Zwierzęta, ludzie, bogowie

by Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski

Uchodząc poprzez Syberię i Mongolię przed ścigającą go "czeką", autor był uczestnikiem dramatycznych wydarzeń lat 1920 - 1921. Zmagania z pierwotna przyrodą syberyjską, walki z czerwonymi bandami, spotkania z "krwawym baronem" Ungern von Sternbergiem...

Genres: History, Travel, Nonfiction, Russia, Adventure, Biography, Asia

246 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1922

About the author

Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski was a Polish writer, journalist, traveler, globetrotter, explorer, anti-communist, university professor, a member of the French Academy, political activist.

After World War II all his books were covered by the censors in Poland because of his anti-communist beliefs. Only since 1989, his work can be officially published in Poland again.

He is best known for his books:

Beasts, Men and Gods – 1922
(org. title: Przez kraj ludzi, zwierząt i bogów. Konno przez Azję Centralną)

The Shadow of the Gloomy East: A Moral History of the Russian People – 1923
(org. title: Cień ponurego Wschodu. Za kulisami życia rosyjskiego)

Lenin: God of the Godless – 1930
(org. title: Lenin)

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that I read for free on Project Gutenberg. It was first published in 1923 and is based, at times loosely, on real events and the author’s life story.

A bit of mixed bag! The text of my edition had about 320 pages, and the first 250 or so could be described as a “ripping yarn”. The broad outline is historically verified but the book definitely has the feel of being embellished in the detail. There’s a change for the last 60 or so pages, which describe the author’s meetings with the Bogd Khan, the spiritual and secular ruler of Mongolia, along with his assessment of the Khan’s character and of Mongolian Buddhism more generally. The last section of all plunges fully into eastern mysticism and a legend about “The King of the World”, said to live in a subterranean kingdom.

Ossendowski was an ethnic Pole born in 1876 within the territory of the Russian Empire. This book opens at the beginning of 1920 with him living in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia. He flees into the taiga after being tipped off that he is to be arrested by the Bolsheviks. After living for some time in the forest, he decides to try to reach the nearest international border, that of Mongolia. I’m not sure how far this is but I suspect it’s at least a thousand miles. On his way south he encounters other White Russian refugees and they gradually coalesce into a larger group, reaching Mongolia after numerous adventures and narrow escapes. At the time Mongolia was under the control of China, and it proves not to be the safe haven he had hoped for. Ossendowski’s group decide to cross the Gobi desert and then the Gansu Corridor into Tibet, which at the time was not controlled by the Chinese. Remarkably they do make it to Tibet, but things do not go well for them in that country and they are forced to return to Mongolia. There, Ossendowski falls in with Baron von Ungern-Sternberg, a half-mad White Russian general of Baltic German ethnicity, who defeats the Chinese and restores Mongolian independence under the Bogd Khan.

Some of the individual incidents in the book stretched my credulity too much, for example his alleged encounters with the (real-life) Tushegoun Lama.

Apart from being an excellent adventure story, Ossendowski’s book conveys a sense of the lawlessness of the period, following as it did both the 1911 Chinese Revolution and the Russian Revolution and Civil War. There are Bolshevik, White Russian, and Chinese troops, plus Mongolian and Tibetan brigands. Whenever a party of strangers are encountered, there is about a 50/50 chance they will start shooting. Although strongly anti-Bolshevik, Ossendowski gives us an unflattering portrait of the White Russian commanders, paranoid about infiltration by Bolshevik agents and all plotting against each other to advance their own careers.

Prior to 1924 a significant proportion of Mongolian males were Buddhist monks or Lamas, but they were all massacred after the communist takeover, so Ossendowski’s book is valuable as it captures the last moments of pre-revolutionary Mongolian society. He seems to have conflicting views on Mongolian Buddhism. At times he dismisses certain beliefs as mere superstitions, but more often he appears awed by the “wise” lamas. The book is full of encounters with fortune tellers whose predictions invariably come true, at least in this book.

The variable content makes the book difficult to rate, but in the end I’ve gone with 4 stars because, if nothing else, it’s a very entertaining read.

