.
Ajalukku kleepumine manifesteerub füüsiliselt ka nähtusena, mida nimetatakse 'halliks' ja mis kujutab endast ala, kus reaalsus kaob ajalukku. Ühtlaselt peegeldab see ka kolme sõpra, kelle elu on jäänud kinni päeva, kui Lundi tütred kaduma läksid. Tõsine raamat ei suudaks nii huvitavalt kirjutada kaotatud inimestest: stalinistlikest non-entiteetidest ja linoleumimüüja unustatud identiteetidest.
Want to read
January 22, 2021Just a note to self to check on this every month until the translation arrives ;___;
I'm on a Disco Elysium hangover, contemplating how hard would it be to learn Estonian with English and Russian in the bag (pretty hard, goddamit, please someone translate it already).
I'm on a Disco Elysium hangover, contemplating how hard would it be to learn Estonian with English and Russian in the bag (pretty hard, goddamit, please someone translate it already).
November 29, 2020
kolm tärni viiesti ei tõota just, et mul oleks palju öelda selle raamatu kohta, aga hear me out.
mul ei ole enne vist elus juhtunud sellist asja, et raamatu lõppu jõudes kohe uuesti otsast alustaksin, sest... äkki ma teisel ringil saan aru? (ei, raamatuid, millest ma üldse aru ei saa, on enne ka ette tulnud, aga tavaliselt lõpuks siis enam ei huvita ka eriti, las ta jääb. aga "Püha ja õudse lõhna" puhul mind väga huvitas!)
see oli kõik väga ilusasti ja ägedalt kirja pandud, ja suurem osa ajast isegi ei olnud lugedes tunne, et väga segane on ja midagi ei mõista. ei, kenasti laabus justkui. ja see keel! ja see maailmaehitamine! väga, väga muljetavaldav.
aga kuigi ma lugesin raamatu enda järel läbi kõik arvustused, mis ma ta kohta leidsin, ja wikipedia lehe, ja siis veel "Disco Elysiumi" arvutimängu wikipedia lehe ka, siis... ma ei saanud ikka mitte millestki aru ka pärast seda kõike. ma ei olnud isegi kindel, kas on ette nähtud, et ma saan aru, aga üks arvustus (Triinu Merese oma Algernonis) ikkagi andis lootust, et see on põhimõtteliselt võimalik. lõpuks kirjutasin Triinule ja palusin otsesõnu, et ta ütleks mulle, mis siis ikkagi juhtus.
sest noh, raamatu esimesel leheküljel räägitakse meile, kuidas läks kaduma neli tüdrukut, ja kas on palju tahetud, et me viimaseks leheküljeks saaksime teada, kuhu ja kuidas ja miks nad kadusid? mina paraku küll ei saanud.
pärast kõiki neid abimaterjale ja Triinu antud sisendit ja raamatu teistkordset läbilugemist... ei tea ma päriselt ikka, mismoodi see kõik siis juhtus, aga vähemalt olen ma nüüd siis seda raamatut kaks korda lugenud ja tahtnud talle selle käigus anda absoluutselt kõiki võimalikke hindeid ühest viieni. nii ta sinna kolme peale jääb. mulle lõpuks ikkagi meeldis. vahepeal meeldis väga ja vahepeal oli tunne, et suremat jama pole elus lugenud. ühesõnaga - emotsionaalne kogemus. ja kuna ma ilmselt ei hakka kunagi mängima seda maailmakuulsat arvutimängu, mille tegevus toimub samas maailmas, siis sain siitkaudu võimaluse tükk olulist popkultuuri ikkagi servapidi ära näha. tundub võimas.
kui keegi on seda raamatut lugenud ja tahaks arutada või vbla lihtsalt veel veidi seletada mulle seda asja, siis ma igatahes olen siin ja ootan.
mul ei ole enne vist elus juhtunud sellist asja, et raamatu lõppu jõudes kohe uuesti otsast alustaksin, sest... äkki ma teisel ringil saan aru? (ei, raamatuid, millest ma üldse aru ei saa, on enne ka ette tulnud, aga tavaliselt lõpuks siis enam ei huvita ka eriti, las ta jääb. aga "Püha ja õudse lõhna" puhul mind väga huvitas!)
see oli kõik väga ilusasti ja ägedalt kirja pandud, ja suurem osa ajast isegi ei olnud lugedes tunne, et väga segane on ja midagi ei mõista. ei, kenasti laabus justkui. ja see keel! ja see maailmaehitamine! väga, väga muljetavaldav.
aga kuigi ma lugesin raamatu enda järel läbi kõik arvustused, mis ma ta kohta leidsin, ja wikipedia lehe, ja siis veel "Disco Elysiumi" arvutimängu wikipedia lehe ka, siis... ma ei saanud ikka mitte millestki aru ka pärast seda kõike. ma ei olnud isegi kindel, kas on ette nähtud, et ma saan aru, aga üks arvustus (Triinu Merese oma Algernonis) ikkagi andis lootust, et see on põhimõtteliselt võimalik. lõpuks kirjutasin Triinule ja palusin otsesõnu, et ta ütleks mulle, mis siis ikkagi juhtus.
sest noh, raamatu esimesel leheküljel räägitakse meile, kuidas läks kaduma neli tüdrukut, ja kas on palju tahetud, et me viimaseks leheküljeks saaksime teada, kuhu ja kuidas ja miks nad kadusid? mina paraku küll ei saanud.
pärast kõiki neid abimaterjale ja Triinu antud sisendit ja raamatu teistkordset läbilugemist... ei tea ma päriselt ikka, mismoodi see kõik siis juhtus, aga vähemalt olen ma nüüd siis seda raamatut kaks korda lugenud ja tahtnud talle selle käigus anda absoluutselt kõiki võimalikke hindeid ühest viieni. nii ta sinna kolme peale jääb. mulle lõpuks ikkagi meeldis. vahepeal meeldis väga ja vahepeal oli tunne, et suremat jama pole elus lugenud. ühesõnaga - emotsionaalne kogemus. ja kuna ma ilmselt ei hakka kunagi mängima seda maailmakuulsat arvutimängu, mille tegevus toimub samas maailmas, siis sain siitkaudu võimaluse tükk olulist popkultuuri ikkagi servapidi ära näha. tundub võimas.
kui keegi on seda raamatut lugenud ja tahaks arutada või vbla lihtsalt veel veidi seletada mulle seda asja, siis ma igatahes olen siin ja ootan.
