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Des âges farouches #1
Борба за огън
Two rival warriors of a prehistoric tribe set off on a dangerous and distant search for fire, an element essential to tribal unity and leadership.
150 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1911
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1062 people want to read
About the author
J.-H. Rosny aîné
215 books33 followersJ.-H. Rosny aîné was the pseudonym of Joseph Henri Honoré Boex, a French author of Belgian origin who is considered one of the founding figures of modern science fiction. Born in Brussels in 1856, he wrote together with his younger brother Séraphin Justin François Boex under the pen name J.-H. Rosny until 1908. After they ended their collaboration Joseph Boex continued to write under the name "Rosny aîné" (Rosny the Elder) while his brother used J.-H. Rosny jeune (Rosny the Younger).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
June 22, 2025
In the incomprehensible time of 80,000 B.C. when the Neanderthals ruled Europe as they had for 200,000 years, the Oulhamrs battle with a vicious rival band of primitive, cannibalistic savages the Kzams, causing them to lose their essential fire in the struggle. Unable to generate a new flame as other tribes could, lacking the knowledge, the life saving warmth during the frozen ice age, cooking food, radiating light in darkness, repelling animals in the ominous dark of night. The cavemen agree to send three of their members to bring back the brightness, Naoh the greatest warrior is chosen, he is accompanied by young fast runners, Gaw and Nam. The leader of the group Faouhm to increase the incentive for the task to be fulfilled , will give his niece Gammla in marriage and he succeed him as chief to the winner, not surprisingly a rival contests this . Aghoo an impressive killer with his two look-alike brothers all enjoy butchering enemies joining the quest, but separately in a different direction. They all depart the land of the known into the vast territory of the frightening, nothing can assist the trio, ferocious animal constantly menace the trip, bands of devils, other Neanderthals attack the invaders the encompassing blackness of the sunless nocturnal, makes the brave wanderers fearful. They lose hope in the endless search for fire, growing weaker by wounds, hunger and thirst, the weariness persists still they must continue, the very survival of the tribe depends on courage and endurance. So step by step across the saturated swamps, climbing lofty hills, through dense forests, swimming lakes, rivers, Naoh gives strength to his companions, the duo are afraid to show fragility to a man they so admire. And Aghoo, his equally vicious brothers relentlessly follow, awaiting a chance to eliminate the competition, the final decisive encounter nears...This novel by Belgian J.H.Rosny (Joseph Henri Honore Boex) an early science- fiction writer reveals a vivid atmosphere of the primordial humans and the world they inhabit. The struggle of everyday life shows what hardships was then, these people truly had to be courageous, otherwise they would have vanished much sooner than they did. For anyone interested in a fine story of the very distant past this is a good book to read and the film version of it the 1981 classic... directed by the talented Frenchman Jean-Jacques Annaud, the best caveman movie ever produced.
September 23, 2018
Back in the early 1980s I rented a videotape of the film “Quest for Fire”, which starred Everett McGill and Rae Dawn Chong. I know the film isn’t to everyone’s taste but I absolutely loved it. (I also recognised some of the locations as parts of it were filmed in an area about 30 miles south-east of my home town). I only discovered a couple of years ago that it was an adaptation of this 1911 Belgian novella, originally published as “La Guerre du feu.” The book’s introduction tells me that “J.H.Rosny-Aȋné” was the penname of one Joseph Henri Boëx, who was born in Brussels in 1856.
The main character, Naoh, belongs to a band of what the reader assumes are Neanderthals. The band have just been defeated in battle and have lost access to the precious resource of fire. Naoh and two younger warriors set off to obtain more. The storyline therefore falls into the hero on a quest category.
My reading of the book was definitely affected by having seen the film adaptation. I couldn’t help but picture the 3 warriors as they were portrayed in the film and because of that I was on their side right from the start. It’s very hard for me to say how I would have rated the book had the film not already given me those impressions.
There are 2 things I ought to mention. Firstly, at one point our heroes encounter a band of humans who are of small stature and who have “triangular eyes”. Although physically unimpressive they are dangerous because they are adept at trickery and guile. Are these people meant to be some sort of proto-East Asians, complete with European stereotypes à la 1911? Am I reading too much into this?
Secondly, modern women may not find the ending to their liking.
For all that, I really quite enjoyed it, probably more than I was expecting to. The author keeps up a lively pace throughout (not least because the plot actually does feature a lot of running and chasing) and I was rooting for Naoh and his friends all the way. I was quite close to rating it 4 stars. An unpretentious adventure story that is fun to read.
The main character, Naoh, belongs to a band of what the reader assumes are Neanderthals. The band have just been defeated in battle and have lost access to the precious resource of fire. Naoh and two younger warriors set off to obtain more. The storyline therefore falls into the hero on a quest category.
My reading of the book was definitely affected by having seen the film adaptation. I couldn’t help but picture the 3 warriors as they were portrayed in the film and because of that I was on their side right from the start. It’s very hard for me to say how I would have rated the book had the film not already given me those impressions.
There are 2 things I ought to mention. Firstly, at one point our heroes encounter a band of humans who are of small stature and who have “triangular eyes”. Although physically unimpressive they are dangerous because they are adept at trickery and guile. Are these people meant to be some sort of proto-East Asians, complete with European stereotypes à la 1911? Am I reading too much into this?
Secondly, modern women may not find the ending to their liking.
For all that, I really quite enjoyed it, probably more than I was expecting to. The author keeps up a lively pace throughout (not least because the plot actually does feature a lot of running and chasing) and I was rooting for Naoh and his friends all the way. I was quite close to rating it 4 stars. An unpretentious adventure story that is fun to read.
June 17, 2012
I remember from my childhood in Siberia, how we were queuing up for this book (in Russian), reading the copy until the cover was unrecognisable, giving each other two days to read it. I don't know how it would read now, but back then in the 70s it was one of the brightest impressions (considering the Inquisition-like censure in literature).
July 1, 2024
¡Me ha encantado! El que recupere el fuego para los Oulhamr se casará con la hija del jefe y asumirá el liderazgo. Naoh, nuestro protagonista, se lanza a la aventura junto a Nam y Gaw, enfrentando múltiples desafíos que incluyen tribus caníbales, tigres, leones, osos, mamuts... y al salvaje Aghoo, el velludo, su rival, en esta busqueda del fuego.
La primera novela prehistórica de la historia y me ha dejado un muy buen sabor de boca. Si bien es verdad que por momentos es demasiado descriptiva y que en varias puntos carece de base histórica, hay que entender la novela en su contexto, fue escrita mucho antes que la mayoría de descubrimientos palentológicos. Sin mencionar que tiene una gran ambientación y una pluma poética, lo que hacen de este libro una aventura muy entretenida, plagada de acción y persecuciones, donde nuestros protagonistas están al límite incontables veces. La batalla final con es lo más.
De lo mejor que va del año. Seguramente tomaré su secuela "El león de las cavernas" muy pronto.
La primera novela prehistórica de la historia y me ha dejado un muy buen sabor de boca. Si bien es verdad que por momentos es demasiado descriptiva y que en varias puntos carece de base histórica, hay que entender la novela en su contexto, fue escrita mucho antes que la mayoría de descubrimientos palentológicos. Sin mencionar que tiene una gran ambientación y una pluma poética, lo que hacen de este libro una aventura muy entretenida, plagada de acción y persecuciones, donde nuestros protagonistas están al límite incontables veces. La batalla final con es lo más.
De lo mejor que va del año. Seguramente tomaré su secuela "El león de las cavernas" muy pronto.
August 25, 2019
4 Estrellas. Conocía este libro desde hace mucho tiempo porque es uno de los que decoran las estanterías de mi madre. Gracias a un reto literario me ha dado por leerlo, por eso de que nunca había leído nada prehistórico. Para quienes no os suene, es el libro que inspiró la película francesa “En busca del fuego”, que vi hace muchísimos años, tantos, que ya ni me acordaba.
¿Qué es principalmente este libro? Una epopeya épica, una aventura prehistórica en la que un clan de homínidos han sido despojados del fuego, su materia sagrada, lo que les da calor, seguridad y comida; y como tres de sus mejores guerreros se embarcan en una aventura para capturar de nuevo el fuego.
Este libro fue escrito a principios del siglo XX, de modo que la recreación de la prehistoria que nos presenta el autor es bastante subjetivo y fantasioso y no puede tomarse muy en cuenta ni fidedignamente, sobre todo por las grandes lagunas que existen hoy día, pero también por los muchos avances que se han hecho de los estudios de la humanidad en los últimos cien años.
Como he dicho arriba, “La guerra del fuego” nos cuenta una historia en la tribu de los oulhamr, de los cuales no puedo ni decir ni identificar qué tipo de homínidos eran, aunque puedo conjeturar que sapiens. Los oulhamr han perdido el fuego sagrado a manos de sus enemigos, y su jefe, envía dos grupos de la tribu en busca del fuego. El que consiga traer el fuego al clan, podrá reclamar a su sobrina Gammla como su pareja. Nuestro protagonista es Naoh, un joven guerrero que parte junto a otros jóvenes, Nam y Gaw para recuperarlo. Pero la búsqueda es una competición entre Naoh, y su rival Aghoo, un hombre cruel que también pretende a Gammla.
De modo que así es como empieza el libro, y a partir de ahí el lector se sumergirá en una epopeya, escrita con una gran preciosismo, no me atrevo a decir que sea pura poesía, pero sí muy cuidado. Como no soy científica, ni es mi especialidad esta rama de la historia, soy la primera que en las descripciones no ha entendido ni la mitad de las plantas ni de los animales que describe el autor, de modo que no sé si existirían o es fruto de su imaginación.
Al ser un libro bastante antiguo, y sobre todo por tratarlo el autor cuando lo trata (creo que me atrevo a pensar que es la primera novela prehistórica que se publicó), está lleno de descripciones y hay muy poco diálogo, a pesar de que estos sapiens hablan.
Por el camino, Naoh, Nam y Gaw se encontrarán con multitud de peligros, animales temibles, como leones y tigres, forjarán una alianza con los mamuts, serán perseguidos por los devoradores de hombres (creo entender que pueden ser los neandertales), y muchos más seres que no sé si fueron reales o no, pero que enriquecen mucho esta novela y trata de darnos una aproximación de cómo fue la vida de los primeros hombres, con las salvedades de todo lo fantasioso que ha podido contarnos su autor.