Definitely one of the more unusual books I’ve read!

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 3 out of 5]

March 23, 230pm ~~ Review asap.

March 25, 115pm ~~ This 1922 book is part of my 16 volume armchair trek through Mongolia. Before I began reading, all I knew about it and the author was that he was trying to escape the Bolsheviks in Russia and planned to make his way to either China or Tibet by going through Mongolia.

The author never mentions exactly why he needed to escape; he just jumps right into this story. After a few chapters I looked him up at Wiki just to satisfy my curiosity and he is described there as "a Polish writer, explorer, university professor, and anti-Communist political activist." And I saw later in the book that he had fingers in many pies once he reached Mongolia, so I can see why he would have been a target for the Bolsheviks. Or for any political system he chose to be against.

Meanwhile, the first 16 chapters detail what happened during the actual flight from Russia. And to be honest, while he starts off with a bang, by the end of this section it was all more of the same just different days. Soldiers to hide from (or sometimes kill), rivers to cross, mountain passes to get through, horses to ride to exhaustion (The words of a Mongolian guide after examining one poor beast: “That horse will not go further. His brain is dried out.”)

Finally we are in Mongolia but are we safe? It took the author a very long paragraph to explain all of the political intrigue going on in the western city he was in. The Chinese wanted control. Red and White Russians wanted control. There were even American interventionists! And eventually there was Baron Ungern von Sternberg. I had seen his name in one of the other books I had read, but here the author did more than mention his name. He spent time with him (not exactly by choice) and gave a vivid, personal portrayal of this eccentric, obsessed, slightly insane man who had a brief but intense time as a warlord with tremendous power.

Besides an excellent view of the political situation, the author also spoke about the Lamas who also wanted control of the country. Or shall we say wanted to maintain control of the country. When the Soviets eventually took over, they killed thousands of the lamas, so it was sad to read about them here. Interesting for the unknown world we get a glimpse of, but depressing when we already know what will happen to them all in the near future.

This was not your run of the mill I Went To Mongolia And This Is What I Saw type of book. Because of the timing and the reasons for the author's trip, this book preserves a slice of history that not many people outside the country would be aware of otherwise.

[Frederick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very exciting, moving from one adventure to another much like an Indiana Jones movie. While I have doubts about the truth of everything said in the book it does give flesh to the turmoil in East Asia that followed the Bolshevik Revolution in the early 20th century, not in Russia as the official blurb says. It will keep your attention and while it entertains with action it also gives you a ground up view of the inhuman and barbarous struggle that went on in those years. This was recommended by the author of Twentieth Century Mongolia, which was a top-notch history. Worth reading. Definitely guy stuff.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before Curzio Malaparte perfected pseudo-history and fictionalized memoir Ossendowski wrote about his own real flight from the Russian Civil War through Siberia and Mongolia, inventing, embellishing, and tall-tailing all the way. He does have a knack for prose.

[Mariasole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ossendowski was the witness of one of the worst event occured in the last century. Whatever political idea you stick up for, the devilish incursions and the bloody actions used to spread the principles of the Communist revolution, to create a new Russia where all the traditions have been swept away, must be anything new to anybody. The writer fled from a sure death, which any political enemy was doomed to, trying to hide in the cold vastity of the Siberia Tundra. Then he is successful to cross the border ith a bunch of other dissidents and enter Mongolia, an immense state of nomads, whose life is still full of superstitions, mixed with the Lamaite Buddhism teachings.
Adventures after adventure, loss and sickness, he is able to meet extraordinary people: in monasteries he learned old legends abouts mongolian gods, he meets the enemy "the reds" masked as spies. But he soon realizes that also in the "white army", that fights against bolschevic and chinese to free Mongolia, there are people he cannot trust completely. Then he meets the legendary Baron Ungern von Sternberg, who is the symbol of the ancient idea of soldier/teutonic horseman who sacrifices his life in the name of the Principle of Freedom. However i have the idea that the author wrote thi sbook not only to describe his life in peril, but also to give to the western world the numerous local legends and notions of the ancient oriental philosophy, that capitivated him without any doubt. Thanks to him we know the legend of the King of the world, that was studied later by Guenon

