This is a book by Galsang Tschinag, an author from Mongolia who writes in German....as one does....My mother had mentioned him.
It's a wonderful book, an autobiographical account of his early childhood in the steppes of Mongolia, living in a yurta with his parents, his brother and sister, his adopted grandmother (who appears to have wandered into the family one day and stayed with them), and his much-loved dog, Arsylang.
It seems to be a very spiritual life, with gods represented by rivers and mountains, eg mother-river Ak-Hem. The realities of life are beautifully described; the day-to-day life, the different work of the different seasons, the challenges they meet - one winter is very cold indeed, much livestock is lost and they sing to the sheep mothers songs about the beauty of their lambs so they will keep providing milk for them. As time goes on the older children go to boarding school in the city, but young Galsan, even though he is not yet at school, is already in charge of his own flock of sheep. Then other things happen, too.
Looking at it psychoanalytically (as one does when one is studying it), the little boy certainly starts out life with a delightful sense of omnipotence, but reality creeps in, rather harshly, at the end.
It really is a wonderful, wonderful book - I cannot wait to read more of his (this is part of an autobiographical trilogy; I suspect the subsequent books will not be quite as idyllic).
It's a wonderful book, an autobiographical account of his early childhood in the steppes of Mongolia, living in a yurta with his parents, his brother and sister, his adopted grandmother (who appears to have wandered into the family one day and stayed with them), and his much-loved dog, Arsylang.
It seems to be a very spiritual life, with gods represented by rivers and mountains, eg mother-river Ak-Hem. The realities of life are beautifully described; the day-to-day life, the different work of the different seasons, the challenges they meet - one winter is very cold indeed, much livestock is lost and they sing to the sheep mothers songs about the beauty of their lambs so they will keep providing milk for them. As time goes on the older children go to boarding school in the city, but young Galsan, even though he is not yet at school, is already in charge of his own flock of sheep. Then other things happen, too.
Looking at it psychoanalytically (as one does when one is studying it), the little boy certainly starts out life with a delightful sense of omnipotence, but reality creeps in, rather harshly, at the end.
It really is a wonderful, wonderful book - I cannot wait to read more of his (this is part of an autobiographical trilogy; I suspect the subsequent books will not be quite as idyllic).
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