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Wild East: The New Mongolia
For most of us, the name Mongolia conjures up exotic images of wild horsemen, endless grasslands, and nomads ― a timeless and mysterious land that is also, in many ways, one that time forgot. Under Genghis Khan, the Mongols’ empire stretched across Asia and into the heart of Europe. But over the centuries Mongolia disappeared from the world’s consciousness, overshadowed and dominated by its huge neighbours ― first China, which ruled Mongolia for centuries, then Russia, which transformed the feudal nation into the world’s second communist state. Jill Lawless arrived in Mongolia in the late 1990s to find a country waking from centuries of isolation, at once rediscovering its heritage as a nomadic and Buddhist society and simultaneously discovering the western world. The result is a land of fascinating, bewildering a vast country where nomadic herders graze their sheep and yaks on the steppe, it also has one of the world’s highest literacy levels and a burgeoning high-tech scene. While trendy teenagers rollerblade amid the Soviet apartment blocks of Ulaanbaatar and dance to the latest pop music in nightclubs, and the rich drive Mercedes and surf the Internet, more than half the population still lives in felt tents, scratching out a living in one of the world’s harshest landscapes. Mongolia, it can be argued, is the archetypal 21st-century nation, a country waking from a tumultuous 20th century in which it was wrenched from feudalism to communism to capitalism, searching for its place in the new millennium. This is a funny and revealing portrait of a beautiful, troubled country whose fate holds lessons for all of us.
230 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 24, 2021
Feb 20, 1030pm ~~ Review asap.
Feb 23, 830pm ~~ This year I have a little personal challenge list of books about or set in Mongolia. I did not set a reading order ahead of time, I just choose whichever one strikes my fancy.
But after reading Mongolia by Albert Axelbank, which was published in 1971 and told the story of his trip to a Mongolia heavily under the influence of the USSR, I wanted to read something similar but closer to the present date so I could compare while Axelbank's book was still fresh in my mind.
Wild East was published in 2000, and talks about the author's two years in the country during the late 1990's. Lawless is a Canadian who was working at the UB Post in the Mongolian capital city of Ulaanbaatar. I think a person who is living and working in whatever country has a different view than one who is merely passing through on a tourist romp, and I enjoyed this author's offerings of life as she saw it in Mongolia.
She was mostly respectful, although she did admit several times to frustration with the people for their relaxed attitudes about nearly everything. She was, naturally, a hyper Westerner, accustomed to fretting about everything, unused to a slower pace and a more basic life. I think she was able to appreciate a simpler approach, even if she maybe could not truly understand or share it.
Lawless gives interesting bits of history as well as episodes from her own adventures. She did tend to include an awful lot of the ex-pat experience, talking about which restaurants they all liked to visit, and so on. She spent a lot of time with other foreigners. But I still got the overall impression that she liked both Mongolia and its people, and she presented what felt like a fair few of the country and its situation at the turn of the century.
Something she said more than once was that she could not get over how just seventy years of Soviet influence erased seven generations of traditional lifestyles and thinking. Now I wonder how the country has done with the just as severe influences from the rest of the Western world.
When she left the country by train to Beijing at the end of her two years, Lawless chatted with a young man who was traveling to buy merchandise that he would resell on his return to Mongolia. She says that many people are doing the same thing because they cannot find other work and have not grown up in the herding tradition that sustained generations before them. She wonders how the country as a whole can have the courage to face their uncertain and unknowable future.
Then she remembers a proverb that many people repeatedly told her over the years, which seemed to sum up the modern Mongolian attitude:
If you are afraid, don't do it. If you do it, don't be afraid.
Seems like good advice for people of any country, don't you think?
Feb 23, 830pm ~~ This year I have a little personal challenge list of books about or set in Mongolia. I did not set a reading order ahead of time, I just choose whichever one strikes my fancy.
But after reading Mongolia by Albert Axelbank, which was published in 1971 and told the story of his trip to a Mongolia heavily under the influence of the USSR, I wanted to read something similar but closer to the present date so I could compare while Axelbank's book was still fresh in my mind.
