Review: "The Blue Sky" by Galsan Tschinag

 

The Blue Sky by Galsan Tschinag
Translated by Katharina Rout
English translation published 2006 via Milkweed Editions
★★★

The Blue Sky is the first in a trilogy of autobiographical novels describing life in a Mongolia on the cusp of change. Dshurukuwaa is a young nomadic boy, content with his lot: parents and siblings; a beloved adopted grandmother; flocks of animals to tend to and love. His plans are both grand (e.g., to own a thousand sheep; to have a big yurt of his own and care for his parents) and limited: he cannot really imagine a world outside the mountains and his family. But the world is changing, and with it Mongolia, and when Dshurukuwaa's siblings are sent off to school, change sweeps in more quickly than he can process it.

This is in some ways a quick novel and in other ways quite a slow one. Length prevents any sort of dragging out, but for all that a lot happens (a death that Dshurukuwaa is too young to fully understand; his siblings leaving; a harsh winter that threatens the family's livelihood and indeed lives; an accidental poisoning), I found the book to be primarily atmospheric. I've read a small handful of books set in Mongolia, but to the best of my memory I don't think I've ever read a novel set in Mongolia that is also written by someone from Mongolia. I strongly recommend reading the (short) accompanying texts by Tschinag and Rout (the translator) as well—they give some insights into what must be something of an extraordinary life.

(I realized upon starting this that I could have looked for the original German, but it wasn't long before I decided I was well and truly better off with English—so much specific vocabulary!)