[Marc Pearce · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ultimately, a great adventure story, that was born out of the author’s escape from the Red tyranny that ensued at the tail end of the Russian Civil War. He detailed his harrowing journeys out of Russia, into Mongolia, and the surrounding regions, while attempting to dodge Red Army forces, sometimes being drawn into battle with them, or having to fight various hostile local tribes, in preservation of his own life. Ultimately, his journey brings him into contact with a general of the Russian White forces, Baron Ungern von Sternberg, the “Bloody Baron”. The entire book is a series of fantastical adventures, which some apparently, have a hard time believing. It is certainly possible that the author used a liberal amount of embellishment to keep the reader interested, and he was quite successful on that account, whatever the case. It’s a gripping, page turning account. Based on all of that, I would have awarded four stars in my review, however, after parting ways with the Baron, the remaining chapters wandered somewhat aimlessly through an Eastern religious theme, which I just not was interested in at all, and I found myself skipping over much of those final pages. I think the author’s intent, was to make the story a little more “exotic” and “mysterious” to the readers of his day. I think also, it was maybe an attempt to ponder philosophically, that perhaps the great warrior Baron, might someday be reincarnated at some future time, in a return to some great battles or cause to come. That bit of haziness aside, it’s still a very worthwhile read, and for me, a stimulus to read more about Baron Ungern, as well as to read one of the author’s other books, “Lenin: God of the Godless”. Happy reading!

[T · Rating 5 out of 5]

"In the heart of Asia lies the enormous, mysterious and rich country of Mongolia. From somewhere on the snowy slopes of the Tian Shan and from the hot sands of Western Zungaria to the timbered ridges of the Sayan and to the Great Wall of China it stretches over a huge portion of Central Asia. The cradle of peoples, histories and legends; the native land of bloody conquerors, who have left here their capitals covered by the sand of the Gobi, their mysterious rings and their ancient nomad laws; the states of monks and evil devils, the country of wandering tribes administered by the descendants of Jenghiz Khan and Kublai Khan—Khans and Princes of the Junior lines: that is Mongolia."

This book is about the author's journey through Siberia into Mongolia and Tibet, and finally into China during the Russian Civil War. This book is also about Buddhism as it was practiced in Mongolia and Tibet in past times. The themes of mystery and prophesy surface again and again and I couldn't help but feel as though he has dramatized parts of his journey for the reader's entertainment. Then again, reality is often stranger than fiction.

There is one portion of the book which I found particularly interesting at the tail end, about the King of the World, who reigns over the subterranean parts of the world, a theme that is echoed in Western esotericism in general.

Overall, quick and entertaining read.

[Maria Beltrami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incuriosita dalla citazione che ne fa Terzani, mi sono procurata questo libro semisconosciuto che invece dovrebbe occupare un posto di primo piano tra i libri di viaggio e non solo.
Scritto in un inglese abbastanza semplice, più efficace che letterario dato che non era la lingua madre dell'autore, riesce a rappresentare le avventure, i pericoli e gli incredibili incontri di questo altrettanto incredibile personaggio, a cavallo tra Russia, Mongolia e Cina e a cavallo di una rivoluzione.
Davvero un libro da leggere.

[E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely readable, adventuresome, exciting. Ossendowski is clearly a self-promoting egotist—not to say that his travelogues are baldly untrue, but he smacks a little too much of The Hero according to his own pen. Baron Ungern and the mysterious Mongolian superhero avenger (Tushegoun Lama) were some of the highlights, although the accounts of traveling and Mongolian slice-of-life was captivating, too. (The chapters of Orientalist hollow earth ramblings at the end of the book were not.)

[Крюкокрест · Rating 5 out of 5]

Захватывающее путешествие по Сибири, Алтаю и Монголии спасающегося от большевиков (а вернее сказать - прорывающегося с боем!) воина-авантюриста.

