- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Little, Brown & Company; 1st edition (23 Jan 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0316861707
- ISBN-13: 978-0316861700
- Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13.4 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
1,221,260 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #40 in Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Asia > Mongolia
Hearing Birds Fly: A Year in a Mongolian Village
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Product Description
Review
'With a skill and art quite extraordinary for a first book . the reader is drawn into the world she describes through the warmth of her friendships and the sympathy and generosity with which she treats all aspects of her subject. I put the book down finally with a sense of absolute satisfaction, having spent the last few hours beneath the spell of a writer of real integrity and power' - Chris Stewart 'With a skill and art quite extraordinary for a first book . the reader is drawn into the world she describes through the warmth of her friendships and the sympathy and generosity with which she treats all aspects of her subject. I put the book down finally with a sense of absolute satisfaction, having spent the last few hours beneath the spell of a writer of real integrity and power' - Chris Stewart
Book Description
* Wonderfully accessible travel book on an inaccessible country - Outer Mongolia.
--This text refers to the
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First Sentence
The word tsengel means 'delight'. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
The word tsengel means 'delight'. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hearing Birds Fly,
By Rich Milligan (Thatcham, Berkshire) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Hearing Birds Fly: A Year in a Mongolian Village (Paperback)
"Hearing Birds Fly" is the extraordinary travelogue of Louisa Waugh, an English Language teacher who whilst living in Mongolia decides to spend a year at one of the furthest outreaches of the country living the lifestyle of the nomadic herders who inhabit the remote and isolated area.The book is a rare and insightful look at the lives of the proud peoples of the Tsengel village and also an interesting look at how in some areas of the world the turn of the seasons is still the guiding hand to all activities that go on. Louisa's style is warm and friendly and she never comes across as an arrogant foreigner scoffing at the primitive ways of the people. Likewise the people themselves come across to the reader as a noble and dignified folk, who do not generally begrudge their hard existence and yet can enjoy lighter moments as well. It was also refreshing to read that although Louisa's point of view was obviously from a female perspective and her closer friends were all women, she doesn't allow her writing to become a feminist crusade. The frankness of her writing is also a great credit to her. The names of the villages are difficult to follow and more than once I had to refer to the handy guide of characters at the front of the book, and likewise, even though Louisa doesn't bombard the reader with Mongolian phrases there is a simply glossary of common phrases at the start. The one criticism I have is that there simply aren't enough photos of both the area and the people. I'm guessing this was done purposely for the privacy of the inhabitants, but it would have been nice for some more for the nosey reader! The book was warm, sentimental, (but still factual) and extremely satisfying. I would actively seek out other books by Ms Waugh.
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
time for reflection,
By Lucy Buykx (Hong Kong, Hong Kong) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Hearing Birds Fly: A Year in a Mongolian Village (Paperback)
Louisa's book is a very interesting account of life in a Mongolian village - a lifestyle that is being threatened by politics and modernity. However I found her writing particularly flat and pedestrian in style. To her credit though, she is brutally honest about being a foreigner in a society little touched by westerners. An example is when she admits to her possessiveness of the village when another foreigner is coming to visit for a day. Through her friendships with local women she and the reader are able to see the gulf of cultural divide, particularly for women.Although I found the writing style a little dull, I would recommend the book on two counts. First is for the information about nomadic lifestyles. Secondly is for the opportunity to reflect on westerners living and attempting to become a part of remote cultures, particularly when the experience is to be commoditised into a book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A refreshing change for travel writing,
By Auntie Annie (Scotland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Hearing Birds Fly: A Year in a Mongolian Village (Paperback)
It makes a nice change to read a book where the traveller/journalist is so non-egotistical. Louisa Waugh did her best to experience life in Mongolia as it was, and not to try and change it. That included insisting on taking part on ordinary village tasks, and tearing herself out of her comfort zone, even during her stay, to make sure she understood different ethnic points of view within one community. The local characters shine through as real people with strong personalities, and she does what a journalist should - holds up a glass so we can see a place we probably won't ever go to, without imposing her own judgements on it. My only quibble is the jacket description of this as a year with 'nomadic people' as she did very firmly stay put in a village (with short excursions out) and didn't join nomadic herdspeople.
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