Wolf Totem
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Product Description
Review
'Enlightening, poignant, mysterious - and a miracle' Literary Review 'A refreshingly new perspective on the Cultural Revolution ... harsh and beautiful' Times Literary Supplement '[A] naturalistic, gripping, and deeply affecting novel reminding us how badly we humans have managed our world. Highly recommended.' Library Journal
Literary Review
"The best Chinese book I've read for many years and the only really good novel. It is enlightening, poignant, mysterious -- and a miracle"
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
As Chen Zhen looked through the telescope from his hiding place in the snow cave, he saw the steely gaze of a Mongolian grassland wolf. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
As Chen Zhen looked through the telescope from his hiding place in the snow cave, he saw the steely gaze of a Mongolian grassland wolf. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have just finished this book, after having my head buried in it for the last 3/4 days. It is the most wonderful book and has shot straight into my Top 5 of all time (and I have read a lot).
From the very first page I was hooked. Jiang Rong creates such a vivid and compelling narrative that I found myself similtaniously gripped with the story yet trying to slow down and savour every word, so beautiful was each sentence.
Wolf Totem is semi-autobiographical and Jiang's passion for the Mongolian grasslands shines through on every page. The description of the grasslands themselves, the wildlife, the lifestyle and survival was stunning. So few books make me believe that I am there at the actual place, but with this book I was there on horseback, hiding from wolves, fleeing for my life, braving blizzards and building campfires. I smiled, I cried, I hoped and I silently pleaded all within the space of an hour. I also fell in love with wild Mongolian wolves. To get to know them was a pleasure - they are clever, cunning, brave, brilliant and I loved following their story (from both sides - the good and the bad). The Little Wolf that was captured and raised by humans both endeared me and broke my heart.
While this book is most certainly a tale of the grasslands of the last 10,000 years and what happens when modern living creeps in, it is also a book about so much more. I can't praise this enough; I am sad that it has ended as I could have read on for another 500 pages. What a beautiful book, one I highly recommend and one I will be reading again and again.
From the very first page I was hooked. Jiang Rong creates such a vivid and compelling narrative that I found myself similtaniously gripped with the story yet trying to slow down and savour every word, so beautiful was each sentence.
Wolf Totem is semi-autobiographical and Jiang's passion for the Mongolian grasslands shines through on every page. The description of the grasslands themselves, the wildlife, the lifestyle and survival was stunning. So few books make me believe that I am there at the actual place, but with this book I was there on horseback, hiding from wolves, fleeing for my life, braving blizzards and building campfires. I smiled, I cried, I hoped and I silently pleaded all within the space of an hour. I also fell in love with wild Mongolian wolves. To get to know them was a pleasure - they are clever, cunning, brave, brilliant and I loved following their story (from both sides - the good and the bad). The Little Wolf that was captured and raised by humans both endeared me and broke my heart.
While this book is most certainly a tale of the grasslands of the last 10,000 years and what happens when modern living creeps in, it is also a book about so much more. I can't praise this enough; I am sad that it has ended as I could have read on for another 500 pages. What a beautiful book, one I highly recommend and one I will be reading again and again.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Like the call of the wolves themselves, this book, and its story, echo with Jiang Rong's long lonely howl filled with sadness. It is at once amazing, and devastating, reading. It is a book that as clearly celebrates with elaborate richness a 10,000 year old grassland ecosystem as page by page it details its inevitable decline. It is a book that envelopes you in its way of life so completely, that you will finish it feeling an almost personal sense of loss...
Wolf Totem is based on the real-life experiences of its author, Jiang Rong, who volunteered to go to Inner Mongolia in 1969 at the heart of the Cultural Revolution. He spent the next 12 years living with, and learning from the nomadic natives of the region. During this time he witnessed the epic struggle between humans and wolves that lies at the heart of a perfectly balanced ecosystem, and preserved some of the world's finest grasslands; he also witnessed the arrival of the Han Chinese, outsiders like himself, and their guns and farming methods that were to destroy it. It is a fascinating picture of a war between nature and human civilisation, between ancient customs and modern culture.
Wolf Totem pays homage to a complex spiritual system of beliefs, of Tengger the God of the grasslands, and the reverence of the cunning and ferocity of the wolves. It speaks of the history of Genghis Khan's mighty Mongol empire, suggesting that this intricate relationship between humans and beasts, was one of mutual respect, mutual advancement, and mutual protection. And it is wolves that lie at the heart of the story, and Jiang Rong's reverence, terror and fascination with them.
This is by no means a story, so much as it is a thesis on a dying way of life. The narrative is slow; the dialogue unrealistic, because the characters are merely mouthpieces for Jiang Rong's argument. You need to be able to accept and get over this fact, if you are to appreciate this novel. What it does so well is to offer a frank and sensitive assessment, never sentimentalising what is a violent and brutal existence.