Wild East was published in 2000, and talks about the author's two years in the country during the late 1990's. Lawless is a Canadian who was working at the UB Post in the Mongolian capital city of Ulaanbaatar. I think a person who is living and working in whatever country has a different view than one who is merely passing through on a tourist romp, and I enjoyed this author's offerings of life as she saw it in Mongolia.
She was mostly respectful, although she did admit several times to frustration with the people for their relaxed attitudes about nearly everything. She was, naturally, a hyper Westerner, accustomed to fretting about everything, unused to a slower pace and a more basic life. I think she was able to appreciate a simpler approach, even if she maybe could not truly understand or share it.
Lawless gives interesting bits of history as well as episodes from her own adventures. She did tend to include an awful lot of the ex-pat experience, talking about which restaurants they all liked to visit, and so on. She spent a lot of time with other foreigners. But I still got the overall impression that she liked both Mongolia and its people, and she presented what felt like a fair few of the country and its situation at the turn of the century.
Something she said more than once was that she could not get over how just seventy years of Soviet influence erased seven generations of traditional lifestyles and thinking. Now I wonder how the country has done with the just as severe influences from the rest of the Western world.
When she left the country by train to Beijing at the end of her two years, Lawless chatted with a young man who was traveling to buy merchandise that he would resell on his return to Mongolia. She says that many people are doing the same thing because they cannot find other work and have not grown up in the herding tradition that sustained generations before them. She wonders how the country as a whole can have the courage to face their uncertain and unknowable future.
Then she remembers a proverb that many people repeatedly told her over the years, which seemed to sum up the modern Mongolian attitude:
If you are afraid, don't do it. If you do it, don't be afraid.
Seems like good advice for people of any country, don't you think?
January 15, 2010
This author's writing style was pretty dry. Also I couldn't get past the fact that she was really whiney about the weather and the culture. She was there working for an english language newspaper but didn't seem to venture out from the expat environment. I don't want to read about expat life, that's the same everywhere, I want to read about the place she is in and what's unique about it.
June 4, 2023
"If you're afraid don't do it. If you do it, don't be afraid." -Mongolian proverb
An interesting book that describes life, government, tourism, expat living, music, and survival and other parts of Mongolia 🇲🇳 from an expat/reporter's view.
The idea that moved me the most was the chapter on media. I realized just how important the media is to a country. How, even if not completely objectively true, various media sources can be used to get a better idea of something or someone. Negative and critical media is also very important. Telling your stories is important. It is a vital part of society. This resonated with me as I too have stories to tell, and being silent or hiding them has done me and others a disservice.
I would like to travel to Mongolia one day. The idea of living in China has occurred to us often during these past few years, and is a likely possibility if the war in Ukraine does not end soon. If that is the case, I would love to visit Mongolia by train.
I felt for the author as she left the country at the end. I had the same feelings for places I have lived and loved, wondering if I would ever go back, knowing I would never go back to the same place because places and people always change.
An interesting book that describes life, government, tourism, expat living, music, and survival and other parts of Mongolia 🇲🇳 from an expat/reporter's view.
The idea that moved me the most was the chapter on media. I realized just how important the media is to a country. How, even if not completely objectively true, various media sources can be used to get a better idea of something or someone. Negative and critical media is also very important. Telling your stories is important. It is a vital part of society. This resonated with me as I too have stories to tell, and being silent or hiding them has done me and others a disservice.
I would like to travel to Mongolia one day. The idea of living in China has occurred to us often during these past few years, and is a likely possibility if the war in Ukraine does not end soon. If that is the case, I would love to visit Mongolia by train.
I felt for the author as she left the country at the end. I had the same feelings for places I have lived and loved, wondering if I would ever go back, knowing I would never go back to the same place because places and people always change.
December 8, 2018
This was a very good look into Mongolia! Since I am going there in February, a peek into Ulaanbaatar culture, the country's history, and how the new and old systems interact with each other is exactly what I need. Lawless was a good storyteller, bringing not quite enough empathy with the Mongolians she was living beside, and it was hard to tell how invested she got into the culture and world compared to other expats accounts I've read. The last few chapters were astounding and this book taught me a LOT. I have many pages of notes to review. Until then, saikhan amraarai sunflowers!
