Identify Books Supposing Wolf Totem
| Original Title: | 狼图腾 |
| ISBN: | 1594201560 (ISBN13: 9781594201561) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Batu, 陳陣, Chen Zhen, Bilgee, Yang Ke, Uljii, Gasmai, Erlang, Yir, Kuning |
| Setting: | 內蒙古(China) |
| Literary Awards: | Man Asian Literary Prize (2007), 亞洲週刊中文十大好書 (2004) |
Jiang Rong
Hardcover | Pages: 527 pages Rating: 4.02 | 3463 Users | 499 Reviews
Narration During Books Wolf Totem
An epic Chinese tale in the vein of The Last Emperor, Wolf Totem depicts the dying culture of the Mongols-the ancestors of the Mongol hordes who at one time terrorized the world-and the parallel extinction of the animal they believe to be sacred: the fierce and otherworldly Mongolian wolfPublished under a pen name, Wolf Totem was a phenomenon in China, breaking all sales records there and earning the distinction of being the second most read book after Mao's little red book. There has been much international excitement too-to date, rights have been sold in thirteen countries. Wolf Totem is set in 1960s China-the time of the Great Leap Forward, on the eve of the Cultural Revolution.
Searching for spirituality, Beijing intellectual Chen Zhen travels to the pristine grasslands of Inner Mongolia to live among the nomadic Mongols-a proud, brave, and ancient race of people who coexist in perfect harmony with their unspeakably beautiful but cruel natural surroundings. Their philosophy of maintaining a balance with nature is the ground stone of their religion, a kind of cult of the wolf.
The fierce wolves that haunt the steppes of the unforgiving grassland searching for food are locked with the nomads in a profoundly spiritual battle for survival-a life-and-death dance that has gone on between them for thousands of years. The Mongols believe that the wolf is a great and worthy foe that they are divinely instructed to contend with, but also to worship and to learn from. Chen's own encounters with the otherworldly wolves awake a latent primitive instinct in him, and his fascination with them blossoms into obsession, then reverence.
After many years, the peace is shattered with the arrival of Chen's kinfolk, Han Chinese, sent from the cities to bring modernity to the grasslands. They immediately launch a campaign to exterminate the wolves, sending the balance that has been maintained with religious dedication for thousands of years into a spiral leading to extinction-first the wolves, then the Mongol culture, finally the land. As a result of the eradication of the wolves, rats become a plague and wild sheep graze until the meadows turn to dust. Mongolian dust storms glide over Beijing, sometimes blocking out the moon.
Part period epic, part fable for modern days, Wolf Totem is a stinging social commentary on the dangers of China's overaccelerated economic growth as well as a fascinating immersion into the heart of Chinese culture.
Particularize Based On Books Wolf Totem
| Title | : | Wolf Totem |
| Author | : | Jiang Rong |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 527 pages |
| Published | : | March 27th 2008 by Penguin Press (first published April 1st 2004) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Cultural. China. Historical. Historical Fiction. Asia. Asian Literature. Chinese Literature. Animals. Literature |
Rating Based On Books Wolf Totem
Ratings: 4.02 From 3463 Users | 499 ReviewsAssessment Based On Books Wolf Totem
The primary reason I read this book was because of the fact I needed another book--there was a sale, and I needed one more book to get the deal. I picked it up because I liked the color and the title, read the description, and thought it seemed fairly interesting. At the beginning of the book I was mildly interested; I kept waiting for something suspenseful and more interesting to happen. Until finally I became transfixed with the play of the words and the story itself.I honestly found WolfA mistake, the greatest realisation :) Wolf Totem 🐺
This has been a reading experience unlike any other for me. Through the eyes of a Chinese student, sent to Inner Mongolia as part of a volunteer program during the Cultural Revolution, we see a nomadic way of life as it has existed for centuries and as it is on the verge of it's death before encroaching masses of Chinese seeking land and food. (The author was involved in the same type of program for 11 years, beginning in 1967.)Chen Zhen, and 2 or 3 like-minded friends in the student brigade,
OK, yesterday I finished it. I have to give it 5 stars, but I really NEED someone to answer one question. Did the author really raise a wolf cub? This is the one thing that is terrible about historical fiction - being unsure what exactly is fiction and what is not. I know that this has no real significance in this book, but I need to know. If somebody reads this and knows, please send me a message! The preface by the translator says this is a quasi-autobiographical novel.I have to say this to
I really like this book, but its translation is a problem. I have both the Chinese and the English versions, and quite a bit of the original is left untranslated in the English release.In the Chinese edition, there is a quote from a famous person (both Western and Eastern) before each chapter that sort of sets the theme for the chapter, gives further insight into the political ideas in the story, etc. These quotes are completely omitted in the translated version. In addition, there is a 50 pages
Apparently moving to China has slowed down my reading considerably.Wolf Totem was a massive best seller here in 2005; despite being somewhat literary it broke every sales record the country has, short of Mao's little red book. It was also made into a movie that did equally well. I decided to check it out to get a feel for modern pop-literature zeitgeist in China, but I think I suffered from a culture gap. It's about a Beijing student sent to inner Mongolia during the cultural revolution in the
A surprise, this book. Starring the Mongolian grasslands with all characters secondary to that. There is a stiffness to the writing that makes me think the translation wasn't so easy - or maybe the translator wasn't so easy? - and there's quite a bit of stereotyping with the Chinese depicted as domesticated/civilised and the Mongolians as essentially 'noble savages' all against a background of the Cultural Revolution as we watch a way of life finely attuned to the environment slipping away.The
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