Having seen what is left of Inner Mongolia's grasslands, and seen the sandstorms in Beijing, I feel the author's lament keenly. Open this book and you are transported back to a time and place where humans respected and cared for the land, where they struggled and suffered as part of an age-old balance in which neither humans nor nature were supreme. Wolf Totem is a dirge; a thesis; a warning; a microcosm of humanity's increasing distance from nature; a love-song for the wolves, herdsmen and nomads; and a novel that will leave you changed.
Anyone interested in China, in different cultures, in the impact of humans on the environment, or in wolves, should find this book unique and unforgettable.
Wolf Totem is based on the real-life experiences of its author, Jiang Rong, who volunteered to go to Inner Mongolia in 1969 at the heart of the Cultural Revolution. He spent the next 12 years living with, and learning from the nomadic natives of the region. During this time he witnessed the epic struggle between humans and wolves that lies at the heart of a perfectly balanced ecosystem, and preserved some of the world's finest grasslands; he also witnessed the arrival of the Han Chinese, outsiders like himself, and their guns and farming methods that were to destroy it. It is a fascinating picture of a war between nature and human civilisation, between ancient customs and modern culture.
Wolf Totem pays homage to a complex spiritual system of beliefs, of Tengger the God of the grasslands, and the reverence of the cunning and ferocity of the wolves. It speaks of the history of Genghis Khan's mighty Mongol empire, suggesting that this intricate relationship between humans and beasts, was one of mutual respect, mutual advancement, and mutual protection. And it is wolves that lie at the heart of the story, and Jiang Rong's reverence, terror and fascination with them.
This is by no means a story, so much as it is a thesis on a dying way of life. The narrative is slow; the dialogue unrealistic, because the characters are merely mouthpieces for Jiang Rong's argument. You need to be able to accept and get over this fact, if you are to appreciate this novel. What it does so well is to offer a frank and sensitive assessment, never sentimentalising what is a violent and brutal existence.
Having seen what is left of Inner Mongolia's grasslands, and seen the sandstorms in Beijing, I feel the author's lament keenly. Open this book and you are transported back to a time and place where humans respected and cared for the land, where they struggled and suffered as part of an age-old balance in which neither humans nor nature were supreme. Wolf Totem is a dirge; a thesis; a warning; a microcosm of humanity's increasing distance from nature; a love-song for the wolves, herdsmen and nomads; and a novel that will leave you changed.
Anyone interested in China, in different cultures, in the impact of humans on the environment, or in wolves, should find this book unique and unforgettable.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is one of my all time greats - and there aren't a lot up there! I couldn't put it down - it took me on a journey of the greatest wonderment and I didn't want it to end and I cried when it did. Rong's writing is superb! I read chunks of it over and over again inhaling the scenes he presents to you, his writing actually paints pictures in your mind and in vivid colour too. I will definately read it over and over again throughout my lifetime.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Spectacular Wolves
This book has so much energy and cultural wisdom. I started reading this not expecting anything spectacular but i was totally amazed how it intrigued me to read on. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Esoo Limes
Forget about the contents: what about the cover?
Look at the picture of the horse on the cover. Just look at it. It has three legs at the front, and one at the back. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Enzyme
A sad reflection on mankind combined with a beautiful story about a...
I picked up this book on recommendation after travelling to Beijing. This is a delightful story about raising a wolf cub with a wonderful depiction of the civilisation of China at... Read more
Published 11 months ago by M. Wilkinson
you'll need the determination of a wolf to finish it
Had this book on the shelf for a lonf time before getting round to reading it. Starts well, with a lot of energy and exciting passages but simply goes on too long, with many... Read more
Published 12 months ago by james carmichael
fascinating clash of cultures
This semi-autobiographical novel tells the story of Chen, an urban Han Chinese student who is sent into the countryside in Inner Mongolia during the Cultural Revolution, and his... Read more
Published 12 months ago by P. A. Wilson
The Balance of Nature
This is without doubt one of the best books I have ever read - I am tempted to say THE very best - a book that I know will stay with me for a long time. Read more
Published 15 months ago by C. G. Jaques
Mongolia becomes less remote
A vivid novel set in the Mongolian grasslands that offers a window on the way people shared these lands with wolves and horses. Read more
Published on 10 April 2010 by Stroud Cornock
A book that could change the world, if enough people read it
This is the kind of book I would force everyone who cares nothing for the environment to read, if I could. It would open their eyes. Read more
Published on 16 Jan 2010 by Chantal Lyons
An amazing book
This amazing book has a slow start but then totally absorbed me for several days and i really felt I was living the story with the characters. Read more
Published on 20 Aug 2009 by NJMS
Wonderfully evocative
Having never been to mainland China or Mongolia I know very little about the region or its people, but with this book you dont have to as its written from a humanistic point of... Read more
Published on 12 Jun 2009 by evilbendyone
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