February 8, 2022
Interessante korte stukjes over het leven van een westerse journalist in Mongolië in de jaren 90. Allerlei thema's: geschiedenis, culturele feesten en gewoonten, achternamen, alcoholgebruik, valkerij, journalistiek, het weer.
Ik heb wel het idee dat het een bundeling van lange columns is, of iets dergelijks. De hoofdstukken zijn niet echt met elkaar verbonden en je mist ook iets van uitleg over het leven van de schrijfster zelf.
Ik heb wel het idee dat het een bundeling van lange columns is, of iets dergelijks. De hoofdstukken zijn niet echt met elkaar verbonden en je mist ook iets van uitleg over het leven van de schrijfster zelf.
February 18, 2026
Well I definitely enjoyed it. A good personal overview and fun stories of an oft forgotten country. I liked the style in which it was written, and each chapter had it’s own unique topic (which is my preference for a travel memoir).
March 19, 2013
_Wild East_ was a fun, easy to read travelogue of Mongolia, written by a Canadian reporter who for a few years in the 1990s worked as an editor for an English language paper in the Mongolian capital. It was a fast read and overall enjoyable.
There were two types of chapters in the book, though they weren’t necessarily labeled as such. Some chapters were fun adventures she had, either trying to see the sights, the trials and tribulations of expat life in Mongolia (often centering around food), or just strange stories from her time there. Sometimes these chapters were rather funny; while others were just interesting or even bizarre (such as a chapter on a very eccentric advocate for Mongolia’s wild falcons, a man claiming that his life was at stake as he had upset powerful interests, foreign and domestic, who benefitted from the falcon trade, dangers the author had a hard time verifying). She had a good handle on describing the countryside and the people, paining very vivid mental pictures, and I really identified with her quest for some of her favorite cuisine from home in a land not known for pizza or hamburgers.
Other chapters were more a primer of sort of Mongolian history, culture, and politics. Some chapters were more effective than others; her grand sweep of Mongolian history was not bad but rather superficial (though I think good for someone just starting out reading about Mongolia) while her discussion of Mongolian politics (at least in the 1990s) was thorough if a little too much information at times (and perhaps dated though I admit I do not know anything about current Mongolian politics). I think her best chapters of this sort were discussions of Mongolian culture, such as their famed hospitality, their cuisine, or sports.
Three themes came through again and again in the book. One was that this was very much a country emerging from decades of communism and Soviet domination, of how everything was new again, with Mongolians everywhere coming to grips with how 70 years had eradicated so much Mongolian history and culture and how to handle a wide variety of weighty topics, from issues of freedom of the press to transparency of government to running a modern market economy. Even basic things like should they have last names or if they even had them before the advent of communism were the subject of much debate in the country.
Another theme was the often startling naivety of many Mongolians on at least some subjects. Lawless often portrayed a rather startlingly naïve people at times, people who often seemed to not view human nature quite the way outsiders did, ranging from being embarrassed at government ineptitude and gridlock (they need not have been) to not quite understanding how freedom of the press works to even not understanding why anyone would need a last name or how they should worry about sexually transmitted diseases. She did not do this to make fun of them, but rather remarked on how things really were in Mongolia long isolated not only due to its huge distance from most other countries with its immense physical remoteness but also long out of touch thanks to it being a communist nation not bordering any Western or non-communist nation.
The final theme I would say is here overall positive portrayal of the Mongolian people. They are a very hospitable people she wrote many times, very welcoming of travelers and often trying to be helpful. They are also a people who didn’t seem easily cowed by rather large obstacles (the latter shown time and time again, be it Mongolian driver repairing by himself miles and miles from help a broken axle on a truck to an aging Buddhist monk determined that a destroyed monastery could be rebuilt despite having no money or government interest in the project).