January 21, 2019
Püha, õudne ja ilus emotsioon. Viimase aja võimsaim lugemiskogemus.
November 29, 2025
This novel, although quite inaccessible to a certain degree, is one of the best works I’ve read in a long time, maybe ever. But I’m still swimming in the sentiment that lingers on when you’ve finished an impressive read, so that might be taken with a grain of salt.
The back cover of the book summarizes: “On the second-to-last day of summer vacation, the four daughters of Education Minister Anne-Margret Lund disappear from a public beach. On its maiden voyage, a newly launched ship with fifteen hundred passengers on board disappears.”
This brief description provides a glimpse into the novel’s structure, as the two events take place more than a hundred years apart from each other and have — seemingly — nothing in common but the fact of their disappearance. The story jumps back and forth in time, sometimes hopping between two months, sometimes decades or even centuries. But as unrelated as it all may seem, everything is subtly interwoven into multiple layers of story, metaphor and concept.
The main plot of the novel focuses on three friends, Tereesz, Khan and Jesper, who knew the Lund girls when they were around the same age, and even 20 years later they have not been able to accept their absence. The story, then, is a long-winded attempt to grasp the ungraspable. The book is a complex exploration into the consequences of disappearance that mixes the psyche, politics and philosophy into a literary gem. The prejudice that often looms over a work of science fiction is utterly unjustified here.
As many note, though, the downside of this novel is how inaccessible it is to an audience that is not familiar with the world of Elysium. It is only because I played Disco Elysium before, where the worldbuilding is laid out brick by brick, that I could make sense of the names, places and concepts in the book. But even with that background it was still hard at times to understand some phenomena. But if we accept that challenge and look at the content in terms of story and style, then a heartbreakingly beautiful and tragical tale emerges.
What is perhaps the most striking — to me at least — is how the novel succeeds in evoking a universe steeped in melancholy and a more bitter than sweet longing. With each chapter, we dive deeper into the obsession that dominates the three characters as they cling to every minute detail that might shed a light on the Lund girls. We are swung back and forth between timelines, and the more we read about their relationship with the Lund sisters as kids, the more we get a sense of their current dread.
But the narrator also paints an ambiguous picture. As heroic and romantic the quest to a past ideal might seem, the idea that shimmers through the pages is that this obsession with the past is an utterly unhealthy one. The protagonists cannot move on in their lives; their entire existence is strung up with the case. More so is the fact that three grown-ups are obsessed — and are still in love to some degree — with three minors is problematic to say the least. However, it is not a sexual desire, but rather an infatuation with the past, with melancholy and an impossible innocence. The feeling of being 14 years old and in love for the first time.
Then there is so much to say about the concept of the Pale, my favourite chapter “Matterimony”, the crazily impressive complexity of the plot, the innovative strategies in worldbuilding etc. I could go on forever about this book. Just as people do on this Reddit page hehe https://www.reddit.com/r/DiscoElysium... Future apologies to everyone who I might approach about this.
The back cover of the book summarizes: “On the second-to-last day of summer vacation, the four daughters of Education Minister Anne-Margret Lund disappear from a public beach. On its maiden voyage, a newly launched ship with fifteen hundred passengers on board disappears.”
This brief description provides a glimpse into the novel’s structure, as the two events take place more than a hundred years apart from each other and have — seemingly — nothing in common but the fact of their disappearance. The story jumps back and forth in time, sometimes hopping between two months, sometimes decades or even centuries. But as unrelated as it all may seem, everything is subtly interwoven into multiple layers of story, metaphor and concept.
The main plot of the novel focuses on three friends, Tereesz, Khan and Jesper, who knew the Lund girls when they were around the same age, and even 20 years later they have not been able to accept their absence. The story, then, is a long-winded attempt to grasp the ungraspable. The book is a complex exploration into the consequences of disappearance that mixes the psyche, politics and philosophy into a literary gem. The prejudice that often looms over a work of science fiction is utterly unjustified here.
As many note, though, the downside of this novel is how inaccessible it is to an audience that is not familiar with the world of Elysium. It is only because I played Disco Elysium before, where the worldbuilding is laid out brick by brick, that I could make sense of the names, places and concepts in the book. But even with that background it was still hard at times to understand some phenomena. But if we accept that challenge and look at the content in terms of story and style, then a heartbreakingly beautiful and tragical tale emerges.
What is perhaps the most striking — to me at least — is how the novel succeeds in evoking a universe steeped in melancholy and a more bitter than sweet longing. With each chapter, we dive deeper into the obsession that dominates the three characters as they cling to every minute detail that might shed a light on the Lund girls. We are swung back and forth between timelines, and the more we read about their relationship with the Lund sisters as kids, the more we get a sense of their current dread.
But the narrator also paints an ambiguous picture. As heroic and romantic the quest to a past ideal might seem, the idea that shimmers through the pages is that this obsession with the past is an utterly unhealthy one. The protagonists cannot move on in their lives; their entire existence is strung up with the case. More so is the fact that three grown-ups are obsessed — and are still in love to some degree — with three minors is problematic to say the least. However, it is not a sexual desire, but rather an infatuation with the past, with melancholy and an impossible innocence. The feeling of being 14 years old and in love for the first time.
Then there is so much to say about the concept of the Pale, my favourite chapter “Matterimony”, the crazily impressive complexity of the plot, the innovative strategies in worldbuilding etc. I could go on forever about this book. Just as people do on this Reddit page hehe https://www.reddit.com/r/DiscoElysium... Future apologies to everyone who I might approach about this.
November 29, 2023
The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living. Bourgeois society convulses in its death agony. No force of sublation is prepared to take its place, only the pale, only the end of the world. Because the revolution is defeated and "its failure will usher in the entire next century. The century of the decline of human reason, where every following year is darker than the previous one."
"The Pale approaches - an avalanche of memories of the world - and buries matter with reckless speed." Desperate hope alone keeps history alive, and with it a world which longs to disappear.
""Yes, everything is possible for this world.' Says Franticek the Brave."
Taken together with the excellent Disco Elysium, Kurvitz's work really is a seminal philosophical/artistic treatise on the post-90s, liberal-capitalist triumphalist world order. Compared to the later game this is a much tougher read in form and content - or at least it doesn't give the reader the ability to ignore the tough form and content at the core of its world and its characters. I can't imagine how I would have gotten through the book lacking the background knowledge of (multiple) playthroughs of the game. But if you can wrap your head around and get into it, this really is a brilliantly realised novel; haunting, powerful, cryptic and explicit, nihilistic and hopeful. All built on world-building so uniquely philosophical in its semi-surrealist alternate reality that it feels genuinely new.