Приведены реальные воспоминания о бароне Унгерне. Внутренняя кухня русско-китайско-монгольских отношений. Миф об Агарте и Царе Мира. Зарисовки дикой природы и этнографии Монголии.

Оссендовский стал свидетелем ситуации, когда русские беженцы из Сибири оказались между большевистским молотом и китайской наковальней. Выжить удалось единицам. И разве не стали те сказочно-зловещие края, запечатлённые Оссендовским, лучшим из жертвенников белой борьбы, освятившим её сакральное перерождение в последующих поколениях?

[Uroboro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Libro sicuramente troppo sopravvalutato, inizia come i più classici romanzi d'avventura, ma pian piano le continue peregrinazioni dell'autore tendono a girare sempre negli stessi luoghi, stancando così il povero lettore. Nel sottotitolo di copertina poi, si accenna al mistero del Re del Mondo, argomento che viene affrontato in maniera blanda solo nelle ultime 10 pagine. Malgrado tutto, di quest'opera rimane una concreta testimonianza della storia della Mongolia e delle atrocità scaturite dalle lotte antibolsceviche.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ossendowski's Siberian/Mongolian adventure is more fiction than travelogue, but if the reader adjusts their expectations Beasts, Men, and Gods could be an exciting adventure of escape during the Russian Civil War.

Good fun but flawed travel writing because of invention and hyperbole.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

[Bobby Daugherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

An account of the Mongolian resistance to communism led by Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg. The good Baron is a hero that is not celebrated enough in my opinion.

[Eleonora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un tableau vivant incredibile, anche se certamente piuttosto fantasticato, delle peregrinazioni e esplorazioni di un personaggio tanto reazionario quanto avventuroso. Scappando dai bolscevichi in Siberia per una misteriosa ragione, il polacco Ossendowski si ritrova a vivere dentro le radici di un grosso albero al riparo dagli orsi, peregrinare di accampamento in accampamento per la Mongolia Ulteriore, valicare pericolosi passi di montagna innevati nell'Altai e temere per la sua vita al cospetto del barone sanguinario Von Ungern Sternberg.

Diviso in cinque parti diseguali e poco organiche, Bestie, uomini e dei è un ritratto vivido del caos della guerra civile tra rossi e bianchi ai margini dell'Impero, nelle steppe di una Mongolia spopolata divisa tra influenze russe e cinesi, rifugio di mistici buddisti e porta d'accesso al leggendario regno sotterraneo di Agarthi.

«Nel cuore dell'Asia giace la terra enorme, misteriosa e ricca della Mongolia. Dalle pendici nevose del Tian Shan e dalle sabbie infocate della Zungaria occidentale fino alle catene dei Sajani ammantate di foreste e alla Gran Muraglia della Cina il Paese si stende sopra una gran parte dell'Asia centrale.

Culla di popoli, di storie, di leggende; patria di conquistatori sanguinosi che vi lasciarono le loro capitali ricoperte ora dalle sabbie del Gobi, i misteriosi anelli e le leggi antiche della loro vita di nomadi; Paese di monaci e di spiriti maligni, di tribù vaganti rette da discendenti di Gengis Khan e Kublai Khan e principi del ramo cadetto: ecco la Mongolia»

[Katarzyna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've picked up this book because I would like to gain some direct knowledge about a traditional mongolian way of living.
It seemed to me that the author is a good source of it. One hundred years ago he was escaping from the bolshevik Red Army across teritory of Central Asia. So this book is based on his own experiences which in these times weren't so common. There weren't so many travellers as nowadays. Such a trip in very often hostile environment required courage, good health and determination. But after finishing this book I was disappointed. The author had really great adventures but couldn't reflect them in his writing. It looks like he didn't want to reveal everything. When he and his troop were crossing dangeorous places or a new battle was about to come, we began to expect something involving, but instead of it, everything was simply over.
For me the most interesting is the third part of the book when he was travelling through a mongolian steppe visiting various places and people. If somebody is interested in how tibetan buddhism looked like in old Mongolia, from this part can learn something – especially about the "Living Buddhas" meaning abbots of main mongolian monasteries, send to Mongolia from Lhasa. We can learn also about their sacred, misthycal ritual objects, every – with magic history.
In the book there is not quite at all descriptions of nature wich I admire so much in literature. Ossendowski is also writing about local people as somebody who stands higher, who is better then they are – beacuse of his education, social status, origin, race. In our times I think it would not be possible to write in such a way. Fot me this two matters are serious disadvantageous of this book

