Beasts, Men and Gods [Paperback]

I found in father's library old yellow thin book called "ESCAPE FROM THE USSR" published in Slovakia during the war in 1942. It was extremely exciting to read it (only to page 100, the rest of the book was lost), because its a true story how a polish employee is escaping during the turmoil of the russian civil war, the bolsheviks (all Polish were considered an enemy and shot immediately) the only way possible - through Siberia to pacific coast. But this direction is not possible because the reds have seized that area already. Thus they go direction Mongolia and Tibet. He meets bunch of very interesting people and his description of Tibet of that time is very rare and valuable. A MUST!!! true story.

I bought this book on a whim. I was glancing through a history text book about the Russian Civil War. It's not a topic I am personally interested in, but studying for my History A Level I am required to read it. I saw a short poassage about Bogd Khan (a Mongolian religious leader during the civil war who sought to obtain independence for his country, similar to the Dalai Lama in Tibet) and decided to look up this colourful character. The wikipedia page drew in my interest further, and finding reference to this book, I decided to buy it.

Firstly; the printing. This edition come from "Lightening Source" Milton Keynes, a publisher that seems to specialise in public domain books, and, to be frank, the printing is terrible. It's outsized, much larger than the standard paperback and almost too large for my bookshelf. Although there are relatively few spelling mistakes, the formatting isn't great (with no break between the glossary section and the end of the story) and no information whatsoever is given about Ossendowski or the book, aside from the translator's note. Neither is the book's date of writing given -- 1922 for the records -- crucial in understanding Ossendowski's political views.

Also leaving much to be desired is the quality of the prose itself. Ossendowski was evidently not comfortable with English -- he needed a 'translator' to help him -- and many of the book's phrases sit somewhat uneasily. Despite this it is very readable, and I would guess that Ossendowski is a very capable writer in Russian or Polish -- the effect is similar to a 'bad' translation of a great work.

Having said that, the book was written extremely quickly. Ossendowski leaves Mongolia in May 1921, and after a long period living in Peking travels to America. Even if he began writing immediately on arrival in New York it is quite remarkable that the book was in print by the following year. This affords the text something of an unsteady structure, especially in the first Part. The author's haste is understandable, given that whilst he wrote the Mongolian Civil War still raged and many of its characters still lived. If the book had been written even two years later the context would've been completely different. Even so, I don't see why Ossendowski couldn't have revised what has become his most popular work later in life, but there you go.

And now on to the 'journey' itself. Ossendowski's travels are a marvel. He travels from Siberia into Mongolia, to Tibet and then back to Mongolia. The text captures a way of life that was soon to be obliterated. Bogd Khan still rules, one third of Mongolians are still Buddhist monks, the colourful heirachies of Lamas still preserve ancient books and artefacts belonging to Ghengis or Kublai Khan. All these things were soon destroyed by the forces Ossendowski warily describes as "the Reds." Indeed, as he himself writes, "life flows on almost as it flowed eight centuries ago; here man lives only in the past; and the contemporary only complicates and prevents normal life."

Yet at the same time, utter chaos rules. Ossendowski is shot at by more people than I care to remember -- Mongols, Reds, Whites, Tibetans, Chinese, Cossacks, Kalmyks. He encounters, especially in the book's Russian sections, thousands and thousands of corpses. Many of his aquaintances die, many are tortured. For me, it put the Russian, Chinese and Mongolian Civil Wars into perspective. The complex political divisions and alliances left behind in the collapse of the two great empires killed millions and irrevocably changed all countries it touched. Even in the obscure corners of Asia Ossendowski visits, the carnage is excessive.

A great deal is made of Ossendowski's 'wild imagination,' his historical innacuracy, his partiality. Even if it is true that he never met Bogd Khan, only spoke to Baron Ungern von Sternberg once and was nowhere near as important as he made out, I don't really care. Coming from a literary perspective, the characters Ossendowski describes are unforgettable: the Baron, the Khan, Tushegoun Lama and Ivan the gold prospector. The more chimerical events he describes are made believable, and this makes the book an artefact. Had he written merely what he saw and nothing else, I imagine the book would've been considerably less interesting and less famous. That strange moment in which Ossendowski's book switches from historical account to mystic text is what makes it so magical.

I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the wild and empty parts of the planet scarcely visited, or with a thirst for adventure. However, I would recommend at least a cursary knowledge of the politics going on in Russia and China at the time. Apart from that, happy reading!