Aunque no es el tipo de literatura que suelo leer, me ha gustado bastante, y es un libro que se lee rápido debido a lo cortito que es. Por lo visto éste libro es el inicio de una trilogía, de la cual también tengo la segunda parte en casa, así que lo mismo en algún momento me animo a leerla.
¿Qué es principalmente este libro? Una epopeya épica, una aventura prehistórica en la que un clan de homínidos han sido despojados del fuego, su materia sagrada, lo que les da calor, seguridad y comida; y como tres de sus mejores guerreros se embarcan en una aventura para capturar de nuevo el fuego.
Este libro fue escrito a principios del siglo XX, de modo que la recreación de la prehistoria que nos presenta el autor es bastante subjetivo y fantasioso y no puede tomarse muy en cuenta ni fidedignamente, sobre todo por las grandes lagunas que existen hoy día, pero también por los muchos avances que se han hecho de los estudios de la humanidad en los últimos cien años.
Como he dicho arriba, “La guerra del fuego” nos cuenta una historia en la tribu de los oulhamr, de los cuales no puedo ni decir ni identificar qué tipo de homínidos eran, aunque puedo conjeturar que sapiens. Los oulhamr han perdido el fuego sagrado a manos de sus enemigos, y su jefe, envía dos grupos de la tribu en busca del fuego. El que consiga traer el fuego al clan, podrá reclamar a su sobrina Gammla como su pareja. Nuestro protagonista es Naoh, un joven guerrero que parte junto a otros jóvenes, Nam y Gaw para recuperarlo. Pero la búsqueda es una competición entre Naoh, y su rival Aghoo, un hombre cruel que también pretende a Gammla.
De modo que así es como empieza el libro, y a partir de ahí el lector se sumergirá en una epopeya, escrita con una gran preciosismo, no me atrevo a decir que sea pura poesía, pero sí muy cuidado. Como no soy científica, ni es mi especialidad esta rama de la historia, soy la primera que en las descripciones no ha entendido ni la mitad de las plantas ni de los animales que describe el autor, de modo que no sé si existirían o es fruto de su imaginación.
Al ser un libro bastante antiguo, y sobre todo por tratarlo el autor cuando lo trata (creo que me atrevo a pensar que es la primera novela prehistórica que se publicó), está lleno de descripciones y hay muy poco diálogo, a pesar de que estos sapiens hablan.
Por el camino, Naoh, Nam y Gaw se encontrarán con multitud de peligros, animales temibles, como leones y tigres, forjarán una alianza con los mamuts, serán perseguidos por los devoradores de hombres (creo entender que pueden ser los neandertales), y muchos más seres que no sé si fueron reales o no, pero que enriquecen mucho esta novela y trata de darnos una aproximación de cómo fue la vida de los primeros hombres, con las salvedades de todo lo fantasioso que ha podido contarnos su autor.
Aunque no es el tipo de literatura que suelo leer, me ha gustado bastante, y es un libro que se lee rápido debido a lo cortito que es. Por lo visto éste libro es el inicio de una trilogía, de la cual también tengo la segunda parte en casa, así que lo mismo en algún momento me animo a leerla.
December 5, 2008
My copy is actually a hardback, an ex-library copy, but I didn't see the need to introduce another version into the Goodreads list. I very much enjoyed the film that was shot from this, which has the same title.
The book is really good, with some really poetic writing. It's dated in places, particularly in what many modern readers would see as a very sexist ending. But overall, if you take some of the stuff tongue in cheek, it's a pretty good adventure. It's got quite a few different elements than the movie.
The book is really good, with some really poetic writing. It's dated in places, particularly in what many modern readers would see as a very sexist ending. But overall, if you take some of the stuff tongue in cheek, it's a pretty good adventure. It's got quite a few different elements than the movie.
February 14, 2022
Емблематична за детството на много хора книга, Борба за огън е писана преди век и включва тогавашните теории за произхода на човека и битието на първобитните хора.
Сега вече знаем, че неандерталците не са наши предтечи, а просто друг клон на човечеството, който Хомо Сапиенс е най-вече изтребил (макар и малко да се е омесил с него до степен 2-5% от генетичния ни материал да идва от неандерталците).
Все пак борбата на главния герой за намиране на изгубения от племето му огън и гонения и битки със саблезъби тигри и племена канибали са точно по сърце на всяко подрастващо момче.
Сега вече знаем, че неандерталците не са наши предтечи, а просто друг клон на човечеството, който Хомо Сапиенс е най-вече изтребил (макар и малко да се е омесил с него до степен 2-5% от генетичния ни материал да идва от неандерталците).
Все пак борбата на главния герой за намиране на изгубения от племето му огън и гонения и битки със саблезъби тигри и племена канибали са точно по сърце на всяко подрастващо момче.
August 18, 2025
(review in English below) I read the Italian translation.
La guerra del fuoco di J.H. Rosny (1911) è l’equivalente adrenalitico di guardarsi una partita del mondiale. E’ la storia di Naoh, valoroso guerriero della tribù Ulam, circa 50 o 60,000 anni fa, in una missione disperata per riconquistare il fuoco dopo che il suo popolo lo ha perso.
Dal punto di vista antropologico, ci sono alcune imprecisioni. Il fatto stesso che ci fosse una tribù dove se il fuoco si spegneva, non riuscivano più a riaccenderlo, è un po’ ridicolo. Anche se non si sa mai, della preistoria in realtà sappiamo veramente pochissimo.
Comunque tutto questo conta poco: è un romanzo di azione e di avventura di prim’ordine, nella vena di Jules Verne (infatti il Belga Rosny lo scrisse poco dopo agli anni di Verne).
Mi è piaciuta molto la descrizione continua di emozioni e sensazioni primordiali: l’uso dell’olfatto per orientarsi e per sopravvivere, la fame e la sete, le strategie di attacco e di difesa, le battaglie contro bestie feroci e contro altri esseri umani…. c’è un motivo per cui quando troviamo gli scheletri (o i corpi mummificati, come quello di Özi) di uomini preistorici, c’hanno tutti le ossa mezze rotte, frecce conficcate nel cranio, e danni fisici vari: perché erano tempi, rispetto ad oggi, violentissimi.
Il modo in cui Rosny descrive quel mondo antico dei nostri antenati è rapido e schizzato, ma molto efficace. Puoi quasi sentire l’odore delle foreste, udire i ruggiti dei mammut e gli ululati dei lupi, e immaginarti notti passate a dormire sotto le stelle, al freddo e senza fuoco.
Rendersi conto di quanto diversa sia la nostra vita di oggi è allucinante e un po’ agrodolce: abbiamo guadagnato moltissimo, ma anche perso moltissimo (e forse anche una bella fetta della nostra salute mentale).
———————————
The Quest for Fire by J.H. Rosny (1911) is the adrenaline-pumping equivalent of watching a World Cup match. It’s the story of Naoh, a valiant warrior of the Ulam tribe, around 50,000 or 60,000 years ago, on a desperate mission to reclaim fire after his people lost it.
From an anthropological perspective, there are some inaccuracies. The very idea of a tribe where, if the fire went out, they couldn’t rekindle it, is a bit absurd. Though, you never know— we actually know very little about prehistory.
But all that matters little: this is a top-tier action and adventure novel, in the style of Jules Verne (indeed, the Belgian Rosny wrote it shortly after Verne’s era).
I loved the constant descriptions of primal emotions and sensations: the use of smell to navigate and survive, strategies for attack and defense, hunger and thirst, battles against fierce beasts and other humans… there’s a reason why, when we find the skeletons (or mummified bodies, like Ötzi’s) of prehistoric people, they all have half-broken bones, arrows lodged in their skulls, and various physical injuries: because those were, compared to today, extremely violent times.
The way Rosny depicts that ancient world of our ancestors is fast-paced and frenetic, but highly effective. You can almost smell the forests, hear the roars of mammoths, and feel the cold nights without fire.
Realizing how different our life has become today is bitter-sweet: we have gained so much, but also lost so much (including a good chunk of our sanity).
La guerra del fuoco di J.H. Rosny (1911) è l’equivalente adrenalitico di guardarsi una partita del mondiale. E’ la storia di Naoh, valoroso guerriero della tribù Ulam, circa 50 o 60,000 anni fa, in una missione disperata per riconquistare il fuoco dopo che il suo popolo lo ha perso.
Dal punto di vista antropologico, ci sono alcune imprecisioni. Il fatto stesso che ci fosse una tribù dove se il fuoco si spegneva, non riuscivano più a riaccenderlo, è un po’ ridicolo. Anche se non si sa mai, della preistoria in realtà sappiamo veramente pochissimo.
Comunque tutto questo conta poco: è un romanzo di azione e di avventura di prim’ordine, nella vena di Jules Verne (infatti il Belga Rosny lo scrisse poco dopo agli anni di Verne).
Mi è piaciuta molto la descrizione continua di emozioni e sensazioni primordiali: l’uso dell’olfatto per orientarsi e per sopravvivere, la fame e la sete, le strategie di attacco e di difesa, le battaglie contro bestie feroci e contro altri esseri umani…. c’è un motivo per cui quando troviamo gli scheletri (o i corpi mummificati, come quello di Özi) di uomini preistorici, c’hanno tutti le ossa mezze rotte, frecce conficcate nel cranio, e danni fisici vari: perché erano tempi, rispetto ad oggi, violentissimi.
Il modo in cui Rosny descrive quel mondo antico dei nostri antenati è rapido e schizzato, ma molto efficace. Puoi quasi sentire l’odore delle foreste, udire i ruggiti dei mammut e gli ululati dei lupi, e immaginarti notti passate a dormire sotto le stelle, al freddo e senza fuoco.
Rendersi conto di quanto diversa sia la nostra vita di oggi è allucinante e un po’ agrodolce: abbiamo guadagnato moltissimo, ma anche perso moltissimo (e forse anche una bella fetta della nostra salute mentale).
———————————
The Quest for Fire by J.H. Rosny (1911) is the adrenaline-pumping equivalent of watching a World Cup match. It’s the story of Naoh, a valiant warrior of the Ulam tribe, around 50,000 or 60,000 years ago, on a desperate mission to reclaim fire after his people lost it.
From an anthropological perspective, there are some inaccuracies. The very idea of a tribe where, if the fire went out, they couldn’t rekindle it, is a bit absurd. Though, you never know— we actually know very little about prehistory.
But all that matters little: this is a top-tier action and adventure novel, in the style of Jules Verne (indeed, the Belgian Rosny wrote it shortly after Verne’s era).
