Turms Kuolematon (The Etruscan) by Mika Waltari

Mika Waltari has always been my favourite Finnish author. Though Sinuhe Egyptiläinen (The Egyptian) is by far the best known of his works, I have always preferred Mikael Angelos (The Dark Angel) and Turms Kuolematon (translated as the Etruscan).

The Etruscan is set against the backdrop of the golden age of Hellenic glory, when Rome is but small, war-like city of barbarians. It tells a tale of Turms, a young man who has lost his memory after a lightning strike. As an instigator of rebellion in Persia, Turms flees the Great King's wrath to the orcle of Delphoi. From here he travels further west in a company of Dorieus, a Spartan warrior. Turms gets caught in the great events of the age, the struggle between the Greeks and the Persians. Eventually, after many adventures and wars, Turms finds his way to the land of the Etruscans, where the truth of his birth awaits him.

There are so many layers and so much subtle wisdom in this book that it would take hours to go through them. Let it be sufficient to say that Waltari writes on the corrupting power of material wealth, friendship and loyalty, the bitterness of love, and the cruelty of war better than any author I have ever read.

The repeating themes of Waltari's books -treacherous women, the decline of a noble cultures and young male's path to adulthood, are all present in this book in abundance. Equally evident is the meticulous research Waltari did to breathe life into a Ancient world of some 2,500 years ago. Waltari's secret is in his style of writing: there are not excalmation marks, quatation marks or question marks in the entire book. Instead the whole story reads as if you were viewing the splendid sights of the ancient world through someone's eyes as Waltari, the great illusionist, summons the events from the depths of time.

Though a literary classic in its own right, The Etruscan can also be read read simply as an exciting historical adventure with touch of supernatural. For me though, the book is far more than that. It is a companion during the dark and heavy times of my life when I have had to make hard choices. Waltari's ability to catch entire life story of a man in a single book (another one of his enduring themes) has made the book relevant to me throughout my life as I have grown older.

To those of the Dragon/kolibri readers who enjoy Historical novels, there are none that I would recommend more than the Etruscan. It is not the easiest of Waltari's novels, but for me at least, it has always been the most rewarding. Even after reading it a dozen times, I always find something new when I sit down and fondly open it again.

On a final note, there is no other book that ends with such a powerful words (apologies to our English readers, but I would not even dare to try to translate this).

Siksi tiedän kuolevani onnellisena, hehkuvan kuin nuorukainen, saadessani vihdoin sulkea hänet syliini ja tuntiessani hänet. Hänen väkevät siipensä kantavat minut kuolemattomuuteen. Sitten on tuleva leponi ja unohdus, suloinen, suloinen unohdus. Vuosisata, vuosituhat, samantekevää. Kerran olen palaava, minä, Turms, kuolematon.

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