The fan organised translation I read does an admirable job, though I do hope an official and professional English translation is eventually released.
"The Pale approaches - an avalanche of memories of the world - and buries matter with reckless speed." Desperate hope alone keeps history alive, and with it a world which longs to disappear.
""Yes, everything is possible for this world.' Says Franticek the Brave."
Taken together with the excellent Disco Elysium, Kurvitz's work really is a seminal philosophical/artistic treatise on the post-90s, liberal-capitalist triumphalist world order. Compared to the later game this is a much tougher read in form and content - or at least it doesn't give the reader the ability to ignore the tough form and content at the core of its world and its characters. I can't imagine how I would have gotten through the book lacking the background knowledge of (multiple) playthroughs of the game. But if you can wrap your head around and get into it, this really is a brilliantly realised novel; haunting, powerful, cryptic and explicit, nihilistic and hopeful. All built on world-building so uniquely philosophical in its semi-surrealist alternate reality that it feels genuinely new.
The fan organised translation I read does an admirable job, though I do hope an official and professional English translation is eventually released.
August 22, 2024
in you,
my endless disappearance
my endless disappearance
February 5, 2024
Mind bogglingly expansive world-building, philosophy and political intrigue. The book also would have been nearly incomprehensible without having played the RPG Disco Elysium first, which lays most of the groundwork concerning Elysium's history and socio-political systems. This story seems to have everything: kidnapping, eugenics, anarchist suicide pacts, failed communist Revolutions, a truly extensive amount of casual racism, champagne socialism, shitty minimalist decor, and atomic weapons.
All of this is subsumed by the pale, a real and physical manifestation of the apocalypse. The inevitability that will (sooner or later) consume the entire world. There is no stopping it, and each day it draws closer. Many stories aim to achieve some level of transcendence, an answer to "So what? Why does this matter?" Sacred and Terrible Air starts out by assuring the reader that *literally* nothing matters. Halfway through the book and the writing is on the wall: THE WHOLE WORLD IS A ZONE OF IMMINENT ENTROPONETIC CATASTROPHE. Exhausted and downtrodden, most of the Elysium world is indifferent to the unfolding catastrophe.
Instead of detangling the existentialist rhetoric, the story takes another approach. It fixates on one of the most mundane, inconsequential events that could take place at this time: Three creepy, 30-year-old men on a delusional quest to solve the decades-old kidnapping of four girls. Against the backdrop of a collapsing society, the story still holds momentary flashes of beauty and brilliance. Love is treated as both the origin of darkness and the singular thing that (possibly) makes life worth living. Whether it's born of desire or a fear of loss, it persists not in spite of impending doom but because of it.
This story has also confirmed for me that as it stands, there shouldn't be a ZA/UM sequel for Disco Elysium. The fact that the game was created in the first place is a miracle within itself. Without Kurvitz and a true orientation to political critique and beauty, there is no Elysium. Real art will inevitably exist in opposition to the market of arts and the publishing industry. Even as the studio has caved to capitalist interests (both ironic and fitting), that delusion to something greater still persists in the minds of non-market artists and losers all around. Onward to the apocalypse. Un jour je serai de retour près de toi.
All of this is subsumed by the pale, a real and physical manifestation of the apocalypse. The inevitability that will (sooner or later) consume the entire world. There is no stopping it, and each day it draws closer. Many stories aim to achieve some level of transcendence, an answer to "So what? Why does this matter?" Sacred and Terrible Air starts out by assuring the reader that *literally* nothing matters. Halfway through the book and the writing is on the wall: THE WHOLE WORLD IS A ZONE OF IMMINENT ENTROPONETIC CATASTROPHE. Exhausted and downtrodden, most of the Elysium world is indifferent to the unfolding catastrophe.
Instead of detangling the existentialist rhetoric, the story takes another approach. It fixates on one of the most mundane, inconsequential events that could take place at this time: Three creepy, 30-year-old men on a delusional quest to solve the decades-old kidnapping of four girls. Against the backdrop of a collapsing society, the story still holds momentary flashes of beauty and brilliance. Love is treated as both the origin of darkness and the singular thing that (possibly) makes life worth living. Whether it's born of desire or a fear of loss, it persists not in spite of impending doom but because of it.
This story has also confirmed for me that as it stands, there shouldn't be a ZA/UM sequel for Disco Elysium. The fact that the game was created in the first place is a miracle within itself. Without Kurvitz and a true orientation to political critique and beauty, there is no Elysium. Real art will inevitably exist in opposition to the market of arts and the publishing industry. Even as the studio has caved to capitalist interests (both ironic and fitting), that delusion to something greater still persists in the minds of non-market artists and losers all around. Onward to the apocalypse. Un jour je serai de retour près de toi.
November 9, 2024
(I fully blame any dissatisfaction I had with this story on the fact that I read an unsanctioned translation)
What a wild narrative experience. I recently read Miéville's The City & The City because of it's influence on Disco Elysium. After reading this on a whim when I realized it would never get an official translation, I can see that Kurvitz really is leagues beyond Miéville in writing a narrative encapsulating the post soviet experience in eastern europe. That being said, this book is so difficult.
It undulates through time in both beautiful and infuriating ways. What reasoning for chapter breaks vs paragraph breaks is not sensible. Characters flow in and out of the story with unclear names and unclear purposes. In the end i was left quite unsure about what transpired or what I was supposed to feel.
But then certain passages would HIT. Reading about Jesper's wayward ex living under the war, working in a remote weapons factory. Or Zygismunt's lonely journey into the Pale. I think Kurvitz intended for that feeling of rapidly zooming out spatially or temporaly to show this much wider, global story. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didnt. Again, I'll blame it on the translation.
What a wild narrative experience. I recently read Miéville's The City & The City because of it's influence on Disco Elysium. After reading this on a whim when I realized it would never get an official translation, I can see that Kurvitz really is leagues beyond Miéville in writing a narrative encapsulating the post soviet experience in eastern europe. That being said, this book is so difficult.
It undulates through time in both beautiful and infuriating ways. What reasoning for chapter breaks vs paragraph breaks is not sensible. Characters flow in and out of the story with unclear names and unclear purposes. In the end i was left quite unsure about what transpired or what I was supposed to feel.
But then certain passages would HIT. Reading about Jesper's wayward ex living under the war, working in a remote weapons factory. Or Zygismunt's lonely journey into the Pale. I think Kurvitz intended for that feeling of rapidly zooming out spatially or temporaly to show this much wider, global story. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didnt. Again, I'll blame it on the translation.
April 10, 2024
Might be difficult to follow if you haven't played Disco Elysium? But hey that's the best video game of all time so... you have to play that anyway.
Trippy, bizarre, funky and depressing, just how I likes it.
(NB: I read the Group Ibex translation. It was well done, not quite perfect, some typos. Balanced comprehensibility for the reader's sake, and incomprehensibility for disco's sake, pretty well. If the ghost of Marx is kind some day we will get an official English translation, and I'll review that too.)
Trippy, bizarre, funky and depressing, just how I likes it.
(NB: I read the Group Ibex translation. It was well done, not quite perfect, some typos. Balanced comprehensibility for the reader's sake, and incomprehensibility for disco's sake, pretty well. If the ghost of Marx is kind some day we will get an official English translation, and I'll review that too.)
September 11, 2024
Disco Elysium is, without hyperbole, one of the greatest games of all time. Every time I play it, I walk away wishing there was another game with its combination of melancholy, artistry, scathing political critique, and roiling texture of cynicism and hope. We probably won't get another game like it, though, because in the end the cynicism was more prescient than the hope, and its creators have split for a number of reasons, many of which were satirized in the game itself.
One of those creators - arguably THE creator - is Robert Kurvitz, an Estonian creative who conceived and co-wrote Sacred and Terrible Air, the 2013 novel that introduced the world in which Disco Elysium is set. The novel sold pretty poorly, which set off the chain of events that eventually brought us the game, but as the game garnered first a loyal fanbase and ultimately widespread critical acclaim and status as a contemporary classic, the novel also reached a wider audience. Fans rushed to translate the novel from the original Estonian, and it was kinda held up as a necessary lost piece of Disco Elysium's lore.
I've found myself wanting something that makes me feel the way Disco Elysium does recently, so I ended up grabbing the version translated by fan-funded professional translators (which is available on the internet archive). It's clear right off that this translation is a labor of love. They say in the foreword that the project took them several months, and that they often agonized over how to accurately translate specific turns of phrase. The translation ends with two small additions translated from Kurvitz's blog, and a glossary defining terms based on their uses in both the novel and the game. It's a real feat by some dedicated fans, and much appreciated.
The novel itself, however, is a bit of a mess. It's usually fairly enjoyable - much of the writing style and subject matter is very recognizably the same as Disco Elysium, and that's what I wanted, so I was pretty happy about that. But it's pretty hard to follow, as it jumps between time periods, characters, and locations in the fictional geography of the world, as told by an omniscient narrator who will often launch into tangentially related vignettes that are usually fantastic but break up the action in disorienting ways. As it's an opaque read at times - and has a habit of dealing with uncomfortable subject matter in a kind of obnoxiously edgy, leering way - it was easier to read the novel as an interesting study into what works about Disco Elysium in its medium that falls short in the novel form, and what lessons the creators learned over the game's six years of development time.
Sacred and Terrible Air is a mystery novel revolving around the disappearance of four sisters ages six to fourteen. The bulk of the action follows three men twenty years later whose lives were so affected by the disappearance of their classmates that they continue to search for the girls after the rest of the world has moved on. The main story jumps back and forth between the summer before the disappearance - when the boys and girls met and spent a few days together, ultimately going on a drug binge - and the present day, when the men continue to investigate the girls' disappearance. As the men search, a wave of entropy given physical form, made of built-up forgotten memories, threatens to swallow up the entire world, driving a refugee crisis and military conflict between several powers.
First: despite releasing years before Disco Elysium, I can't imagine trying to parse this book without having already familiarized myself with the world's terminology through the game. The glossary would have helped some, sure, but that's a fan addition and was not packaged with the original work. Plus, it's not super feasible to scroll to the last few pages of a .pdf every few pages. What was meant to be a standalone novel oddly functions much better as a supplemental work consumed mainly by mega-fans. I'm also much more interested in devices like the Pale - the entropy given physical form - as they appear in Disco Elysium. In the novel, characters interact with the Pale fairly regularly, driving away from it in cars, making expeditions out into it, and the like, and that robs the Pale of some of its power as a metaphor. This unknowable thing feels almost mundane by the end of the novel, which was a bit of a letdown.
Those gripes aside, my main problems with the book have to do with the fragmented structure, the voice, and its subject matter. As it centers around the disappearance of some children, the novel discusses child sexual abuse a few times in pretty lurid tones. The co-author of the novel and a major financier of the Disco Elysium project, Kaur Kender, got in some legal hot water the year after the release of Sacred and Terrible Air for his 2014 novel's treatment of similar subject matter, which was decried as obscene, though he was ultimately acquitted. I think for both Kender and Kurvitz, this edginess is a product of trying to be provocative artists. In Sacred and Terrible Air, this edginess might provoke a reaction, but it doesn't really provoke thought. It mostly makes some passages boring and uncomfortable. These scenes have little of interest to say but also aren't engaging to read, and that makes them oddly memorable in a novel marked by its beautiful language and incisive critiques. I'm truly thankful that the game didn't go that route.
I hadn't realized just how much Disco Elysium's narrative benefits from having one consistent perspective character who's in the middle of an identity crisis and subsequently pretty malleable. Not only does Harry's amnesia allow for necessary exposition that the novel does not provide, but the narrator being internal to Harry makes the acerbic and ironic nature of some of the vignettes feel like a character flaw, rather than a permanent aspect of the world. There are limits to what Harry can know - even when he's at max Shivers and Esprit de Corps - and those limits give a tinge of necessary hope to the doomerism of the narration. Characters like Kim clearly don't share the same pessimistic perspective, either, which adds color and believability to the game's population. When a third-person omniscient narrator tells us that everyone is thinking similarly cynical things about their fellow man, it loses that tension that made Disco Elysium work.
Moreso even than the structural issues, I think this problem of narrative voice was at the heart of why I didn't jive with Sacred and Terrible Air the way I'd expected to. Having so many characters' perspectives described to me through the same voice and with such similar perspectives made them kinda unmemorable and downers compared to the many unforgettable and sometimes even joyful character moments in the game. I can remember fantastic passages from this novel that made me sit and think and that I'll probably flash back to months from now. But for the most part, I couldn't tell you which character was doing what during any of those passages. It's oddly limp in comparison.
I did enjoy this book, and I'll probably think on parts of it fondly, but between the confusing structure and the csa references, I don't think I'd recommend it even to a huge fan of the game. Every time I play Disco Elysium, I walk away wishing there was another game that makes me feel the same way it does. I walked away from Sacred and Terrible Air still wanting a book that could make me feel the way Disco Elysium does. Guess I'll search elsewhere.
One of those creators - arguably THE creator - is Robert Kurvitz, an Estonian creative who conceived and co-wrote Sacred and Terrible Air, the 2013 novel that introduced the world in which Disco Elysium is set. The novel sold pretty poorly, which set off the chain of events that eventually brought us the game, but as the game garnered first a loyal fanbase and ultimately widespread critical acclaim and status as a contemporary classic, the novel also reached a wider audience. Fans rushed to translate the novel from the original Estonian, and it was kinda held up as a necessary lost piece of Disco Elysium's lore.
I've found myself wanting something that makes me feel the way Disco Elysium does recently, so I ended up grabbing the version translated by fan-funded professional translators (which is available on the internet archive). It's clear right off that this translation is a labor of love. They say in the foreword that the project took them several months, and that they often agonized over how to accurately translate specific turns of phrase. The translation ends with two small additions translated from Kurvitz's blog, and a glossary defining terms based on their uses in both the novel and the game. It's a real feat by some dedicated fans, and much appreciated.
The novel itself, however, is a bit of a mess. It's usually fairly enjoyable - much of the writing style and subject matter is very recognizably the same as Disco Elysium, and that's what I wanted, so I was pretty happy about that. But it's pretty hard to follow, as it jumps between time periods, characters, and locations in the fictional geography of the world, as told by an omniscient narrator who will often launch into tangentially related vignettes that are usually fantastic but break up the action in disorienting ways. As it's an opaque read at times - and has a habit of dealing with uncomfortable subject matter in a kind of obnoxiously edgy, leering way - it was easier to read the novel as an interesting study into what works about Disco Elysium in its medium that falls short in the novel form, and what lessons the creators learned over the game's six years of development time.
Sacred and Terrible Air is a mystery novel revolving around the disappearance of four sisters ages six to fourteen. The bulk of the action follows three men twenty years later whose lives were so affected by the disappearance of their classmates that they continue to search for the girls after the rest of the world has moved on. The main story jumps back and forth between the summer before the disappearance - when the boys and girls met and spent a few days together, ultimately going on a drug binge - and the present day, when the men continue to investigate the girls' disappearance. As the men search, a wave of entropy given physical form, made of built-up forgotten memories, threatens to swallow up the entire world, driving a refugee crisis and military conflict between several powers.
First: despite releasing years before Disco Elysium, I can't imagine trying to parse this book without having already familiarized myself with the world's terminology through the game. The glossary would have helped some, sure, but that's a fan addition and was not packaged with the original work. Plus, it's not super feasible to scroll to the last few pages of a .pdf every few pages. What was meant to be a standalone novel oddly functions much better as a supplemental work consumed mainly by mega-fans. I'm also much more interested in devices like the Pale - the entropy given physical form - as they appear in Disco Elysium. In the novel, characters interact with the Pale fairly regularly, driving away from it in cars, making expeditions out into it, and the like, and that robs the Pale of some of its power as a metaphor. This unknowable thing feels almost mundane by the end of the novel, which was a bit of a letdown.
Those gripes aside, my main problems with the book have to do with the fragmented structure, the voice, and its subject matter. As it centers around the disappearance of some children, the novel discusses child sexual abuse a few times in pretty lurid tones. The co-author of the novel and a major financier of the Disco Elysium project, Kaur Kender, got in some legal hot water the year after the release of Sacred and Terrible Air for his 2014 novel's treatment of similar subject matter, which was decried as obscene, though he was ultimately acquitted. I think for both Kender and Kurvitz, this edginess is a product of trying to be provocative artists. In Sacred and Terrible Air, this edginess might provoke a reaction, but it doesn't really provoke thought. It mostly makes some passages boring and uncomfortable. These scenes have little of interest to say but also aren't engaging to read, and that makes them oddly memorable in a novel marked by its beautiful language and incisive critiques. I'm truly thankful that the game didn't go that route.
I hadn't realized just how much Disco Elysium's narrative benefits from having one consistent perspective character who's in the middle of an identity crisis and subsequently pretty malleable. Not only does Harry's amnesia allow for necessary exposition that the novel does not provide, but the narrator being internal to Harry makes the acerbic and ironic nature of some of the vignettes feel like a character flaw, rather than a permanent aspect of the world. There are limits to what Harry can know - even when he's at max Shivers and Esprit de Corps - and those limits give a tinge of necessary hope to the doomerism of the narration. Characters like Kim clearly don't share the same pessimistic perspective, either, which adds color and believability to the game's population. When a third-person omniscient narrator tells us that everyone is thinking similarly cynical things about their fellow man, it loses that tension that made Disco Elysium work.
Moreso even than the structural issues, I think this problem of narrative voice was at the heart of why I didn't jive with Sacred and Terrible Air the way I'd expected to. Having so many characters' perspectives described to me through the same voice and with such similar perspectives made them kinda unmemorable and downers compared to the many unforgettable and sometimes even joyful character moments in the game. I can remember fantastic passages from this novel that made me sit and think and that I'll probably flash back to months from now. But for the most part, I couldn't tell you which character was doing what during any of those passages. It's oddly limp in comparison.
I did enjoy this book, and I'll probably think on parts of it fondly, but between the confusing structure and the csa references, I don't think I'd recommend it even to a huge fan of the game. Every time I play Disco Elysium, I walk away wishing there was another game that makes me feel the same way it does. I walked away from Sacred and Terrible Air still wanting a book that could make me feel the way Disco Elysium does. Guess I'll search elsewhere.
February 26, 2025
Skaitymas, įkvėptas meilės Disco Elysium
Nors mano vertinimai goodreadsuose niekada nebuvo rašyti su mintim kažkaip objektyviai vertinti kūrinius, mintys ir jausmai apie Sacred and Terrible Air yra ypač asmeniški, kai kiekvieną gabaliuką, praplečiantį Elysium pasaulio suvokimą, suvalgiau su didžiausiu malonumu.
Elysium žemėlapis yra daugiau ar mažiau realaus pasaulio atspindys. Turime socialdemokratiškąją Skandinaviją (Katlą su šalim/sostine Vaasa), turime pokomunistinę Rusiją, pasiglemžusią kaimynines tautas (Graad), ir iš esmės turime daug istorijos ir politikos, sutampančios su realybe, nors ir yra savotiškų pamodifikavimų. Kyla klausimas, kokia esmė yra kurti pasaulį – aplamai turint neribotą galimybę kurti savo pasaulį – tokį panašų į mūsų pačių. Tačiau istorijos vystymosi eigoje tas veidrodinis Elysium taip įtraukia, kaip galbūt visiškai fikcinis pasaulis nebūtų galėjęs. Visgi Elysium ypatumas yra ne tai, kiek kas sutampa su tikrove, o the Pale – erdvinė masė, skirianti pasaulio žemynus, kurioje neįmanoma tampa įmanoma, jai paklūsta viskas – fizikos dėsniai, laiko tėkmė, prisiminimai, istorija ir pati būtis, tad žmogui peržengti šią masę nuogu kūnu, išliekant gyvam ir/ar sveikam, yra praktiškai neįmanoma.
Turiu visgi pridurti, kad mane labiausiai nervinantis knygos trūkumas yra tie pasikartojantys merginų, moterų aprašymai, pilni apvalumų, skaistumų, prisirpusių uogų metaforų ir panašios klasikos. Norėjosi mušti vertinimą dėl to (nes tikrai žiauriai užkniso), bet nepaisant to detektyvinė istorija ir Elysium konceptai mane traukė stipriau ir negalėjau nustot žavėtis.
Taigi, vertinimas stipriai subjektyvus. Kaip Sacred and Terrible Air skaitytųsi tik kaip romanas be patirties žaidžiant Disco Elysium? Nežinau. Knyga buvo išleista 6 metai prieš pasirodant žaidimui ir buvo visiška nesėkmė, kas ir lėmė autoriaus sprendimą perkelti konceptus į kitą erdvę. Norėtųsi, kad knygai būtų duotas antras šansas, būtų įdomu pamatyti kaip ji būtų priimta Lietuvoje, ypač kai šioks toks fanbase jau egzistuoja ir šiaip estus pradėjom vis daugiau skaityt.
O kad jau sutapo, kad perskaičiau vasarį
Nors mano vertinimai goodreadsuose niekada nebuvo rašyti su mintim kažkaip objektyviai vertinti kūrinius, mintys ir jausmai apie Sacred and Terrible Air yra ypač asmeniški, kai kiekvieną gabaliuką, praplečiantį Elysium pasaulio suvokimą, suvalgiau su didžiausiu malonumu.
Elysium žemėlapis yra daugiau ar mažiau realaus pasaulio atspindys. Turime socialdemokratiškąją Skandinaviją (Katlą su šalim/sostine Vaasa), turime pokomunistinę Rusiją, pasiglemžusią kaimynines tautas (Graad), ir iš esmės turime daug istorijos ir politikos, sutampančios su realybe, nors ir yra savotiškų pamodifikavimų. Kyla klausimas, kokia esmė yra kurti pasaulį – aplamai turint neribotą galimybę kurti savo pasaulį – tokį panašų į mūsų pačių. Tačiau istorijos vystymosi eigoje tas veidrodinis Elysium taip įtraukia, kaip galbūt visiškai fikcinis pasaulis nebūtų galėjęs. Visgi Elysium ypatumas yra ne tai, kiek kas sutampa su tikrove, o the Pale – erdvinė masė, skirianti pasaulio žemynus, kurioje neįmanoma tampa įmanoma, jai paklūsta viskas – fizikos dėsniai, laiko tėkmė, prisiminimai, istorija ir pati būtis, tad žmogui peržengti šią masę nuogu kūnu, išliekant gyvam ir/ar sveikam, yra praktiškai neįmanoma.
Turiu visgi pridurti, kad mane labiausiai nervinantis knygos trūkumas yra tie pasikartojantys merginų, moterų aprašymai, pilni apvalumų, skaistumų, prisirpusių uogų metaforų ir panašios klasikos. Norėjosi mušti vertinimą dėl to (nes tikrai žiauriai užkniso), bet nepaisant to detektyvinė istorija ir Elysium konceptai mane traukė stipriau ir negalėjau nustot žavėtis.
Taigi, vertinimas stipriai subjektyvus. Kaip Sacred and Terrible Air skaitytųsi tik kaip romanas be patirties žaidžiant Disco Elysium? Nežinau. Knyga buvo išleista 6 metai prieš pasirodant žaidimui ir buvo visiška nesėkmė, kas ir lėmė autoriaus sprendimą perkelti konceptus į kitą erdvę. Norėtųsi, kad knygai būtų duotas antras šansas, būtų įdomu pamatyti kaip ji būtų priimta Lietuvoje, ypač kai šioks toks fanbase jau egzistuoja ir šiaip estus pradėjom vis daugiau skaityt.
O kad jau sutapo, kad perskaičiau vasarį
January 12, 2025
Before I begin, I should say that I have read the unofficial English translation, which may have changed how I’ve interpreted the book in ways I certainly wouldn’t know.
I have a lot of thoughts on this book - firstly, WOW. It was very non linear, and I was honestly so confused for the first maybe half of the book. It’s quite hard to follow, but at the same time once things start connecting (and once I remember what all the different terms mean from my memory of DE), it gets quite satisfying. Everything connects, it’s not as chaotic and all over the place as it first reads. Because of this however, I feel like it may benefit from a second reading at some point.
Anyways, I had written about halfway through that it reminded me very much of the Virgin Suicides - it has some similarities in that it’s a group of boys thinking back to a group of sisters who encountered a tragic fate. It definitely develops from there, and the similarities stop after a while, but either way I definitely prefer this book to the former. I’ll try not to spend too much time comparing the two, but the main difference is that the characterisations of the lads, the girls, as well as the other characters are so much more interesting and self aware. Each character has their own flaws and shames that feel intentional and are well depicted. In a slightly different note tho, a similar criticism I have of both books is the sexualisation of child characters - yeah sure it’s being done through the lens of another child and yeah I’m sure there’s a good plot reason for it, I personally just dislike it and I never feel as if it’s essential to the story. It’s not super present in SATA but still.
Anyways, the meat of the story in my opinion really has to do with memory and how the concept of a person or thing can nearly be equated to their actual existence - if someone or something is forgotten, do they stop existing? I really enjoyed reading this, as the three main lads all suffer from trying to preserve these sisters who they love in mind, if not in reality. I think this idea of memory can be read a lot of different ways, and this book does a good job at leaving several avenues open (speaking of, this book has really inspired me to pick up again svetlana boyms the future of nostalgia). One of the main ways this stuck out to me personally is in the tragedy and dangers of holding onto memories - I feel I also suffer from being a mnemotour at times, so seeing this specific kind of suffering is interesting.
Anyways I feel as if I’ve blabbed enough, in short this was a very good book. I think whether or not you’re a fan of DE, you will find this a pleasure to read :)
I have a lot of thoughts on this book - firstly, WOW. It was very non linear, and I was honestly so confused for the first maybe half of the book. It’s quite hard to follow, but at the same time once things start connecting (and once I remember what all the different terms mean from my memory of DE), it gets quite satisfying. Everything connects, it’s not as chaotic and all over the place as it first reads. Because of this however, I feel like it may benefit from a second reading at some point.
Anyways, I had written about halfway through that it reminded me very much of the Virgin Suicides - it has some similarities in that it’s a group of boys thinking back to a group of sisters who encountered a tragic fate. It definitely develops from there, and the similarities stop after a while, but either way I definitely prefer this book to the former. I’ll try not to spend too much time comparing the two, but the main difference is that the characterisations of the lads, the girls, as well as the other characters are so much more interesting and self aware. Each character has their own flaws and shames that feel intentional and are well depicted. In a slightly different note tho, a similar criticism I have of both books is the sexualisation of child characters - yeah sure it’s being done through the lens of another child and yeah I’m sure there’s a good plot reason for it, I personally just dislike it and I never feel as if it’s essential to the story. It’s not super present in SATA but still.
Anyways, the meat of the story in my opinion really has to do with memory and how the concept of a person or thing can nearly be equated to their actual existence - if someone or something is forgotten, do they stop existing? I really enjoyed reading this, as the three main lads all suffer from trying to preserve these sisters who they love in mind, if not in reality. I think this idea of memory can be read a lot of different ways, and this book does a good job at leaving several avenues open (speaking of, this book has really inspired me to pick up again svetlana boyms the future of nostalgia). One of the main ways this stuck out to me personally is in the tragedy and dangers of holding onto memories - I feel I also suffer from being a mnemotour at times, so seeing this specific kind of suffering is interesting.
Anyways I feel as if I’ve blabbed enough, in short this was a very good book. I think whether or not you’re a fan of DE, you will find this a pleasure to read :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 13, 2025
Tellement de potentiel, mais difficile à lire. J'ai l'impression que peut être quelques choses se sont perdues dans la traduction non officielle de l'estonien à l'anglais (quoi que Ibex a fait un travail phénoménal), mais pour avoir vu d'autres gens en parlé peut être que Kurvitz aurait juste eu besoin d'un meilleur éditeur.
Ne pas avoir connu Disco Elysium, j'aurais été franchement perdue; beaucoup de concepts/mots ne sont jamais expliqués et je comprenais seulement parce que j'avais Encyclopedia haut dans mes skills.
Toutefois, l'essence même du pale et même des fois de Shivers étaient présents et j'ai adoré. Le mystère était poignant (d'après moi) et sa résolution déroutante. La prose était magnifique (désolée pour toutes mes updates de lecture avec les innombrables quotes). Triste que d'autres romans/une série au jeu ne se produiront probablement jamais. May the pale never seize them.
| Every girl is actually a weapon of the bourgeoisie.
| Frozen electric wires meander in the dark. Drop by drop across the blanket of snow, with the boot prints. With terrible determination.
| This is how matter degrades, drop by drop, like an analog rhythm running from red through the colourless world.
| Doom stands over him and breathes.
Ne pas avoir connu Disco Elysium, j'aurais été franchement perdue; beaucoup de concepts/mots ne sont jamais expliqués et je comprenais seulement parce que j'avais Encyclopedia haut dans mes skills.
Toutefois, l'essence même du pale et même des fois de Shivers étaient présents et j'ai adoré. Le mystère était poignant (d'après moi) et sa résolution déroutante. La prose était magnifique (désolée pour toutes mes updates de lecture avec les innombrables quotes). Triste que d'autres romans/une série au jeu ne se produiront probablement jamais. May the pale never seize them.
| Every girl is actually a weapon of the bourgeoisie.
| Frozen electric wires meander in the dark. Drop by drop across the blanket of snow, with the boot prints. With terrible determination.
| This is how matter degrades, drop by drop, like an analog rhythm running from red through the colourless world.
| Doom stands over him and breathes.
January 12, 2025
It’s a real surprise that a pretty mediocre novel brought us one of the best games of all times.
Probably part of my issue with the book stems from translation, but even then the structure of the book just doesn’t work in the first half. It gets better at the second half, but still not turns into anything great. The structure is convoluted without any good reason and even though some pretty good guns go off in the last chapters, set up is too easy to miss.
Somehow, this book destroys a little bit of magic of this world, showing that it sometimes so similar to ours it’s geography and politics, that it falls into an uncanny valley. And Encyclopedia regularly interrupts the show to tell you another anecdote.
However when the chapter is written by Electrochemistry it gets pretty good. And the book dive into the Pale a little bit more, giving some pretty interesting food for thought.
Probably part of my issue with the book stems from translation, but even then the structure of the book just doesn’t work in the first half. It gets better at the second half, but still not turns into anything great. The structure is convoluted without any good reason and even though some pretty good guns go off in the last chapters, set up is too easy to miss.
Somehow, this book destroys a little bit of magic of this world, showing that it sometimes so similar to ours it’s geography and politics, that it falls into an uncanny valley. And Encyclopedia regularly interrupts the show to tell you another anecdote.
However when the chapter is written by Electrochemistry it gets pretty good. And the book dive into the Pale a little bit more, giving some pretty interesting food for thought.
September 9, 2025
Runtuhnya kekuasaan, ideologi yang hanya tinggal mimpi sakau, dan kabut misterius yang menelan menguraikan segala bayangan menjadi protein. Revolusi demokrasi sosial yang digaungkan sekarang hanya menjadi dongeng harapan utopian.
Dunia sudah mencapai entropi.
Novelnya sangat berat. Berat as in gelap dan depressing. Latar ceritanya kompleks dengan beberapa made-up words and terminology (beberapa political juga) namun dideskripsikan dengan sangat vivid jadi gak heran kenapa Disco Elysium was such a masterpiece. I feel like misi pencarian 4 gadis yang hilang emphasized the nihilistic nature of the world written. Bikin bingung secara plot namun sangat enjoyable. Good humour also.
