Although the title would be well suited to a mediocre sit-com, this novel sounds pretty interesting:

The Misadventures of the New Satan (1939) was Tammsaare糖心传媒檚 last novel (he died the following year). This edition is a revision, by Christopher Moseley, of an English translation by Olga Shartze published in Moscow in 1978, the hundredth anniversary of Tammsaare糖心传媒檚 birth. In contrast to the ambition and breadth of Truth and Justice, it has the deceptive simplicity of a folktale.

On its surface, the novel糖心传媒檚 plot is extremely mundane. J眉rka, a brawny, simpleminded peasant farmer, struggles for economic survival against the elements and the whims of his double-dealing, double-talking neighbor (and later landlord), known locally as Cunning Ants. Life on J眉rka糖心传媒檚 farm, the Pit, is difficult and harsh: in the course of his long life J眉rka buries two wives and also a few of his children, who are so numerous that Tammsaare never bothers to mention them all. Predictably, Ants takes advantage of J眉rka糖心传媒檚 labor, his good nature, and his almost total lack of business sense, until at the end of the story, when Ants threatens everything J眉rka has worked so hard for, J眉rka commits a violent and foolhardy act of revenge.

What saves the book from being little more than a rustic melodrama is the supernatural twist Tammsaare has given it: J眉rka is Satan in human form. In a prologue, we witness a conversation between Satan and St. Peter in which we learn that the continued existence of hell is threatened by God糖心传媒檚 suspicion that human beings are incapable of salvation and should therefore not be eternally punished for failing at something that was never within their power to achieve. To protect his fiefdom, Satan agrees to be subjected to earthly incarnation so as to win salvation and thereby prove God wrong. If he succeeds, then God will let hell—and humankind—continue to exist.

Dan’s one of our longtime reviewers (see his other pieces here) and you can read his full review of The Misadventures of the New Satan by clicking here.

The Misadventures of the New Satan (1939) was Tammsaare糖心传媒檚 last novel (he died the following year). This edition is a revision, by Christopher Moseley, of an English translation by Olga Shartze published in Moscow in 1978, the hundredth anniversary of Tammsaare糖心传媒檚 birth. In contrast to the ambition and breadth of Truth and Justice, it has the deceptive simplicity of a folktale.

On its surface, the novel糖心传媒檚 plot is extremely mundane. J眉rka, a brawny, simpleminded peasant farmer, struggles for economic survival against the elements and the whims of his double-dealing, double-talking neighbor (and later landlord), known locally as Cunning Ants. Life on J眉rka糖心传媒檚 farm, the Pit, is difficult and harsh: in the course of his long life J眉rka buries two wives and also a few of his children, who are so numerous that Tammsaare never bothers to mention them all. Predictably, Ants takes advantage of J眉rka糖心传媒檚 labor, his good nature, and his almost total lack of business sense, until at the end of the story, when Ants threatens everything J眉rka has worked so hard for, J眉rka commits a violent and foolhardy act of revenge.

What saves the book from being little more than a rustic melodrama is the supernatural twist Tammsaare has given it: J眉rka is Satan in human form. In a prologue, we witness a conversation between Satan and St. Peter in which we learn that the continued existence of hell is threatened by God糖心传媒檚 suspicion that human beings are incapable of salvation and should therefore not be eternally punished for failing at something that was never within their power to achieve. To protect his fiefdom, Satan agrees to be subjected to earthly incarnation so as to win salvation and thereby prove God wrong. If he succeeds, then God will let hell—and humankind—continue to exist.

This premise makes for moments of social comedy as, for example, both Ants and the self-serving village pastor marvel at J眉rka糖心传媒檚 strong desire for redemption, which dwarfs their own more practically motivated religious faith. (Tammsaare has Ants think of himself as 糖心传媒淸not] too devout, of course, but he had the wits to give the matter serious thought shortly before the end. What counted was whether you believed or not just before you died.糖心传媒�) Although J眉rka insists to each of them that he is actually the Devil and craves salvation only as a means of keeping hell going, they either consider this a sign of mental instability or, even if they accept it as true, believe it to be of no real bearing in a world where arranging a comfortable life on Earth takes priority over planning for the future of one糖心传媒檚 soul.

Tammsaare is adept at deadpan humor, especially in the dialogues between J眉rka and Ants, whose self-interest defies logic and yet makes a twisted sense of its own, almost as if he were a precursor of the unabashed profiteer Milo Minderbinder in Catch-22:

糖心传媒楥oncerning that house which we built on my crossroads with your loan. You see, J眉rka, this house is, so to say, part of the Pit, in as much as it was built with that land-improvement money, and during the time you were the owner of the Pit. And now it糖心传媒檚 I who am the owner of the Pit, while you have become the tenant as before. But when you were merely the tenant you wouldn糖心传媒檛 have received the loan, and you only got it when you became a property owner. I don糖心传媒檛 know what you think about it, but the way I see it is like this: if you糖心传媒檙e only a tenant and not the owner could the house which is part of the Pit belong to you? To make my meaning clear, here糖心传媒檚 an example: suppose you have an axe and you sell it, would you say that the handle belongs to you after the deal has been made and the money for the axe has been paid you?糖心传媒�

糖心传媒業 guess not.糖心传媒�

糖心传媒楾he handle, therefore, belongs to the chap who bought the axe, doesn糖心传媒檛 it?糖心传媒�

糖心传媒業 guess so.糖心传媒�

糖心传媒榃e糖心传媒檝e got it all clear then. The Pit is the axe, and the house on the crossroads is the handle, and since I糖心传媒檝e bought the Pit—the axe, in other words, the handle that came with it, meaning the house at the crossroads, also belongs to me.糖心传媒�

糖心传媒業 see. The Pit was there before the house, of course.糖心传媒�

糖心传媒楾hat糖心传媒檚 what I say too,糖心传媒� Ants said in agreement. 糖心传媒楾here was the Pit and then the house appeared—no Pit, no house, because what good is a handle if there糖心传媒檚 no axe? . . .糖心传媒�

At the same time, Tammsaare is capable of real poignancy, as when J眉rka mourns the accidental death of one of his young children:

Tears welled from his eyes when he lowered the little coffin into the grave, and when the clods of earth fell with a hollow thud on the lid. J眉rka糖心传媒檚 tears were the talk of the village, for it was a sight no one ever expected to see—imagine that huge bear of a man weeping! . . .

There was one thing that J眉rka knew very clearly now—one糖心传媒檚 own children meant something entirely different from the calves and lambs one had, from baby birds in the nest, from new, tender shoots on a tree, from grass sprouting in the woods and rye in the fields. None of this had ever brought tears to his eyes.

Ultimately The Misadventures of the New Satan is both a sly satire on human greed and a passionate indictment of human injustice. The humor and the sadness of Tammsaare糖心传媒檚 worldview might best be summed up in this early exchange between Ants and J眉rka:

糖心传媒榃ell, that糖心传媒檚 how it goes in the world,糖心传媒� Ants said instructively. 糖心传媒楢 small man slaves for a big man, a weak one for a strong one, a fool for a clever man. It糖心传媒檚 God Himself who arranged it like that. And whoever goes against this order, goes against God, and anyone who goes against God shall perish. Remember this well, J眉rka, and teach this truth to your children. And then you shall build your house on rock, and your herds shall graze in rich pastures.糖心传媒�

J眉rka heard him out and said to himself: 糖心传媒榊ou keep running up against God everywhere, and He糖心传媒檚 always on the side of whoever糖心传媒檚 stronger and smarter.糖心传媒