[Michael Flanagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beast Men and Gods is a memoir's following the author's adventurous travels as he runs away from the purges of the early 1900's Russian revolution. His travel takes us into the mysterious land of Mongolia and this where the book starts to stretch it legs. While this book is a memoir's it is fair to say the author has taken some poetic license. Nerveless the book is good solid tale of adventure and gives a good insight of life in Mongolia of this time. The book is well paced and the intriguing narrative goads you to continue reading on long past the time you intended to put it down. I recommend this book to all if only because it is something a bit different and refreshing than your normal Historical memoirs.

[Lucreţiu Calotă · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book about a foggy period in history, the civil war in Russia after the Bolshevik revolution, in an even more remote part of the world, Transbaikal and Mongolia. It would pay of to follow the action on a map and eventually read more on Internet about the places.
The second half of the book is about the bloody baron Ungern-Sternberg (you know who if you read Corto Maltese in Siberia).
Last chapters are unusual considerations about the Tibetan Buddhism as is practiced in Mongolia. Even a story about the Hidden King of the World.

[Mimonni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro avventuroso, forse fin troppo per essere totalmente credibile dato che si tratta di vita vissuta. A suo modo affascinante soprattutto nelle descrizioni della natura impervia che accompagna il protagonista nella fuga dalla Russia, attraverso la Mongolia verso il Pacifico, anche se risulta a tratti ripetitivo. L'ho letto incuriosita dalle varie citazioni che Terzani ne fa in 'Un indovino mi disse'che ho letto recentemente. Risente della sua età (100 anni circa) o forse della traduzione, ma comunque una lettura interessante .

[Mairita (Marii grāmatplaukts) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vispār jau interesanti, tikai nepameta tāda neliela nereāluma sajūta. Likās, ka drusku piepušķoti notikumi, ko labam stāstam var piedot. Autors bēg no boļševikiem, uz ilgu laiku iestrēgst Mongolijā un tur kļūst par diezgan ievērojamu personu. Traka dzīve uz pulvera mucas vairāku tautu plosītā zemē, bet autoru pavada izcila veiksme. Ļoti interesants ieskats 1920. gadu Mongolijā, beigas gan drusku aizpeld stāstījumā par Dzīvo Budu, leģendās un pareģojumos.

[Piotr Szczepanik · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nie wiem, dla kogo jest skierowana ta książka. Niby trochę jak reportaż, ale jest przepaść pomiędzy tą pozycją a książkami Kapuścińskiego, które są ciekawe i dobrze napisane. Niby główny bohater-autor przez wszystkie kartki podróżuje, ale jakoś nie czuć tej podróży. Ciężko się dowiedzieć czegoś, ponieważ czytelnik jest zasypywany olbrzymią ilością nazw miejscowości, gdzieś z Mongolii i okolic, co nic a nic nam nie mówi. Oprócz tego, drugie tyle imion i nazwisk jakichś przypadkowo spotykanych osób, które pojawiają się i znikają. Czasem są dołączane długie dywagacje w historie osobiste tych osób, czasem są przytaczane długie legendy, wierzenia. Niby powinno być ok, ale jest to przedstawione w tak niestrawny sposób, że naprawdę zastanawiałem się, czy książki nie przerwać gdzieś w połowie, a potem ta myśl była ze mną do samego końca. Ostatecznie żałuję, że nie przerwałem, bo ta książka praktycznie nic nie wniosła do mojego życia.

Żal do autora mam tym większy, iż jest to bardzo ciekawy czas - rok 1921, a nasz rodak podróżuje po bardzo nieznanych krainach. I nawet początek książki był niezły, fajne wprowadzenie w miejsce, klimat, sporo się działo. Potem było tylko gorzej i gorzej... Szkoda.

