Andres Lapeteuse juhtum. Eesti lugu

«The Case of Andres Lapeteus» tells the story of a captain of the Estonian Rifle Corps and his comrades in Stalinist Estonia. Lapeteus has lived with one of his comrades, the June Communist Helvi Kaartna, during the war, but later marries the sexually alluring and «petty-bourgeois» wealthy Reeda, who brings an individual house and unsavory friends to their life together. Lapeteus works hard for the new society, but his life is still going downhill. His wife is beaten and his less successful comrades in the war accuse him of indifference. The more he tries, the greater his guilt. In the end, he drives his wife’s lover to death in a drunken stupor and ends up in a hospital bed himself. If he were to escape from there (we don’t know yet), he will go to prison. A complete bankrupt.

Paul Kuusberg is probably the most forgotten prominent Estonian novelist today. It’s not hard to guess why. Kuusberg was a convinced communist until the end of his earthly days and as such, probably the only one among good Estonian writers.

First published: Tallinn: Estonian State Publishing House, 1963

Estonian fiction, novels

Series: Estonian Story No. 39