The Xenophobe's Guide to the Estonians

The Xenophobe's Guide

by Lembit Öpik, Hilary Bird, Mustmaa Ulvi

A guide to understanding the Estonians which dispels or confirms preconceived prejudices with humor and insight.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Egelin · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a foreign person trying to understand Estonians, it's a must-read! Then again, you shouldn't forget that this book has also it's entertaining aspect, so don't take everything you read too seriously!
Being Estonian myself I truly enjoyed reading it and I must admit I even found out a couple of new things! :-)

[Antonomasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting to read this alongside a new English translation of volume 1 of 90-year-old Estonian classic Tõde ja õigus I (Truth & Justice)*, a novel that probably cuts both ways in illustrating and carving national character - in these authors' words "an everyday story of hardship, gritty perseverance and swamp drainage".

Estonians are portrayed in this humorous guide as deeply attached to their peasant heritage, and with far more indigenous pre-Christian paganism remaining in their folk culture than most European countries (though the novel so far has more of a spartan Lutheran-Scandinavian feel). Along with traits including a liking for personal space which has branched into an enthusiasm for remote technology, and apprehensiveness about long-term planning (here related to spending the best part of the last millennium in serfdom, never knowing what life was going to throw at you), this creates a picture of a place and people that to me at least sounds rather likeable, if taciturn. And in some ways recognisably between Eastern Europe and the Nordic countries culturally as well as geographically.

Before starting the novel, what I'd most frequently seen of Estonia or Estonians was on Eurosport; cross country skiing does get a brief mention, and a tradition of strongman contests appears both here and in Truth & Justice.

Occasionally, you find a word in another language that you feel you've always been looking for in your own. Ilo is a sense of beauty, joy and contentment particularly, but not exclusively, associated with nature and old customs. (I've tried to get at this idea with 'magic' - too general - or 'numinous' - too grandiose and Classical and quite missing a sense of cosiness and simplicity.) "Ilo is the solitary candle in the window in winter darkness, the tea light in the old oak in spring, the vase of flowers on the tablecloth, the ears of wheat on a weatherbeaten old stone, a tintinnabuli Pärt cadence."

Something I should already have known: composer Arvo Pärt is in fact Estonian, not Finnish.

I didn't expect to learn: There's an old standard called 'Lucky Lips', popular with brass bands. So the Morrissey track is a pun...

And this guide stayed on the right side of flippancy without becoming cringeworthy (as Brits might be concerned it would, given that comedy politician Lembit Öpik is one of the three authors).


* Available as a legitimately free ebook from the publisher here. (I have a few reservations about the quality of the translation, but whatever it may be, it's not difficult reading.)

[Johanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

From all the praise I expected it to be funnier. When it comes down to it, how special are the things mentioned there? Please let me know in what countries people don't love their home (house or apartment) for example. A lot of the references were outdated (Kodu keset linna) and I feel it was more biased towards South Estonia (or there just wasn't enough about Tallinn 8D). I did get fiercely nationalistic whenever singing festival or revolution was mentioned so not all hope is lost and a) the book is not half bad b) I'm not actually a fake Estonian.

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a bit disappointed because from what I had read of it, I thought this book would be really funny. And it was funny, but not as much as I had hoped it would be. We're not talking Bill Bryson level humor here. But it does give a great introduction to life in modern Estonia. Although the book was less than 100 pages long, I learned a lot from it. I may check out other Xenophobes' Guides.

[Marcel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a funny and educational read. I've learned quite a few things about Estonia and Estonians in a very short read.


The book does show Estonians as they are, based on their history and culture: they love singing and they love spending time in saunas, usually naked.

I've learned a lot of new interesting Estonian words:
- your life partner is called abikaasa (abi = help and kaasa = mate); it's so funny to call your wife or husband a help mate :)
- Estonians like to say Ootame, vaatame (which means Let's wait and see)
- Lemmikloom is what they call their pets (lemmik = favourite and loom = animal)
- Their emergency services are kiirabi (kiir = fast and abi = help)

I was surprised that Estonia has so many islands. The book mentions Estonia has 1521 islands. This information may actually be outdated, since new data shows that Estonia has even more islands: 2222.

Some statements about Estonians are exaggerated in order to make the reading more amusing, like 'Everyone [in Estonia] wears a hat.' Really? Everyone?

The book does also introduce a lot of local interesting facts, but occasionally fails to convince the reader they are actually interesting. A not so successful attempt to present an interesting fact is mentioning Paul Keres as a famous Estonian chess player who is considered the 'eternal second', without actually explaining in detail why he is considered the 'eternal second'. Also, the 'village of fools' is quickly mentioned without really explaining the history behind the fact. One successful attempt to present an interesting fact is writing about Arvo Pärt - probably the best known Estonian outside Estonia, who is the most performed living composer in the world (at the time of writing).

In conclusion, as someone who has moved to Estonia 3 years ago, I feel this book does include a lot of useful tips and tricks how to understand and live in Estonia. Unnecessary generalizations may make it less credible, so it's good not to take it too seriously. Since it's a short read, it does not go too deep in explaining some of the facts, but it still gives a generally good idea about Estonia and Estonians.

[Jurga · Rating 2 out of 5]

The most boring book of all Xenophobe's guide series. And hardly shows the interesting sides of Estonians and Estonia at all. Maybe good to someone who has never been to Estonia and has no friends inthat country.

[Chris Renneker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great book, very informative. Approximately half of the pages are dog tagged for things that I want to look up later. I've read about ten Xenophobe's Guides and this is my favorite. It conveys a magic sounding culture and put Estonia on my travel list.

[Miriel68 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Frankly? A waste of time. A bunch of basic information about Estonians and their style of life, which tries (and fails) to be funny. You will learn that they love outside activities, are not very romantic and have a difficult language.

[Alžbeta Vyšňovská · Rating 5 out of 5]

2

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

hilarious read !!
but you should read this with a grain of salt - some aspects are over exaggerated for a comedic reason and some things are just out of date

[Tomasz Jarosz · Rating 3 out of 5]

No spoko, bardzo fajne streszczenie informacji o Estonii i Estończykach. Zgadzam się z większością, z resztą nie mam zdania, bo aż tak tego kraju w praktyce jeszcze nie znam.

[Gavin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could be about any east/north country

[Víctor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun introduction to Estonia and its society. Despite what the title of the series may suggest is a well written piece with a lot of useful content at a really low price. Must read if you are going to visit or live in Estonia.