Karl Ristikivi was one of the first Estonian writers to create a comprehensive panorama of his country's urbanization. He also wrote the first Estonian surrealist novel, a work that is strongly influenced by existentialist philosophy. He orchestrated an impressive cycle of twelve books into a polyphonic unity with a time scale that embraces European history over two millennia. His invention and use of a complicated system of myths and symbols could be compared to the approach of the school of semiotic writers. Humanism and traditional ethics are, however, the chief legacy of his works.

Ristikivi was born on 16 October 1912 in Paadr²ma in western Estonia to an unmarried maidservant, Liiso Ristikivi, and was baptized Karp Ristikivi in the Russian Orthodox congregation to which his mother belonged. He spent his childhood on various farms where his mother found employment. In 1920 he entered a village school and suffered humiliation...