A very different and interesting book about life in a nomadic pastoral community. When I was reading James Church's latest book which included a trip to Mongolia, Church spoke of the blue sky and nothingness of the steppes there. It reminded me of a book by a Mongolian author that I'd considered reading when it came out in 2006. However, Tschinag is not Mongolian but Tuvan. Tuvans are an ethnic minority in Mongolia and reside in the northwest corner in the Altai Mountains. There is also a Russian Tuvan Republic bordering Mongolia. This is the first of a trilogy about his life growing up on the steppes and mountains when the Soviets are starting to take more and more control over traditional ways of life. It's the story of a way of life that is vanishing. It's heart breaking at times and it's startling in its life and death intensity. These are nomadic pastoral people-herders of sheep and goats. They eke out a living and are true survivors living on the fringe. He tells of his brother and sister having to go off to school and the joy of his father bringing them home at semester break with candy- which might as well have been like gold. Even rags brought home by the students were recycled and valued. Much is made of the devotion to their animals and the cultural taboos in a herding society. A bad storm in the winter or spring can destroy them and such a storm happens towards the end of the book. There's a shamanistic aspect to the book as nature is revered, feared, and respected-the blue sky is such a force and the young boy calls on it without success to save his dog.

Global Read 116: Mongolia

It was fascinating to read about life on the steppe, and the difficulties felt visceral, but overall the book was pretty slow. Also it was clear what was going to happen to Arsylang which made the book difficult for me to read.