Itemize Books Toward 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
Declare Of Books Wolf Totem
| Title | : | Wolf Totem |
| Author | : | Jiang Rong |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | First 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 |
Representaion Supposing 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 wolf Published 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.Rating Of Books Wolf Totem
Ratings: 4.02 From 3463 Users | 499 ReviewsEvaluation Of Books Wolf Totem
I loved it. Heartbreaking and pertinent. Setting aside any reservations one might have about style (one reads for many things, style being only one of them), I enjoyed the book most for its depiction of the social and bureaucratic processes of the Great Leap Forward and how these brought about the destruction of a culture and of an ecology. The story has an urgent poignancy with its lessons wrapped in a nice little tale along the lines of Born Free, but with a less happy ending. Chens love forI 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
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 Wolf
I can still recall the very evening when I started reading Wolf Totem, and so I do remember the feeling: a grand novel that merely needs any human characters to get you immersed into the story. For a while, I believed that this might be one of the finest pieces of writing I've ever read. Well, it is not, after all, but still, a very compelling novel about many faces of human domination over nature, and the ways which helped China establish dominance over non-Chinese areas. As we are facing
I'm missing something, I guess.I mean, I get why the book might have been popular in China; I don't really know the issues, but there are long philosophical discussions on the nature of the Chinese character--meaning the character of Han Chinese--which could theoretically strike a chord. I'm not sure I get the interest beyond the national borders, though.Because it's not a great story--it's a conventional story--the characters are never more than stereotypes, the dialogue (and prose generally)
An emotional story which shows the catastrophic impact of the human civilization to the Mother Nature. Without any respect to the miracle of life and to the other species, serving a system of unstoppable development and limitless profit, the human race continues to destroy his home. I suppose the end will be painful and irreversible.
At first I thought there would be just too much wolf information and set speeches to sustain my interest - how wrong I was. The Mongolian grasslands became such a precious and magical place that I followed their destiny with emotions charged. The book describes the battle of Chinese development - it's real, it's allegorical, it's personal. Well worth reading but beware of falling in love.
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