I loved the constant descriptions of primal emotions and sensations: the use of smell to navigate and survive, strategies for attack and defense, hunger and thirst, battles against fierce beasts and other humans… there’s a reason why, when we find the skeletons (or mummified bodies, like Ötzi’s) of prehistoric people, they all have half-broken bones, arrows lodged in their skulls, and various physical injuries: because those were, compared to today, extremely violent times.
The way Rosny depicts that ancient world of our ancestors is fast-paced and frenetic, but highly effective. You can almost smell the forests, hear the roars of mammoths, and feel the cold nights without fire.
Realizing how different our life has become today is bitter-sweet: we have gained so much, but also lost so much (including a good chunk of our sanity).
February 14, 2023
Η φυλή έχει υποστεί μια ανεπανόρθωτη τραγωδία. Έχει χάσει τη μάχη και έχει χάσει και τη φωτιά. Μπροστά στον κίνδυνο της ολοκληρωτικής εξάλειψης, ο αρχηγός Φαούμ, στέλνει δύο ομάδες ανιχνευτών, να βρουν φωτιά και να τη φέρουν στη φυλή.
Η ιστορία μας ακολουθεί την πορεία της μίας από τις δύο ομάδες, που με ηγέτη τον Ναόχ το γιο του Λεόπαρδου και τους συντρόφους του Γκάου (όπως το διαβάζετε) και Ναμ, στην αναζήτησή τους για τη φωτιά, ανδρώνονται μέσα από τρομερές περιπέτειες. Η αναζήτηση, είναι μια τελετή ενηλικίωσης για τους τρεις άνδρες, ενώ για τον αρχηγό της ομάδας Ναόχ είναι και μια πρόκληση να αποδείξει τις ηγετικές του ικανότητες, καθώς αν επιστρέψει θριαμβευτής με τη φωτιά, τον περιμένει για σύζυγος η κόρη του αρχηγού και η μελλοντική αρχηγία.
(περιμένω να σταματήσουν να ουρλιάζουν οι φεμινίστριες του 4ου κύματος στο βάθος και συνεχίζω).
Ο συγγραφέας, βρίσκει την ευκαιρία, σε κάθε περιπέτεια να μας περιγράψει τμήμα της πλούσιας χλωρίδας και πανίδας της εποχής και να μας παρουσιάσει μια εκδοχή της κοινωνικότητας των μακρινών μας προγόνων (ακόμη κι αν είναι λίγο ενοχλητικό μερικές φορές που τους βάζει να μιλάνε σαν χρυσαυγίτες), τις διαφορετικές φυλές ανθρώπων που συνηπήρξαν για ένα διάστημα πάνω στη γη και ζώα που έχουν από καιρό εξαλειφθεί.
Γραμμένο περισσότερα από 100 χρόνια πριν, διατηρεί ακόμη τη φρεσκάδα του, αν και η αφηγηματική τεχνική, μπορεί να φανεί λίγο αργόσυρτη (και υπερβολικά περιγραφική ως προς το τοπίο) στον αναγνώστη. Τεχνικά ως προς τις επιστημονικές λεπτομέρεις, δείχνει ακόμη άρτιο και η ίδια η πλοκή είναι ενδιαφέρουσα παρά τη σχετικά προβλέψιμη πορεία της (νόστος και θρίαμβος).
Και τώρα, δίνω το λόγο στην κόρη μου Διώνη (σχεδόν 10 ετών), για την οποία (και τον αδερφό της) και αναγνώστησε μεγαλόφωνα το βιβλίο, να σας πει τη γνώμη της:
Λοιπόν, ήταν ένα βιβλίο το οποίο μας έδειχνε πώς ήταν ο κόσμος τότε. Παρ' όλ' αυτά δεν ήταν σε όλα τα σημεία τόσο ενδιαφέρον, αλλά μπορούσες να μάθεις και πολλά για την εποχή εκείνη. Μου άρεσε που παρουσίαζε έτσι αυτή την εποχή σαν μια ιστορία αλλά δεν μου άρεσε μερικές φορές η υπερβολικά λεπτομερής εξήγηση του συγγραφέα. Ήταν ένα σχετικά καλό βιβλίο και μερικές φορές έκανες σκέψεις που μπορούσες να γελάς, όπως το πώς μέτραγαν εκείνη την εποχή και πιστεύω ότι είναι καλό για να το προτείνουμε, ιδίως στους ανθρώπους που ασχολούνται και τους αρέσουν αυτά πιστεύω ότι θα τους άρεσε πολύ.
Ακολουθεί κριτική του γιου μου Φοίβου (12 ετών)
Το βιβλίο ήταν ωραίο, αλλά μερικές φορές καταντούσε βαρετό. Ο συγγραφέας επαναλάμβανε τις ίδιες λέξεις πάρα πολλές φορές. Το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο διηγείται με ένα πολύ όμορφο τρόπο την προϊστορική εποχή και πώς ζούσανε τότε αυτοί οι άνθρωποι, π.χ. δεν ξέρανε να ανάβουνε φωτιά. Επίσης, αυτό το βιβλίο είχε πολλή δράση και πολύ σασπένς και το τελευταίο που έχω να πω είναι ότι το προτείνω να το διαβάσετε όλοι και τα παιδιά σας για να μάθετε κι εσείς για εκείνη την εποχή.
Η ιστορία μας ακολουθεί την πορεία της μίας από τις δύο ομάδες, που με ηγέτη τον Ναόχ το γιο του Λεόπαρδου και τους συντρόφους του Γκάου (όπως το διαβάζετε) και Ναμ, στην αναζήτησή τους για τη φωτιά, ανδρώνονται μέσα από τρομερές περιπέτειες. Η αναζήτηση, είναι μια τελετή ενηλικίωσης για τους τρεις άνδρες, ενώ για τον αρχηγό της ομάδας Ναόχ είναι και μια πρόκληση να αποδείξει τις ηγετικές του ικανότητες, καθώς αν επιστρέψει θριαμβευτής με τη φωτιά, τον περιμένει για σύζυγος η κόρη του αρχηγού και η μελλοντική αρχηγία.
(περιμένω να σταματήσουν να ουρλιάζουν οι φεμινίστριες του 4ου κύματος στο βάθος και συνεχίζω).
Ο συγγραφέας, βρίσκει την ευκαιρία, σε κάθε περιπέτεια να μας περιγράψει τμήμα της πλούσιας χλωρίδας και πανίδας της εποχής και να μας παρουσιάσει μια εκδοχή της κοινωνικότητας των μακρινών μας προγόνων (ακόμη κι αν είναι λίγο ενοχλητικό μερικές φορές που τους βάζει να μιλάνε σαν χρυσαυγίτες), τις διαφορετικές φυλές ανθρώπων που συνηπήρξαν για ένα διάστημα πάνω στη γη και ζώα που έχουν από καιρό εξαλειφθεί.
Γραμμένο περισσότερα από 100 χρόνια πριν, διατηρεί ακόμη τη φρεσκάδα του, αν και η αφηγηματική τεχνική, μπορεί να φανεί λίγο αργόσυρτη (και υπερβολικά περιγραφική ως προς το τοπίο) στον αναγνώστη. Τεχνικά ως προς τις επιστημονικές λεπτομέρεις, δείχνει ακόμη άρτιο και η ίδια η πλοκή είναι ενδιαφέρουσα παρά τη σχετικά προβλέψιμη πορεία της (νόστος και θρίαμβος).
Και τώρα, δίνω το λόγο στην κόρη μου Διώνη (σχεδόν 10 ετών), για την οποία (και τον αδερφό της) και αναγνώστησε μεγαλόφωνα το βιβλίο, να σας πει τη γνώμη της:
Λοιπόν, ήταν ένα βιβλίο το οποίο μας έδειχνε πώς ήταν ο κόσμος τότε. Παρ' όλ' αυτά δεν ήταν σε όλα τα σημεία τόσο ενδιαφέρον, αλλά μπορούσες να μάθεις και πολλά για την εποχή εκείνη. Μου άρεσε που παρουσίαζε έτσι αυτή την εποχή σαν μια ιστορία αλλά δεν μου άρεσε μερικές φορές η υπερβολικά λεπτομερής εξήγηση του συγγραφέα. Ήταν ένα σχετικά καλό βιβλίο και μερικές φορές έκανες σκέψεις που μπορούσες να γελάς, όπως το πώς μέτραγαν εκείνη την εποχή και πιστεύω ότι είναι καλό για να το προτείνουμε, ιδίως στους ανθρώπους που ασχολούνται και τους αρέσουν αυτά πιστεύω ότι θα τους άρεσε πολύ.
Ακολουθεί κριτική του γιου μου Φοίβου (12 ετών)
Το βιβλίο ήταν ωραίο, αλλά μερικές φορές καταντούσε βαρετό. Ο συγγραφέας επαναλάμβανε τις ίδιες λέξεις πάρα πολλές φορές. Το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο διηγείται με ένα πολύ όμορφο τρόπο την προϊστορική εποχή και πώς ζούσανε τότε αυτοί οι άνθρωποι, π.χ. δεν ξέρανε να ανάβουνε φωτιά. Επίσης, αυτό το βιβλίο είχε πολλή δράση και πολύ σασπένς και το τελευταίο που έχω να πω είναι ότι το προτείνω να το διαβάσετε όλοι και τα παιδιά σας για να μάθετε κι εσείς για εκείνη την εποχή.
September 13, 2021
O filme é melhor.
March 13, 2023
No me ha gustado la narración, demasiadas descripciones se iban demasiado por las ramas.
June 30, 2021
I knew for a while the Ron Perlman's mid-70's QUEST FOR FIRE film was based on a book but didn't know the book was available.
Quite the find, this. There's some translation errors but nothing to throw a reader out of the book, and the style might seem archaic to modern readers; long paragraphs being a dead give-a-way to a long-ago writing style.
Get past these minor elements, though, and what a wonderful read. Craftwise there's several issues; viewpoint shifts without warning, voice change in mid-paragraph, long expositional passages, and none of it really mattered to me. The storytelling was there, and I doubt most readers would care about craft errors.
Quest for Fire was written c 1916 and is a good adventure piece. Suggested for lots of readers for lots of reasons.
Quite the find, this. There's some translation errors but nothing to throw a reader out of the book, and the style might seem archaic to modern readers; long paragraphs being a dead give-a-way to a long-ago writing style.