There were two types of chapters in the book, though they weren’t necessarily labeled as such. Some chapters were fun adventures she had, either trying to see the sights, the trials and tribulations of expat life in Mongolia (often centering around food), or just strange stories from her time there. Sometimes these chapters were rather funny; while others were just interesting or even bizarre (such as a chapter on a very eccentric advocate for Mongolia’s wild falcons, a man claiming that his life was at stake as he had upset powerful interests, foreign and domestic, who benefitted from the falcon trade, dangers the author had a hard time verifying). She had a good handle on describing the countryside and the people, paining very vivid mental pictures, and I really identified with her quest for some of her favorite cuisine from home in a land not known for pizza or hamburgers.
Other chapters were more a primer of sort of Mongolian history, culture, and politics. Some chapters were more effective than others; her grand sweep of Mongolian history was not bad but rather superficial (though I think good for someone just starting out reading about Mongolia) while her discussion of Mongolian politics (at least in the 1990s) was thorough if a little too much information at times (and perhaps dated though I admit I do not know anything about current Mongolian politics). I think her best chapters of this sort were discussions of Mongolian culture, such as their famed hospitality, their cuisine, or sports.
Three themes came through again and again in the book. One was that this was very much a country emerging from decades of communism and Soviet domination, of how everything was new again, with Mongolians everywhere coming to grips with how 70 years had eradicated so much Mongolian history and culture and how to handle a wide variety of weighty topics, from issues of freedom of the press to transparency of government to running a modern market economy. Even basic things like should they have last names or if they even had them before the advent of communism were the subject of much debate in the country.
Another theme was the often startling naivety of many Mongolians on at least some subjects. Lawless often portrayed a rather startlingly naïve people at times, people who often seemed to not view human nature quite the way outsiders did, ranging from being embarrassed at government ineptitude and gridlock (they need not have been) to not quite understanding how freedom of the press works to even not understanding why anyone would need a last name or how they should worry about sexually transmitted diseases. She did not do this to make fun of them, but rather remarked on how things really were in Mongolia long isolated not only due to its huge distance from most other countries with its immense physical remoteness but also long out of touch thanks to it being a communist nation not bordering any Western or non-communist nation.
The final theme I would say is here overall positive portrayal of the Mongolian people. They are a very hospitable people she wrote many times, very welcoming of travelers and often trying to be helpful. They are also a people who didn’t seem easily cowed by rather large obstacles (the latter shown time and time again, be it Mongolian driver repairing by himself miles and miles from help a broken axle on a truck to an aging Buddhist monk determined that a destroyed monastery could be rebuilt despite having no money or government interest in the project).
July 24, 2008
Jill Lawless, a Canadian, worked for a couple years in the 1990s as an editor at an English-language paper in Ulanbataar, Mongolia, and recounts not only the local cultural quirks, but the bigger political picture of a country struggling into the modern world after Soviet domination. Caught between Russia and China, Mongolia is trying to keep its unique identity (and it is unique, as evidenced by the many interesting and often funny tales that Lawless shares). Less a travelogue that a primer on modern Mongolia in general, Lawless still offers a lot of fun, personalized insights into the place she called her home for a couple of years.
January 3, 2022
Experience Bhutan through the travel story towards Mongolia. This is one such book where you have to sigh before flipping a page.
Jill Lawless, a journalist through her powerful language describes the portrait of new Mongolia. She describes the rediscovering of the long-suppressed heritage as a nomadic and Buddhist society. And also unfolding both benefits and dangers of Westernization.
A must-read book!
Jill Lawless, a journalist through her powerful language describes the portrait of new Mongolia. She describes the rediscovering of the long-suppressed heritage as a nomadic and Buddhist society. And also unfolding both benefits and dangers of Westernization.
A must-read book!
June 18, 2009
A wonderful, funny, insightful account of post-Soviet Mongolia in the mid-1990s. Delightful as an expat memoir, and a rather nice introduction to Mongolia itself and its politics and culture.
June 19, 2013
A fast, interesting introduction to Mongolia, transitioning from communism to capitalism. Very enjoyable!
June 29, 2014
A mostly interesting read about a country I knew nothing about.
July 19, 2016
A wonderful series of insights about a very interesting country. I only wish I had read this before my trip to Mongolia.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews