The Blue Sky

By Galsan Tschinag

A boy’s nomadic life in Mongolia is under threat in a novel that “captures the mountains, valleys and steppes in all their surpassing beauty and brutality” (Minneapolis Star-Tribune).

In the high Altai Mountains of northern Mongolia, a young shepherd boy comes of age, tending his family’s flocks on the mountain steppes and knowing little of the world beyond the surrounding peaks. But his nomadic way of life is increasingly disrupted by modernity.

This confrontation comes in stages. First, his older siblings leave the family yurt to attend a distant boarding school. Then the boy’s grandmother dies, and with her his connection to the old ways. But perhaps the greatest tragedy strikes when his dog, Arsylang—“all that was left to me”—ingests poison set out by the boy’s father to protect his herd from wolves. “Why is it so?” Dshurukawaa cries out in despair to the Heavenly Blue Sky, to be answered only by the wind.

Rooted in the oral traditions of the Tuvan people, The Blue Sky weaves the timeless story of a boy poised on the cusp of manhood with the story of a people on the threshold.

“Thrilling. . . . Tschinag makes it easy for his readers to fall into the beautiful rhythms of the Tuvans’ daily life.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review

“In this pristine and concentrated tale of miraculous survival and anguished loss, Tschinag evokes the nurturing warmth of a family within the circular embrace of a yurt as an ancient way of life lived in harmony with nature becomes endangered.” —Booklist

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jun 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9781571317391

Reviews for The Blue Sky

[labfs39 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Dshurukawaa is a young Tuvan shepherd boy growing up in the Altai mountains of Mongolia. Life is hard, but he has a loving family and a loyal dog. His adopted Grandmother is his favorite person in the world, and she dotes on him. When his brother and sister go off to boarding school, Dshurukawaa takes on more responsibilities for the lambs and bonds even more with Aryslan, his dog.I loved this story, based on the author's childhood as a Tuvan nomad. The descriptions of life in the ail, or settlement of his extended family's yurts, were fascinating, and the story is told with warmth. The author uses dialect for certain objects and concepts, and there is a helpful glossary at the end (which I wish I had known about sooner). I also enjoyed the translator's introduction where she discusses how she took on this project and her trip to Mongolia to stay with Galsang. I do wish there had been a map in the edition of the book that I read. It's the first in a trilogy of autobiographical novels, and I have already ordered the next one.

[pamelad_570511 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Blue Sky is narrated by a young boy, the youngest of three children in a family of nomadic herders. They are Tuvans, indigenous people living in the High Altai mountains in the far north-west of Mongolia, sharing the land with the Kazakhs. Their way of life is dying as the Soviet system takes over. The two older children are removed to a boarding school in the city, and that will be the fate of this little boy too, but for now he's helping his family and managing his own herd of sheep with the help of his devoted dog Aryslan. The most important person in his life is his grandmother, an old woman cheated and left almost destitute by her own family and taken in by the boy's.

[japaul22 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Galsan Tschinag is a Mongolian author, actually part of the Tuvan people who live there. This book is a memoir of his childhood and focuses on his relationship with his grandmother and his dog. As his loses these relationships, it also seems that some of the Tuvan people's way of life is also changing and being lost. More and more, outside forces begin to change life for these people. I liked this, but didn't love it as much as Lisa (labfs39). I like stretching my worldview by reading books like this, but at the same time I often find them hard to connect with. That was the case here. Not having any background in the region or culture, I think I missed some of the significance of the changes that were happening and also was a little lacking in a framework for the cultural knowledge that would have added to my enjoyment. I still would encourage people to seek this book out, but it wasn't a favorite for me.

[quondame · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Interesting but difficult. A harrowing picture of the starkness of life in the Altai during the middle of the 20th century. A boy less than eight faces losses that break adults in a harsh but beloved landscape.

[starbox_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"The Gentle West of the Mongolian empire"By sally tarbox on 9 February 2018Format: HardcoverFirst part of an autobiographical trilogy, which takes us through the early years of the son of a nomadic Mongol herdsman. The way of life is traditional; the family live in yurts, follow shaman beliefs and live by raising sheep. Yet the influence of the Communist state is felt even here, where children are sent away to school and their parents expected to kill a fixed quota of wolves (or pay a 'fine' in livestock). And where state encouragement is leading to massive deforestation.The author looks back on the scenery, the community and his close relationships with his grandmother and his 'unique' dog, the faithful Arsylang. But life is bitter, and harsh events cause him to turn away from his parents and Gok-Deeri, the deity represented by the blue sky...Maybe *3 for much of the novel, but it builds to a powerful crescendo. Would certainly read the sequel.

[meggyweg · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is written from the point of view of someone very young (just how young I cannot say, but under eight years old) and it's fairly short, which might lead a person to conclude it's a children's book. But it's not the kind of book children would enjoy. It has no plot to speak of; the narrative simply drifts along. Yet, if you don't mind that sort of thing, there is much here to enjoy. The descriptions are spot-on, and I learned a great deal about the life and culture of the nomadic herders in Mongolia. I knew Mongolia was a very poor country, but I was still slightly shocked over how little the narrator and his family had, when they were considered to be a wealthy family.It says in the back that this book is part of a trilogy. The next book covers the protagonist's later childhood and the third, his adolescence and entry into adulthood. I think the other two books would be worth a read.

[shawnd_72 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The author describes the book as "...the first part of my autobiographical trilogy. It describes my early childhood...". The autobiography is narrated by a pre-pubescent boy and his childhood in Mongolia as a nomad. The boy suffers a disability early in life, and family politics conspire such that the boy is brought up mainly by his grandmother. The book continues as the boy begins to take more and more responsibilities as a shepherd, as his older siblings are the first in his family to go to school. The hardships of a nomadic Mongolian existence are portrayed touchingly. Ultimately, the troubles of the family and environment plague the boy's ability to overcome one of the most challenging physical existences on Earth.

[janeajones · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Blue Sky is the first English translation one of Tschinag's novels. A Mongolian leader and shaman of the Tuvan people, Tschinag publishes his novels in German, the language of his university education. Katharina Rout's sensitive translation leads English language readers into the world of a child of nature. The narrator is the youngest member of a family of nomadic sheepherders in the Altai Mountains as the Soviet Union is working to transform their ancient lifestyle. The life is harsh but infused with the ties between the herders and their animals, the rituals of inter-generational relationships, and the towering mountainous landscape. The Blue Sky is the first in a trilogy of autobiographical novels -- hopefully Katharina Rout, or some equally gifted translator, will continue on with the story of the making of a 21st century shaman.