Get past these minor elements, though, and what a wonderful read. Craftwise there's several issues; viewpoint shifts without warning, voice change in mid-paragraph, long expositional passages, and none of it really mattered to me. The storytelling was there, and I doubt most readers would care about craft errors.
Quest for Fire was written c 1916 and is a good adventure piece. Suggested for lots of readers for lots of reasons.
September 1, 2011
Rien à voir avec le film de Jean-Jacques Annaud. Beaucoup mieux bien qu'étrange. Les péripéties d'un groupe d'hommes préhistoriques mené par Naoh, fils du Léopard à travers la cambrousse pour retrouver du feu, et gagner ainsi le bâton de commandement et la fille du chef, un autre groupe dirigé par Aghoo fils de l’Aurochtraques comme adversaire à la chasse au feu. Il leur faut affronter maint dangers, et découvrir ainsi l'univers sauvage et hostile de la préhistoire et de ses combats quotidiens.
January 6, 2018
Il “fantasy storico”, sottogenere intermedio tra romanzo storico e fantasy, ha tra i suoi componenti le “avventure preistoriche”: di storia vera e propria non si può parlare, perché gli eventi sono molto precedenti all’invenzione della scrittura; tuttavia non arriviamo nemmeno a essere nel fantasy, o nello “science fantasy” del “Mondo perduto” di Conan Doyle o della “Terra dimenticata dal tempo” di Burroughs, perché il racconto segue rigorosamente le conoscenze scientifiche dell’epoca in cui è stato scritto.
Attualmente l’opera più nota nel genere è “Ayla, figlia della terra” (The Clan of the Cave Bear), primo volume del ciclo dei “Figli della Terra” dell’autrice statunitense Jean M. Auel.
Il creatore di questo filone è però J.H.Rosny, un interessante autore francese che a cavallo tra Ottocento e Novecento pubblicò numerose opere che precorrevano fantasy e fantascienza moderni. La più nota oggi è “La guerra del fuoco” (1909), anche per il film che nell’80 ne trasse Jean-Jacques Annaud, in seguito famoso per “Il nome della rosa”, “L’orso”, ecc. (ma il romanzo era stato portato sugli schermi già all’epoca del muto); esistono anche versioni recenti a fumetti (ovvero “bandes dessinées).
Siamo all’incirca nel 10'000 aC (ovvero 12'000 BP, secondo la datazione usata dai paleontologi), in un angolo d’Europa che potrebbe essere il Nord della Francia oppure il Belgio, vicino a un grande fiume che potrebbe essere la Senna o il Reno. L’umanità è divisa in tribù o meglio orde, il cui bene più prezioso è il fuoco: hanno imparato a conservarlo e a usarlo per la difesa e l’alimentazione, ma non a produrlo. Quando la tribù degli Oulhamr, debellata e messa in fuga da un’orda avversaria, perde le “gabbie” in cui conservava i preziosi tizzoni, la deslazione si abbatte su di loro. La missione di riconquistare il fuoco, rubando qualche tizzone a una tribù nemica, è pressoche suicida, ma necessaria alla salvezza collettiva: il gran capo Faouhm non esita a mettere in palio la bella nipote Gammla dalla folta capigliatura, esperta erborista; e con essa la successione al comando. I due campioni che si propongono per l’impresa sono due eemplari opposti di ominide: Aghoo il villoso, figlio dell’Uro, con i suoi fratelli, rappresenta la ferocia animale che si è “evoluta” solo nell’astuzia e nella disonestà; Naoh, figlio del Leopardo, sa invece vedere un po’ più lontano degli altri; abile guerriero, rischia il disprezzo degli altri per la sua riluttanza a finire i nemici feriti e simili opere, ma riesce comunque a farsi accettare per il coraggio e l’intelligenza.
Con i due compagni Nam e Gaw, scelti perché giovani e veloci nella corsa, parte per una missione che durerà mesi (la tribù perde il fuoco in primavera, e quando l’inverno si avvicina e nessun eroe è ancora tornato, si trova a mal partito): in questa missione percorreranno pianure, paludi, brughiere, montagne; tutti gli angoli del mondo pleistocenico, descritti con competenza di naturalista sia quando si tratta di animali tuttora esistenti (l’airone non è il tarabuso, il verso del barbagianni è diverso da quello dell’allocco, queste impronte sono di faina o di donnola?) sia quando si parla di fauna preistorica: siamo nel Pleistocene europeo, con mammut, orsi grigi ed orsi delle caverne, uri, emioni ovvero asini selvatici, egagri ovvero capre selvatiche primitive, “monoceros” cioè cervi simili a unicorni; i “leoni delle caverne” (o leoni-tigri) e i rinoceronti sono ormai avviati all’estinzione (è una fauna in parte diversa da quella del Pleistocene delle Americhe, popolarizzato da film come “L’era glaciale”, con i suoi megaterii e altri bradipi giganti, tigri dai denti a sciabola come smilodonti e macairodi, sintetocerati, gliptodonti e macrauchenie..).
Anche gli ambienti naturali sono descritti con il realismo di chi sa che allontanandosi da un fiume si incontreranno prima salici e ontani, poi pioppi neri, bianchi e tremoli, solo dopo olmi e infine querce..
Ma non si pensi a un libro scientifico: il tono è quello di un fantasy eroico. L’umanità è sparpagliata in questo vasto mondo preistorico, tuttavia la ferocia tra un’orda e un’altra è assoluta: mai lasciar vivere uno straniero, potrebbe essere il nemico di domani; mai risparmiare uno sconfitto, il suo rancore è la peggior trappola.. Resny crea diversi popoli e li caratterizza: i Divoratori d’uomini, evoluti tecnicamente ma praticanti il cannibalismo; i Nani Rossi, piccoli e feroci; gli Uomini dal Pelo Blu, in sostanza i Neanderthal, brutali ma incapaci di concepire un odio organizzato; i misteriosi Uomini senza spalle, evoluti ma decadenti, tra cui addirittura comandano le donne..
Naoh esce sfugge a pericoli mortali grazie all’istinto, all’esperienza, all’intelligenza razionale, con stratagemmi e combattimenti che non hanno nulla da invidiare a quelli di un eroe di R.E. Howard; ma soprattutto grazie a un barlume di umanità ed empatia. Assediato dai Nani Rossi, avrà l’intelligenza di soccorrere uno sconosciuto di un popolo misterioso: e da questa solidarietà verrà la salvezza. I capitoli forse più belli sono quelli in cui si avvicina al popolo dei mammut, antico e saggio, e riesce a guadagnarsi la fiducia del più anziano dei proboscidati: non solo questa alleanza si rivelerà preziosa, ma il nostro eroe dubiterà se tornare tra gli umani, così maligni e infidi.
E infatti l’insidia peggiore lo aspetta al ritorno dall’impresa, e arriverà dalla sua stessa tribù.
Uno dei pregi del romanzo è la capacità di Rosny di immedesimarsi nei suoi personaggi: descriverli nei termini elementari che essi stessi avrebbero usato; penetrare la psicologia dell’orso così come quella dell’uro, descrivere le differenze di carattere e quindi il diverso modo di vivere e di combattere di una mandria di uri rispetto a un gruppo di elefanti, e allo stesso modo le relazioni tra uomini e donne di un’orda.
Anche se l’obiettivo della storia è la conquista della figlia del capo tribù e la possibilità di avere da lei una discendenza, va notata la totale assenza di erotismo, anche se il romanzo era rivolto a un pubblico adulto: nel film che Annaud ne trasse, invece, qualche scena del genere c’era: anche se nel contesto preistorico era quasi comica (di sentimenti c’è qualche debole traccia: non ci si può aspettare di più in questo stadio dell’evoluzione).
Del tutto assente anche la magia: sia come forza soprannaturale tipica del fantasy, sia come superstizione o religione primitiva, che in quell’epoca forse iniziava ad albeggiare: Rosny è dotato di una solida formazione scientifica positivista, da buon erede di Verne (in Francia è considerato secondo solo a lui, nel genere); tant’è che al romanzo viene attribuito il merito di aver suscitato numerose vocazioni scientifiche, anche se alcuni aspetti sono superati alla luce delle conoscenze moderne.
in compenso il romanzo è ricco di momenti di contemplazione estetica del paesaggio primordiale.
Rosny è considerato un importante precursore della fantascienza in Francia. Nato una generazione dopo Verne, fu all’incirca contemporaneo di Wells se non antecedente; gli è attribuito il conio del termine “astronautica” e fin dagli ultimi anni dell’Ottocento scrisse romanzi sulla conquista di Marte, incontri con originalissimi alieni, creature invisibili che vivrebbero tra noi (come poi in “Schiavi degli invisibili” di E.F.Russell) e vampiri spiegati scientificamente (come poi in “Io sono leggenda” di Matheson); purtroppo non fu tradotto in inglese. Fu candidato due volte al Nobel da Romain Rolland.
Per curiosità, ricordo che il tema della preistoria è piuttosto trattato in Francia; si guardi per esempio questo fumetto (perdonando lo svarione di far convivere un triceratopo con un nostro antenato..):
https://www.franceculture.fr/emission...
Attualmente l’opera più nota nel genere è “Ayla, figlia della terra” (The Clan of the Cave Bear), primo volume del ciclo dei “Figli della Terra” dell’autrice statunitense Jean M. Auel.
Il creatore di questo filone è però J.H.Rosny, un interessante autore francese che a cavallo tra Ottocento e Novecento pubblicò numerose opere che precorrevano fantasy e fantascienza moderni. La più nota oggi è “La guerra del fuoco” (1909), anche per il film che nell’80 ne trasse Jean-Jacques Annaud, in seguito famoso per “Il nome della rosa”, “L’orso”, ecc. (ma il romanzo era stato portato sugli schermi già all’epoca del muto); esistono anche versioni recenti a fumetti (ovvero “bandes dessinées).