The past will eat you alive even if its all that keeps you around.
Dunia sudah mencapai entropi.
Novelnya sangat berat. Berat as in gelap dan depressing. Latar ceritanya kompleks dengan beberapa made-up words and terminology (beberapa political juga) namun dideskripsikan dengan sangat vivid jadi gak heran kenapa Disco Elysium was such a masterpiece. I feel like misi pencarian 4 gadis yang hilang emphasized the nihilistic nature of the world written. Bikin bingung secara plot namun sangat enjoyable. Good humour also.
The past will eat you alive even if its all that keeps you around.
January 26, 2025
Honestly it’s hard to describe this book. It is so complex with so many interwoven themes. I enjoyed how the high tension moments were written. The themes of obsession, collapse, and disappearance were talked about. It also filled me with a sense of nostalgia. Of course there are things I wish were different, but overall the world building was so unique that I have to give it credit lol.
May 18, 2023
A book best left to the fans of Disco Elysium - but not those wanting more of the same
Its creative and chaotic with an ending that's not particularly satisfying. However the story behind the story itself is very enjoyable. Firstly as of the time of this review there is no official English translation and due to some very depressing cloak and dagger corporate infighting it seemed like it was doomed to remain only available in Estonian, however the fans responsible for this translation took it upon themselves to hire professionals to bring about a proper English translation independently, which is a remarkably rare level of dedication in the world of literature. Secondly while it does not have the same power and humour as the Authors better know work, it is enjoyable seeing them play around with some of the ideas, concepts and characterisation that they would later use to such great effect.
3.5
Its creative and chaotic with an ending that's not particularly satisfying. However the story behind the story itself is very enjoyable. Firstly as of the time of this review there is no official English translation and due to some very depressing cloak and dagger corporate infighting it seemed like it was doomed to remain only available in Estonian, however the fans responsible for this translation took it upon themselves to hire professionals to bring about a proper English translation independently, which is a remarkably rare level of dedication in the world of literature. Secondly while it does not have the same power and humour as the Authors better know work, it is enjoyable seeing them play around with some of the ideas, concepts and characterisation that they would later use to such great effect.
3.5
June 6, 2025
What an incredible novel. A difficult read potentially made more difficult by the quality of the translation, but so worth it by the time I reached its conclusion. I've been holding off on this one, especially since I learned about the legal troubles surrounding Disco Elysium and its IP knowing that this would likely be the last time I'd get to visit the world of Elysium but once I started I couldn't put it down. While I don't think its as good as Disco Elysium, there are definitely sections that reach its heights. Sections such as those about Frantciek the Brave, Chemical Marriage (especially as Jesper surfs that one wave), when the Self-Chiller's DJ set reverberates through and can be heard by famous historical figures as they all decide to take their lives, that moment where the Pale recedes, all of these are some of the best things I've read in a very long time. 9/10.
January 18, 2019
Kui midagi hullupööra kiidetakse ja ülistatakse, siis võib see olla kui kahe teraga mõõk, kuna ootused kipuvad liiga kõrgeks kerkima. „Pühast ja õudsest lõhnast“ ootasin seega tavatult head kunstiteost. Ma ei saa küll öelda, et oleksin otseselt pettunud, aga teisalt ei saa ma seda ka kuidagi sajandi romaaniks pidada, kui muidugi ei taha eesti kirjanduse üldist taset arvestades natuke allahindlust teha.
Minu jaoks oli raamat väga segadusseajav, see tähendab, et ma ei olnud kindel, kuidas sellesse suhtuda. Vahel mõtlesin, et siin pole saba ega sarvi, mingi mõttetu jant, hinne kaks tärni. Siis võlusid mind jälle poeesia, atmosfäär, autori poolt loodud ulmelise maailma esteetika, sugestiivsed kujutluspildid (tekst mõjus mingis mõttes nagu koomiksi põhjal vändatud film, näiteks „Sin City“) ning hinne kerkis nelja tärnini. Kokku tuli siis keskmine kolm tärni.
Stiil prevaleeris selgelt sisu üle. Palju võõrsõnu. Iseenda intellektuaalse mänglemise nautimine.
Teisalt kodumaise kirjanduse kontekstis selgelt erandlik teos, väga kosmopoliitne raamat, siin ei leidunud midagi ugrilikult maavillast.
Kõike kokku võttes oleksin tahtnud, et see oleks mulle rohkem meeldinud.
Minu jaoks oli raamat väga segadusseajav, see tähendab, et ma ei olnud kindel, kuidas sellesse suhtuda. Vahel mõtlesin, et siin pole saba ega sarvi, mingi mõttetu jant, hinne kaks tärni. Siis võlusid mind jälle poeesia, atmosfäär, autori poolt loodud ulmelise maailma esteetika, sugestiivsed kujutluspildid (tekst mõjus mingis mõttes nagu koomiksi põhjal vändatud film, näiteks „Sin City“) ning hinne kerkis nelja tärnini. Kokku tuli siis keskmine kolm tärni.
Stiil prevaleeris selgelt sisu üle. Palju võõrsõnu. Iseenda intellektuaalse mänglemise nautimine.
Teisalt kodumaise kirjanduse kontekstis selgelt erandlik teos, väga kosmopoliitne raamat, siin ei leidunud midagi ugrilikult maavillast.
Kõike kokku võttes oleksin tahtnud, et see oleks mulle rohkem meeldinud.
November 25, 2023
Hmm den her er nok mere 2 1/2 stjerne end tre - der var virkelig dele jeg var vild med, men det abstrakte og poetiske blev bare undermineret af, at bogen egentlig var absolut bedst når den var mest ordinær (strandscenerne og generelt venskabet mellem Khan, Tereesz og Jesper).
Elskede når jeg kunne genkende worldbuilding fra Disco Elysium, men ærgrede mig over, at der overhovedet ikke er nogen exposition. Humoren var der enkelte steder, men slet ikke med samme charme som i spillet😔✌️
Vil helt klart genlæse den hvis der kommer en officiel engelsk oversættelse tho💯
Elskede når jeg kunne genkende worldbuilding fra Disco Elysium, men ærgrede mig over, at der overhovedet ikke er nogen exposition. Humoren var der enkelte steder, men slet ikke med samme charme som i spillet😔✌️
Vil helt klart genlæse den hvis der kommer en officiel engelsk oversættelse tho💯
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