Siamo all’incirca nel 10'000 aC (ovvero 12'000 BP, secondo la datazione usata dai paleontologi), in un angolo d’Europa che potrebbe essere il Nord della Francia oppure il Belgio, vicino a un grande fiume che potrebbe essere la Senna o il Reno. L’umanità è divisa in tribù o meglio orde, il cui bene più prezioso è il fuoco: hanno imparato a conservarlo e a usarlo per la difesa e l’alimentazione, ma non a produrlo. Quando la tribù degli Oulhamr, debellata e messa in fuga da un’orda avversaria, perde le “gabbie” in cui conservava i preziosi tizzoni, la deslazione si abbatte su di loro. La missione di riconquistare il fuoco, rubando qualche tizzone a una tribù nemica, è pressoche suicida, ma necessaria alla salvezza collettiva: il gran capo Faouhm non esita a mettere in palio la bella nipote Gammla dalla folta capigliatura, esperta erborista; e con essa la successione al comando. I due campioni che si propongono per l’impresa sono due eemplari opposti di ominide: Aghoo il villoso, figlio dell’Uro, con i suoi fratelli, rappresenta la ferocia animale che si è “evoluta” solo nell’astuzia e nella disonestà; Naoh, figlio del Leopardo, sa invece vedere un po’ più lontano degli altri; abile guerriero, rischia il disprezzo degli altri per la sua riluttanza a finire i nemici feriti e simili opere, ma riesce comunque a farsi accettare per il coraggio e l’intelligenza.
Con i due compagni Nam e Gaw, scelti perché giovani e veloci nella corsa, parte per una missione che durerà mesi (la tribù perde il fuoco in primavera, e quando l’inverno si avvicina e nessun eroe è ancora tornato, si trova a mal partito): in questa missione percorreranno pianure, paludi, brughiere, montagne; tutti gli angoli del mondo pleistocenico, descritti con competenza di naturalista sia quando si tratta di animali tuttora esistenti (l’airone non è il tarabuso, il verso del barbagianni è diverso da quello dell’allocco, queste impronte sono di faina o di donnola?) sia quando si parla di fauna preistorica: siamo nel Pleistocene europeo, con mammut, orsi grigi ed orsi delle caverne, uri, emioni ovvero asini selvatici, egagri ovvero capre selvatiche primitive, “monoceros” cioè cervi simili a unicorni; i “leoni delle caverne” (o leoni-tigri) e i rinoceronti sono ormai avviati all’estinzione (è una fauna in parte diversa da quella del Pleistocene delle Americhe, popolarizzato da film come “L’era glaciale”, con i suoi megaterii e altri bradipi giganti, tigri dai denti a sciabola come smilodonti e macairodi, sintetocerati, gliptodonti e macrauchenie..).
Anche gli ambienti naturali sono descritti con il realismo di chi sa che allontanandosi da un fiume si incontreranno prima salici e ontani, poi pioppi neri, bianchi e tremoli, solo dopo olmi e infine querce..
Ma non si pensi a un libro scientifico: il tono è quello di un fantasy eroico. L’umanità è sparpagliata in questo vasto mondo preistorico, tuttavia la ferocia tra un’orda e un’altra è assoluta: mai lasciar vivere uno straniero, potrebbe essere il nemico di domani; mai risparmiare uno sconfitto, il suo rancore è la peggior trappola.. Resny crea diversi popoli e li caratterizza: i Divoratori d’uomini, evoluti tecnicamente ma praticanti il cannibalismo; i Nani Rossi, piccoli e feroci; gli Uomini dal Pelo Blu, in sostanza i Neanderthal, brutali ma incapaci di concepire un odio organizzato; i misteriosi Uomini senza spalle, evoluti ma decadenti, tra cui addirittura comandano le donne..
Naoh esce sfugge a pericoli mortali grazie all’istinto, all’esperienza, all’intelligenza razionale, con stratagemmi e combattimenti che non hanno nulla da invidiare a quelli di un eroe di R.E. Howard; ma soprattutto grazie a un barlume di umanità ed empatia. Assediato dai Nani Rossi, avrà l’intelligenza di soccorrere uno sconosciuto di un popolo misterioso: e da questa solidarietà verrà la salvezza. I capitoli forse più belli sono quelli in cui si avvicina al popolo dei mammut, antico e saggio, e riesce a guadagnarsi la fiducia del più anziano dei proboscidati: non solo questa alleanza si rivelerà preziosa, ma il nostro eroe dubiterà se tornare tra gli umani, così maligni e infidi.
E infatti l’insidia peggiore lo aspetta al ritorno dall’impresa, e arriverà dalla sua stessa tribù.
Uno dei pregi del romanzo è la capacità di Rosny di immedesimarsi nei suoi personaggi: descriverli nei termini elementari che essi stessi avrebbero usato; penetrare la psicologia dell’orso così come quella dell’uro, descrivere le differenze di carattere e quindi il diverso modo di vivere e di combattere di una mandria di uri rispetto a un gruppo di elefanti, e allo stesso modo le relazioni tra uomini e donne di un’orda.
Anche se l’obiettivo della storia è la conquista della figlia del capo tribù e la possibilità di avere da lei una discendenza, va notata la totale assenza di erotismo, anche se il romanzo era rivolto a un pubblico adulto: nel film che Annaud ne trasse, invece, qualche scena del genere c’era: anche se nel contesto preistorico era quasi comica (di sentimenti c’è qualche debole traccia: non ci si può aspettare di più in questo stadio dell’evoluzione).
Del tutto assente anche la magia: sia come forza soprannaturale tipica del fantasy, sia come superstizione o religione primitiva, che in quell’epoca forse iniziava ad albeggiare: Rosny è dotato di una solida formazione scientifica positivista, da buon erede di Verne (in Francia è considerato secondo solo a lui, nel genere); tant’è che al romanzo viene attribuito il merito di aver suscitato numerose vocazioni scientifiche, anche se alcuni aspetti sono superati alla luce delle conoscenze moderne.
in compenso il romanzo è ricco di momenti di contemplazione estetica del paesaggio primordiale.
Rosny è considerato un importante precursore della fantascienza in Francia. Nato una generazione dopo Verne, fu all’incirca contemporaneo di Wells se non antecedente; gli è attribuito il conio del termine “astronautica” e fin dagli ultimi anni dell’Ottocento scrisse romanzi sulla conquista di Marte, incontri con originalissimi alieni, creature invisibili che vivrebbero tra noi (come poi in “Schiavi degli invisibili” di E.F.Russell) e vampiri spiegati scientificamente (come poi in “Io sono leggenda” di Matheson); purtroppo non fu tradotto in inglese. Fu candidato due volte al Nobel da Romain Rolland.
Per curiosità, ricordo che il tema della preistoria è piuttosto trattato in Francia; si guardi per esempio questo fumetto (perdonando lo svarione di far convivere un triceratopo con un nostro antenato..):
https://www.franceculture.fr/emission...
May 11, 2021
Тазки книга е в домашната библиотека, от както съм започнал, да се ровя из нея. Няколко пъти съм я започвал, но никога не съм стигал по-далече от първите няколко страници. Но, сега когато излезе и продължението ѝ, реших да ѝ дам отново шанс. Четох я насила, буквално. На места просто прескачах цели абзаци. Книгата е брутално остаряла и като изказ, и като структура на повествованието и като фабула.
May 5, 2022
Tells the story of a band of prehistoric humans in trying to recover their lost fire. It is a fantastic recreation of the world 100.000 years ago written in 1911, so the scientific inaccuracies are easy to overlook, unlike other aspects of the book:
- the over the top descriptions of nature, animals, weather and so on. No doubt, intended to articulate how full of life was that long gone world. But it's too much.
- the endless enumerations of plants, fish, deer and so on.
- the legendary heroism of the main hero, who battles giant lions, bears and countless other humans with barely a scratch. He's basically a hairier and less talkative Tarzan.
- and not the least, the fact that the only female character that even has a name is the intended reward for the bringer of fire, that being her only role in the story. The rest are all men.
- the over the top descriptions of nature, animals, weather and so on. No doubt, intended to articulate how full of life was that long gone world. But it's too much.
- the endless enumerations of plants, fish, deer and so on.
- the legendary heroism of the main hero, who battles giant lions, bears and countless other humans with barely a scratch. He's basically a hairier and less talkative Tarzan.
- and not the least, the fact that the only female character that even has a name is the intended reward for the bringer of fire, that being her only role in the story. The rest are all men.
August 26, 2010
Fire good! Book.... bad.
Quest starts off with a tribe's fire. Quest over! Well, ok. The fire goes out. And the tribe must find fire. The leader pledges whoever finds fire gets the girl! So nerdboy grabs his lighter and... no! This novel tracks 3 warriors as they travel around finding the fire. They must combat lions, and tigers, and bears (Ahgoo!) Yes, Ahgoo. The hairy guy. They must not only face animals, but also different races of people - Neanderthals, Asians, Midgets, their own tribe, and evidently the Scottish.
Very wordy, especially for such a short book.
Quest starts off with a tribe's fire. Quest over! Well, ok. The fire goes out. And the tribe must find fire. The leader pledges whoever finds fire gets the girl! So nerdboy grabs his lighter and... no! This novel tracks 3 warriors as they travel around finding the fire. They must combat lions, and tigers, and bears (Ahgoo!) Yes, Ahgoo. The hairy guy. They must not only face animals, but also different races of people - Neanderthals, Asians, Midgets, their own tribe, and evidently the Scottish.
Very wordy, especially for such a short book.
June 17, 2022
Το βιβλίο ήταν ωραίο, αλλά μερικές φορές καταντούσε βαρετό. Ο συγγραφέας επαναλάμβανε τις ίδιες λέξεις πάρα πολλές φορές. Το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο διηγείται με ένα πολύ όμορφο τρόπο την προϊστορική εποχή και πώς ζούσανε τότε αυτοί οι άνθρωποι, π.χ. δεν ξέρανε να ανάβουνε φωτιά. Επίσης, αυτό το βιβλίο είχε πολλή δράση και πολύ σασπένς και το τελευταίο που έχω να πω είναι ότι το προτείνω να το διαβάσετε όλοι και τα παιδιά σας για να μάθετε κι ελσείς για εκείνη την εποχή.
September 25, 2021
В детстве несколько раз планировал прочитать эту книгу, но так до нее и не добрался. А сейчас решил наверстать упущенное и нисколько не пожалел. Повесть очень атмосферная: ярко передает жизнь первобытных людей и их окружение. Мало диалогов и много описаний, но именно таким и представляется то далекое время.
August 7, 2019
Книга за юноши, която ме върна към годините, когато приключенията между две корици бяха най-вълнуващи.
January 16, 2025
They were the bud of life whose strengths and struggles we can only imagine. (9)
Earlier this year, I wrote a screenplay that imagined the domestication of fire as a light-hearted, philosophically-infused story about two pre-historic characters. It was more a state of nature fable than anything; my intention was to portray “human nature” by showing mankind in a primeval state. It was not at all about the real chronology or science of humanity’s history with fire, nor the true state of human cognition during that archaeological period. After writing the story, I wanted to check out Quest for Fire, which is, as far as I can tell, the only other fictionalized account of man’s development of fire to enter the popular ken. Going into the book, I braced myself for an insipid tale of Ugg and Tugg desecrating the story I’d lovingly crafted.
I could not have been more wrong. Not only did I really enjoy this book (and not only is it a very different story than mine) but I found myself relating to its author, the pseudonymous J.-H. Rosny aîné, as a comrade who was interested in many of the same questions I was. (Actually the Ugg and Tugg part was accurate, with Nam and Gaw being the hero’s two sidekicks.) He, too, wanted to peel back millennia of culture to understand what drives humans; how we see and manipulate the world; what we fear.
I loved the way Rosny characterizes fire. In my story, it is a dangerous wild force that is the blood of their god, who exists primarily to kill the tribe. I imagined it like a hurricane that drives game out of the forest, but which is inconceivable to bring anywhere close to human life. Rosny’s characters see fire as a strange tool that lies somewhere between an amenity and a requirement; it is a cornerstone of a happy life, and its behavior is characterized in the manner of animals.
The Life of Fire had always fascinated Naoh. Like animals, it needs prey — it feeds on branches, dry grass, animal fat. It increases the more it is fed. Each flame is born of other flames, and every Fire can die. But the stature of a Fire is unlimited, and it allows itself to be divided and multiplied without end. Each piece can live and grow on its own. It decreases when it is deprived of food — it becomes small as a bee, or a fly, and yet it can be reborn within a blade of grass, become as vast as a marsh. It’s a beast and yet it’s not a beast. He has no legs or leaping bodies, and yet it can outpace the antelopes. It boasts no wings, but it flies into the clouds. It has no mouth, and still it howls, it scolds, it roars. Even with no hands or claws, it takes hold of anything it desires… Naoh loved, hated and feared it. As a child, he had sometimes suffered its bite. He knew that Fire had no preference for anyone. It was ready to devour even those who maintain him. It was more devious than the hyena, more ferocious than the panther. But his presence was delicious — it dispelled the cruelty of cold nights, allowed the weary to rest in warmth, and drove out the fearful weakness of men. (67)
It devoured its weakest prey first, then spread and seized the other herbs. (240)
As in my story, fire is a plot device first and foremost. The subject is humanity itself. Quest is less interested in the similarities humans have with our ancestors, as is my story, than in the differences between our world, our cognition, and theirs. This is a description of the Wah people, presumably a stand-in for modern humans. (I think Naoh is a neanderthal?)
Since the Wah had not endured any significant cataclysms — the type of disaster that other kinds of men had withstood — their physical growth as a people stopped, and they remained willowy and weak. They did not seem to suffer from their physical shortfalls, but rather compensated with their penchant for collaboration. Even with this single notable talent, it was a wonder these willowy people were able to withstand the harshness of a pitiless world. (232)
The tale is of man-as-animal, of a world in which humans occupied a very unique role as predator and prey. The primary inquiry is about, rather than the nature of human cognition, its origin. The story does a great job of showing how intellect — cunning, planning, memory, rationality — is strength. Not in some metaphysical way, but truly, in combat. In survival.
They laid these in heaps, making piles to cover their scents — a deceptive ploy used by man that exceeded the tricks of the craftiest deer and the wisest wolf. (93)
This story ingeniously imagines what it’s like to be human and a member of nature — which is to say, subject to ceaseless brutality. Out of this misery — out of a life that bounces between precarity and suffering — emerges the psychology of man.
Naoh stood up with a hungry roar. Second only to a victory over a wild carnivore, nothing was more glorious than to kill one of these great herbivores. The Oulhamr instinctively felt in his heart the benefit of dominating the great oxen. His determination increased as the bull’s massive chest and glistening horns approached. But the Oulhamr simultaneously evoked another, contrary instinct: not to destroy nourishing flesh in vain. (55)
Here the brutal villain Aghoo reflects on his life as he feebly awaits Naoh’s death blow:
At least he felt the virtue of having never given thanks, of having always avoided the spiteful traps of the vanquished. (284)
Not since Werner Herzog have I seen such a bleak image of what it’s like to be alive. Nature here is power and violence, and the world and all its outcomes, joys and tragedies, flow according to it. Here we see Gammla, the nubile tribesgirl who would become the breeding property of whichever warrior brought fire to the tribe, resigning herself to submitting to whichever warrior it was:
Reverence for the strongest dwelt in the depths of her flesh. (287)
Between Rosny and the translator, the prose conveys perfectly a world suffused with an ignorant fog. It sparkles with action and description but remains always shrouded in gray. The key to the affect of the book is that Rosny describes the interior thoughts of each animal with the same clarity and style he uses to describe the thoughts of the humans. The animals are as capable of and subject to emotion. This is from an early mood-setting scene between two tigers, a male and female, and a massive “lion-tiger,” who will soon be extinct — “His scent was both the terror and the safeguard to the weak species that inhabited the grasslands” (63) — who have a fight to the death in front of the human characters. The bigger animal wins, as usual, with the lion-tiger eviscerating the male tiger.
The lion-tiger began to crack the tiger’s ribs when the tigress arrived. Hesitant, she smelled the hot flesh, saw the defeat of her male, and uttered a mournful meowling call.
At this cry, the tiger straightened up — a supreme warlike wave fired his dying brain — but at the first step his trailing bowels stopped him, and he remained motionless, his limbs fainting, his eyes still full of life. The tigress instinctively measured what energy remained within the one who had so long shared his catch, had protected her and their litters, and had bravely defended the species against innumerable threats.
An obscure tenderness shook her frayed nerves — she was overwhelmed with the remembrance of their shared struggles, their joys, their sufferings. Then the law of nature doused her memories as the rain snuffs a flame. (61)
The book doesn’t have many characters. Aside from the hero Naoh, a flatly powerful man, there are his two partners, Nam and Gaw, and a few named Oulhamr tribe members. Other than that, the book is a series of set pieces, like Gulliver’s Travels or Robinson Crusoe or The Odyssey, which gives it an ancient aspect. Much of the action centers around animals, especially long-extinct ancient species. Here’s a random snippet of another battle, between an urus (also known as auroch, a kind of proto-bovine) and a saber-toothed tiger.
By this time, the urus had wandered back to the forest. The urus was uncertain of its safety, especially when it lost sight of the tiger when it disappeared into the reeds. The urus decided to take refuge, but as it was retreating a terrible odor hit his nostrils. He craned his neck and, now convinced of its danger, searched for a line of flight. Its path led it close to the jagged rocks where the Oulhamr lay. The human scent reminded him of an attack in a past season when, still young and puny, he had been wounded by a human’s projectile, and so he turned away again as a precaution. (57)
This was a great description of what happens to the enemy tribe of disgusting cannibals after Naoh figures out how to ally with the woolly mammoths and sics a stampede on them:
Any Kzamms who were in the way — from the Great River to the mounds and to the ash wood — were reduced to bloody mud. (174)
Overall the book was highly enjoyable. Yes, it got very repetitive — pretty much every event that happened across 300 pages was some variation of danger > fight > improbable victory — partly because Naoh, while a hero of implausible capacity and agility (the plot armor got old) never really uses a thematic power to best his enemies. He just happens to get lucky, or gets a last-second burst of energy or whatever. Still, it’s good natural violence.
Quest for Fire is a glimpse of the world we came out of — or, more accurately, escaped. Not only is the writing thoroughly enjoyable, with brilliancies on every other page, but it replicates the true gravity lines of the world as I believe them to exist: brutal, raw power is all there is to the world. Unless, of course, we have the imagination to build something different.
Other selected excerpts I liked:
The thought of a bear looking up at where his human quarry went: “It was from the top of a straight rock that only insects could climb.” 254
“By chance or instinct, the bears managed to block the pass.” 253. By chance or instinct — great line.
On 244: it is only birds and men who stand on two feet. I think this is true! Kangaroos are the only other I can think of.
Two beautiful ruminations:
“As he gazed at the gleaming stars perched above the jagged black mass of vegetation, he believed that most of what he saw was drifting dust, pollen and vapor — the lightest elements of earth breaking free from the land.” 82
“The Sun and the Water mingle their brilliant lives. The Water is immense — no one can see its end, and the Sun is only a Fire as big as the leaf of the waterlily. But the light of the Sun is greater than the Water itself. It spreads over the swamp, fills the whole sky with its radiance and dominates the expanse of the earth with its golden arms. Naoh is quietly awed by the vast light that came from such a small Fire.” (206)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 23, 2025
Je n'avais pas vu le film, donc je n'avais pas d'attentes particulières, et heureusement parce que le désappointement a été au rendez-vous de cette lecture😓 !
- J'ai eu beaucoup de mal à accrocher au style d'écriture qui est si riche en vocabulaire et en tournures travaillées qu'il se révèle alambiqué et surchargé🚛, rendant ma lecture laborieuse. On retrouve notamment de nombreuses descriptions de la faune🐾 et de la flore🌱 qui étaient si spécifiques qu'elles ne me parlaient absolument pas.
- Je suis restée très à distance des évènements tout au long de ma lecture🫥. Au lieu d'être immergée dans le récit aux côtés des personnages, j'avais bien plus la sensation de survoler les scènes. En fait, je m'attendais à ce que l'intrigue se concentre davantage sur les personnages, leurs conditions de vie et leurs pensées, et au lieu de ça, je me suis retrouvée avec des détails interminables (et relativement fantaisistes) sur l'environnement dans lequel ils progressent et des combats entre différentes espèces d'animaux sauvages.
- En plus, l'intrigue m'a parue totalement irréaliste. D'une part, je trouvais les descriptions des scènes d'action très flou et confuse, et je n'arrivais pas du tout à les imaginer👀. D'autre part, l'intrigue avait un côté très répétitif et prévisible, dans le sens où à chaque chapitre, ils rencontrent un nouvel adversaire (humain ou animal sauvage) qui paraît à chaque fois bien mieux équipé et/ou nombreux que leur groupe de trois, mais ils s'en sortent miraculeusement de façon systématique😒. Bref, je n'ai ressenti aucune tension narrative. Au contraire, je trouvais certains passages si ennuyeux qu'il m'ait arrivé fréquemment de lire en diagonale💤.
- Enfin, j'ai trouvé qu'il y avait énormément de potentiel lorsque nos 3 protagonistes ont cessés de se battre avec toutes les tribus humaines qu'ils rencontraient (pourquoi ? quel intérêt que ça soit d'un côté ou de l'autre ?🤔), puisqu'ils ont pu s'enrichir des technologies de ces autres peuples✅. Malheureusement, cet aspect n'est pas du tout développé dans la suite, et la fin ne m'a aucunement satisfaite🙈.
[Et je pourrais aussi parler de l'inexistence des personnages féminins dans l'intégralité du roman🤷♀️. Ah si, pardon, nous avons une femme, qui sert uniquement de motivation / trophée pour le personnage principal à ramener le feu à sa tribu😤.]
- J'ai eu beaucoup de mal à accrocher au style d'écriture qui est si riche en vocabulaire et en tournures travaillées qu'il se révèle alambiqué et surchargé🚛, rendant ma lecture laborieuse. On retrouve notamment de nombreuses descriptions de la faune🐾 et de la flore🌱 qui étaient si spécifiques qu'elles ne me parlaient absolument pas.
- Je suis restée très à distance des évènements tout au long de ma lecture🫥. Au lieu d'être immergée dans le récit aux côtés des personnages, j'avais bien plus la sensation de survoler les scènes. En fait, je m'attendais à ce que l'intrigue se concentre davantage sur les personnages, leurs conditions de vie et leurs pensées, et au lieu de ça, je me suis retrouvée avec des détails interminables (et relativement fantaisistes) sur l'environnement dans lequel ils progressent et des combats entre différentes espèces d'animaux sauvages.
- En plus, l'intrigue m'a parue totalement irréaliste. D'une part, je trouvais les descriptions des scènes d'action très flou et confuse, et je n'arrivais pas du tout à les imaginer👀. D'autre part, l'intrigue avait un côté très répétitif et prévisible, dans le sens où à chaque chapitre, ils rencontrent un nouvel adversaire (humain ou animal sauvage) qui paraît à chaque fois bien mieux équipé et/ou nombreux que leur groupe de trois, mais ils s'en sortent miraculeusement de façon systématique😒. Bref, je n'ai ressenti aucune tension narrative. Au contraire, je trouvais certains passages si ennuyeux qu'il m'ait arrivé fréquemment de lire en diagonale💤.
- Enfin, j'ai trouvé qu'il y avait énormément de potentiel lorsque nos 3 protagonistes ont cessés de se battre avec toutes les tribus humaines qu'ils rencontraient (pourquoi ? quel intérêt que ça soit d'un côté ou de l'autre ?🤔), puisqu'ils ont pu s'enrichir des technologies de ces autres peuples✅. Malheureusement, cet aspect n'est pas du tout développé dans la suite, et la fin ne m'a aucunement satisfaite🙈.
[Et je pourrais aussi parler de l'inexistence des personnages féminins dans l'intégralité du roman🤷♀️. Ah si, pardon, nous avons une femme, qui sert uniquement de motivation / trophée pour le personnage principal à ramener le feu à sa tribu😤.]
May 24, 2020
"Él es la muestra de la evolución de la humanidad, lenta, oscura, incomprensiblemente, pero con seguridad, con aplomo, por esta fuerza imperecedera que el hombre lleva dentro, desde los tiempos más remotos: el alma"
Read
March 23, 2020Un très mauvais souvenir de collégienne...
Je le relirai peut-être pour pouvoir mieux le comprendre et l’apprécier.
Je le relirai peut-être pour pouvoir mieux le comprendre et l’apprécier.
March 14, 2025
Roman d'aventure qui se lit avec plaisir
February 22, 2024
Ένα πολύ καλό μυθιστόρημα με ένα σπάνιο θέμα, αφού εκτυλίσσεται κατά την προϊστορική περίοδο και αφηγείται τις περιπέτειες του Ναόχ, που προσπαθεί να βρει τη φωτιά για να τη ξαναφέρει στη φυλή του, που την έχει χάσει εξαιτίας μια επιδρομής ανθρωποφάγων. Μαζί του είναι και δύο σύντροφοι, ο Ναμ και ο Γκάου.
Μου άρεσαν ιδιαίτερα οι περιπέτειες του πρώτου μέρους, με τους Ουλάμρ να αντιμετωπίζουν τα άγρια θηρία και πιο συγκεκριμένα μια αρκούδα μέσα στη φωλιά της. Παρακολουθούμε επίσης με αγωνία τη μάχη μεταξύ της τίγρης και του τιγρολέοντα για την πρωτοκαθεδρία των αρπακτικών. Οι Ουλάμρ θα βρεθούν παγιδευμένοι σε μια εσοχή με τον τιγρολέοντα και μια τίγρη να καραδοκούν να τους αρπάξουν, ξεφεύγοντας μια νύχτα.
Στο δεύτερο μέρος ο Ναόχ και οι σύντροφοί του καταφέρνουν να πάρουν τη φωτιά από μια φυλή ανθρωποφάγων, τους Κζαμ, που τους καταδιώκουν με μανία. Και θα τους είχαν πιάσει αν ο Ναόχ δεν είχε συνάψει φιλικές σχέσεις με τον αρχηγό των μαμούθ που τους προσφέρει καταφύγιο στο κοπάδι του. Οι τρεις άντρες μένουν για λίγο καιρό με τα μαμούθ πριν ξεκινήσουν για τη φυλή τους.
Το τελευταίο μέρος ήταν το λιγότερο ενδιαφέρον και το πιο προβλέψιμο. Οι Ουλάμρ μάχονται με τους κανίβαλους Κόκκινους Νάνους, οι Γουάχ τους σώζουν και τους διδάσκουν να ανάβουν φωτιά με δύο είδη πέτρας. Συναντούν και τους ανθρώπους με το γαλάζιο τρίχωμα που είναι μια παράξενη φυλή. Η τελική μονομαχία του Ναόχ με τον Άγκου είναι αρκετά προβλέψιμη.
Αυτό που δεν μου άρεσε είναι ότι το μυθιστόρημα είναι κάπως μανιχαϊστικό, αφού παρουσιάζει τον Ναόχ ως τον απόλυτο ήρωα και τον Άγκου ως τον απόλυτο αντιήρωα. Επίσης είναι αρκετά εκνευριστικό ότι ο Ναμ και ο Γκάου παρουσιάζονται σχεδόν σαν αφελείς και αδύναμοι, ίσως για να τονιστεί η δύναμη του αρχηγού Ναόχ. Παρόλα αυτά το μυθιστόρημα διαβάζεται εύκολα, έχει καλή ροή και δράση, η μία περιπέτεια ακολουθεί την άλλη και είναι γοητευτικό να διαβάζεις για τις ανθρώπινες περιπέτειες σε μια εποχή τόσο μακρινή και ασυνήθιστη στη λογοτεχνία.
Μου άρεσαν ιδιαίτερα οι περιπέτειες του πρώτου μέρους, με τους Ουλάμρ να αντιμετωπίζουν τα άγρια θηρία και πιο συγκεκριμένα μια αρκούδα μέσα στη φωλιά της. Παρακολουθούμε επίσης με αγωνία τη μάχη μεταξύ της τίγρης και του τιγρολέοντα για την πρωτοκαθεδρία των αρπακτικών. Οι Ουλάμρ θα βρεθούν παγιδευμένοι σε μια εσοχή με τον τιγρολέοντα και μια τίγρη να καραδοκούν να τους αρπάξουν, ξεφεύγοντας μια νύχτα.
Στο δεύτερο μέρος ο Ναόχ και οι σύντροφοί του καταφέρνουν να πάρουν τη φωτιά από μια φυλή ανθρωποφάγων, τους Κζαμ, που τους καταδιώκουν με μανία. Και θα τους είχαν πιάσει αν ο Ναόχ δεν είχε συνάψει φιλικές σχέσεις με τον αρχηγό των μαμούθ που τους προσφέρει καταφύγιο στο κοπάδι του. Οι τρεις άντρες μένουν για λίγο καιρό με τα μαμούθ πριν ξεκινήσουν για τη φυλή τους.
Το τελευταίο μέρος ήταν το λιγότερο ενδιαφέρον και το πιο προβλέψιμο. Οι Ουλάμρ μάχονται με τους κανίβαλους Κόκκινους Νάνους, οι Γουάχ τους σώζουν και τους διδάσκουν να ανάβουν φωτιά με δύο είδη πέτρας. Συναντούν και τους ανθρώπους με το γαλάζιο τρίχωμα που είναι μια παράξενη φυλή. Η τελική μονομαχία του Ναόχ με τον Άγκου είναι αρκετά προβλέψιμη.
Αυτό που δεν μου άρεσε είναι ότι το μυθιστόρημα είναι κάπως μανιχαϊστικό, αφού παρουσιάζει τον Ναόχ ως τον απόλυτο ήρωα και τον Άγκου ως τον απόλυτο αντιήρωα. Επίσης είναι αρκετά εκνευριστικό ότι ο Ναμ και ο Γκάου παρουσιάζονται σχεδόν σαν αφελείς και αδύναμοι, ίσως για να τονιστεί η δύναμη του αρχηγού Ναόχ. Παρόλα αυτά το μυθιστόρημα διαβάζεται εύκολα, έχει καλή ροή και δράση, η μία περιπέτεια ακολουθεί την άλλη και είναι γοητευτικό να διαβάζεις για τις ανθρώπινες περιπέτειες σε μια εποχή τόσο μακρινή και ασυνήθιστη στη λογοτεχνία.
November 14, 2016
Si ponemos en contexto este libro y cuándo fue escrito, podemos decir que se trata de una revolución y un pionero de la literatura de ficción prehistórica fantástica.
Basado en los conocimientos de la época en cuanto a evolución humana y aplicándole una buena dosis de imaginación, Rosny crea una aventura épica en la que los protagonistas, 3 miembros de una tribu anterior al homo sapiens, tal vez neardentales, se embarcan en la difícil tarea de devolver el fuego a su horda, pasando por incontables peligros y aventuras.
Leído ahora, resulta un poco simple e infantil, aunque se agradece su frescura y sus pocas pretensiones. Se deja leer y entretiene.
Se hizo una película basada en el libro y la recuerdo muy interesante.
Basado en los conocimientos de la época en cuanto a evolución humana y aplicándole una buena dosis de imaginación, Rosny crea una aventura épica en la que los protagonistas, 3 miembros de una tribu anterior al homo sapiens, tal vez neardentales, se embarcan en la difícil tarea de devolver el fuego a su horda, pasando por incontables peligros y aventuras.
Leído ahora, resulta un poco simple e infantil, aunque se agradece su frescura y sus pocas pretensiones. Se deja leer y entretiene.
Se hizo una película basada en el libro y la recuerdo muy interesante.
December 16, 2025
When I acquired an English translation of Quest for Fire (1911), I hoped I was in for an exceptional Paleolithic tale. Instead, I found a novel that is ambitious but, when read today, frequently implausible and sometimes ridiculous. Which is a shame. Novels (or movies) set in the Paleolithic are rare, and the era is fertile ground for storytelling. Still, it’s only fair to say that Rosny was writing more than a century ago, with a scientific understanding of human evolution that would today be considered, charitably, “in its infancy.” He was inventing prehistory as much as describing it.
To begin, where does this story take place? The answer appears to be “everywhere and nowhere.” Rosny mixes plants, animals, and climates that never coexisted. As for when the novel is set, that’s even murkier. The narrative features multiple species of humans, some vaguely resembling Homo sapiens, Neanderthals, Homo erectus, or something earlier still, all conveniently alive at the same time. Rosny further populates his world with entirely invented groups, the Blue-Haired Men, the Red Dwarves, the “Men without Shoulders,” who feel less like hominins and more like rejected fantasy races from an early draft of The Lord of the Rings.
Point of view is third-person omniscient, normal enough—until you realize the narrator has access not only to human thoughts but to animal thoughts as well. A few chapters feature animal-on-animal battle scenes, complete with interior monologue. If this authorial choice accomplishes anything, I suppose it shows how similar humans are to animals. Even so, these episodes slow the narrative to a lethargic crawl.
Characterization is, at best, minimalist. Quest for Fire is written in a detached, observational style that offers limited psychological depth. Dialogue is sparse and rarely revealing. Naoh, the protagonist, is brave, clever, loyal, adaptable, and morally superior to nearly everyone else he meets. Over the course of the novel, he grows from respected hunter to enlightened leader, which technically makes him a developing character. But more accurately, he's an archetype: a prehistoric hero, hunter, warrior, fire builder, chief. His motives are simple, his emotions understated, and his inner life largely left out of the story.
The supporting cast fares worse. Most other humans, i.e., men, are defined by a single trait or function, with little individuality. And sorry, ladies, but throughout the novel, Rosny only briefly mentions a single female by name, Gammla, promised to whichever man is first to bring back fire for the Olhamr “horde.” Ironically and as previously mentioned, animals often receive richer treatment. A mammoth Naoh befriends is given thoughts, emotions, and social awareness, making it arguably more memorable than most of the human characters.
Also . . . beware: Rosny loves, loves, loves making lists. Lists of flora, fauna, weapons, etc. Entire passages read like a prehistoric field guide. These sections frequently interrupt the story and somehow manage to be both overly detailed and oddly vague at the same time.
As for the novel’s more ridiculous moments, some stem from simple narrative carelessness. In one battle scene, Naoh escapes while wounded and carrying a severely injured companion, Gaw. Despite this, Naoh manages to elude his pursuers while also wielding a club and a stone axe. Later, when Gaw is able to walk again, he is conveniently holding a spear. Rosny doesn’t go to the trouble to explain how. We’re just supposed to forget what we’ve been told and accept what he’s now telling us.
The novel’s central premise is equally problematic. After their tribe loses all sources of fire in an attack, the Oulhamr must journey to find more, as they do not know how to make it themselves. If these people are meant to resemble Neanderthals or early Homo sapiens, this is a stretch; humans had likely mastered fire-making long before that. Even in 1911, this would have been debatable. Still, the premise does succeed in propelling the story forward. It also works rather better in the 1981 film adaptation.
Rosny is often cited as an important early figure in science fiction, and Quest for Fire is undeniably ambitious. It aims to imagine humanity on the brink of something greater. At times, however, the execution recalls adventure novels like Tarzan of the Apes, though Rosny’s goals are more philosophical than Edgar Rice Burroughs’s. The result is a book that is interesting, influential, but very much of its time.
A final note on the translation by Jonathan Eeds: I can’t judge its fidelity to the original French, though in the Afterword, he does indicate he began his work with software assistance, which he then polished and refined. The bigger concern is that the edition I read is riddled with errors. In Chapter 2, Naoh’s name appears variously as Naoh, Noah, and once as Noh. Elsewhere, throughout the novel, sentences are missing words, contain extras, or don’t make sense as written. Common nouns are capitalized throughout (Fire, Tribe, Beasts, Man, Forest, Nomad, etc.), a stylistic choice inherited from Rosny that serves no obvious purpose. The novel as a whole is reasonably coherent, can be entertaining, but for those of us who pay attention to such things, the text needs a thorough review and revision to correct the plethora of mistakes, which are most definitely a distraction and far too prevalent to ignore.
In short, Quest for Fire is a historically important novel that modern readers will likely admire in theory more than in practice. It’s worth reading for its influence and ambition, but bring a sense of humor, a willingness to suspend disbelief, and perhaps a mental checklist of where you last saw those weapons, which can appear or disappear as needed.
To begin, where does this story take place? The answer appears to be “everywhere and nowhere.” Rosny mixes plants, animals, and climates that never coexisted. As for when the novel is set, that’s even murkier. The narrative features multiple species of humans, some vaguely resembling Homo sapiens, Neanderthals, Homo erectus, or something earlier still, all conveniently alive at the same time. Rosny further populates his world with entirely invented groups, the Blue-Haired Men, the Red Dwarves, the “Men without Shoulders,” who feel less like hominins and more like rejected fantasy races from an early draft of The Lord of the Rings.
Point of view is third-person omniscient, normal enough—until you realize the narrator has access not only to human thoughts but to animal thoughts as well. A few chapters feature animal-on-animal battle scenes, complete with interior monologue. If this authorial choice accomplishes anything, I suppose it shows how similar humans are to animals. Even so, these episodes slow the narrative to a lethargic crawl.
Characterization is, at best, minimalist. Quest for Fire is written in a detached, observational style that offers limited psychological depth. Dialogue is sparse and rarely revealing. Naoh, the protagonist, is brave, clever, loyal, adaptable, and morally superior to nearly everyone else he meets. Over the course of the novel, he grows from respected hunter to enlightened leader, which technically makes him a developing character. But more accurately, he's an archetype: a prehistoric hero, hunter, warrior, fire builder, chief. His motives are simple, his emotions understated, and his inner life largely left out of the story.
The supporting cast fares worse. Most other humans, i.e., men, are defined by a single trait or function, with little individuality. And sorry, ladies, but throughout the novel, Rosny only briefly mentions a single female by name, Gammla, promised to whichever man is first to bring back fire for the Olhamr “horde.” Ironically and as previously mentioned, animals often receive richer treatment. A mammoth Naoh befriends is given thoughts, emotions, and social awareness, making it arguably more memorable than most of the human characters.
Also . . . beware: Rosny loves, loves, loves making lists. Lists of flora, fauna, weapons, etc. Entire passages read like a prehistoric field guide. These sections frequently interrupt the story and somehow manage to be both overly detailed and oddly vague at the same time.
As for the novel’s more ridiculous moments, some stem from simple narrative carelessness. In one battle scene, Naoh escapes while wounded and carrying a severely injured companion, Gaw. Despite this, Naoh manages to elude his pursuers while also wielding a club and a stone axe. Later, when Gaw is able to walk again, he is conveniently holding a spear. Rosny doesn’t go to the trouble to explain how. We’re just supposed to forget what we’ve been told and accept what he’s now telling us.
The novel’s central premise is equally problematic. After their tribe loses all sources of fire in an attack, the Oulhamr must journey to find more, as they do not know how to make it themselves. If these people are meant to resemble Neanderthals or early Homo sapiens, this is a stretch; humans had likely mastered fire-making long before that. Even in 1911, this would have been debatable. Still, the premise does succeed in propelling the story forward. It also works rather better in the 1981 film adaptation.
Rosny is often cited as an important early figure in science fiction, and Quest for Fire is undeniably ambitious. It aims to imagine humanity on the brink of something greater. At times, however, the execution recalls adventure novels like Tarzan of the Apes, though Rosny’s goals are more philosophical than Edgar Rice Burroughs’s. The result is a book that is interesting, influential, but very much of its time.
A final note on the translation by Jonathan Eeds: I can’t judge its fidelity to the original French, though in the Afterword, he does indicate he began his work with software assistance, which he then polished and refined. The bigger concern is that the edition I read is riddled with errors. In Chapter 2, Naoh’s name appears variously as Naoh, Noah, and once as Noh. Elsewhere, throughout the novel, sentences are missing words, contain extras, or don’t make sense as written. Common nouns are capitalized throughout (Fire, Tribe, Beasts, Man, Forest, Nomad, etc.), a stylistic choice inherited from Rosny that serves no obvious purpose. The novel as a whole is reasonably coherent, can be entertaining, but for those of us who pay attention to such things, the text needs a thorough review and revision to correct the plethora of mistakes, which are most definitely a distraction and far too prevalent to ignore.
In short, Quest for Fire is a historically important novel that modern readers will likely admire in theory more than in practice. It’s worth reading for its influence and ambition, but bring a sense of humor, a willingness to suspend disbelief, and perhaps a mental checklist of where you last saw those weapons, which can appear or disappear as needed.
November 12, 2018
I happened to stumble upon this in my bookstore and thought I'd give it a shot since it seemed up my alley - I'm trying to read as many books about human pre-history as I can. It's not a well-written book but it is entertaining, and I enjoyed the lush descriptions of flora and fauna. You'd probably like it if you love Edgar Rice Burroughs. It's a classic hero's journey story and not a lot more than that. Still, a fun little book. Doesn't look like it's easy to get your hands on, unfortunately. I wish they'd do a reprint with a new (better) translation.
January 27, 2018
From 1912, this French novel is set about 70,000 years ago and concerns a Neanderthal tribe who lost their fire in a battle. Three warriors set off to steal a new fire and their struggles comprise the bulk of the plot. There’s little in the way of rounded characters but a savage environment and constant danger from cave bears, gorillas and small human groups (amongst others) flesh out a surprisingly gripping story which lacks the authenticity of the last century of anthropological discoveries but is still of high quality. 3.5-4 stars.
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