[Kanra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a very good book. It is hard to read because of all the names and it is slow paced sometimes. My favorite part was with Ungern von Sternberg. I highly recommend reading it to get an insight into an early 20th century history of Bolsheviks and freedom of Mongolia

[Abdullah Almuslem · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a traveling book but from different era. 1920, Ferdynand Ossendowski ran away from the Russian Bolshevik during the revolution. His escape took him into a journey from Siberia to the depth of Asia with the aim to reach the British India.

Unfortunately, I did not find the book very amusing, and I doubted many tales given in the book. He spoke a lot about the Mongolians believes which did not interest me a lot.

An OK Book

[bardamu · Rating 3 out of 5]

half-fictitious solzhenitsyan account of travel through mongolia with an esoteric twist

[Tocotin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of personal history: I grew up on F. A. Ossendowski’s books. It was way back when in communist Poland, which issued a ban on his whole oeuvre because of his anti-communist writings and activities, and went so far as to withdraw his books from libraries and destroy them. But my dad, who collected old books, bought whatever he could at flea markets, and so I had a lot of Ossendowski’s stories about animals; Życie i przygody małpki ("The life and adventures of a little monkey") was the most beloved book of my childhood.

Ossendowski’s books are often gut-wrenching, full of cruelty and suffering – even the children books – and sometimes clearly designed to shock the reader. The non-fiction ones can be additionally hard to stomach because of the author’s political leanings, which were conservative and extremely anti-communist, because of his predilection for melodrama and grandiloquence, and last but not least because of his belief in the superiority of the Western civilization and of Christianity. Sounds horrible? But at the same time, he constantly shows sympathy and empathy towards pretty much everyone he comes in contact with, even his enemies, even those whom he despises; he likes women as people and the only woman he thinks of with anything more than brotherly sympathy (in several books, not only this one) is his beloved wife Zofia; he describes places, tribes, individual people, cultures and religions with understanding and respect; he is compassionate towards animals. His books are immensely readable, full of vivid details, emotional language, and exciting situations.

This one is no exception; I think it’s one of his best I’ve read, next to Płomienna Północ (The Fiery North, about the countries of the Maghreb). The author describes his escape from Russia engulfed in the civil war of 1918-1921; being extremely unsympathetic towards the Bolshevik cause (also being a spy, plain and simple), he had to run from the Reds, from Krasnoyarsk through Siberia and Mongolia to China and then to Japan. This book covers the Siberia & Mongolia parts. The descriptions of various Siberian and Mongolian ethnic groups, their beliefs and ways of life, even with the added caveat of Ossendowski’s imperialist tendencies, are absolutely fascinating. Wanting to learn some more about the Buddhist and pacifistic Soyots, I turned to Wikipedia – and lo and behold, I was greeted by the excerpt from this very book… But the absolute highlight is his account of life in Urga (now Ulaanbaatar), under the rule of the Bogd Khan and the Bloody Baron, aka Ungern-Sternberg. That part, especially where it deals with the court of the Bogd Khan and the treasures of the Winter Palace in Urga, is absolutely wonderful; I had goosebumps when reading, I just didn’t want it to end.

I have a beautiful hard-cover edition with old (in sepia) and modern (in color) pictures of the places Ossendowski visited in his travels. Actually I bought 2 copies of this book when I went to Poland, on different occasions probably, and gave one of them to my friend. I’ll definitely read it again.

So why four stars and not five? Well… because Ungern-Sternberg was a monster, and Ossendowski seems to have sympathy for him, and I don’t.

[Justyna Woźniakowska · Rating 3 out of 5]

How can you describe interesting story in such uninteresting way, is beyond my comprehension.
The first part, about Russia – super easy to read, very interesting. Third, focused on Mongolia and baron – the same. I saw someone criticizing the descriptions of Mongol beliefs and traditions – for me these were amongst most interesting parts.
But the middle, that started somewhere around trip back from Tibet? I just felt as if I was reading some journey plan. We got from A to B, where we talked with X, and then went to C, and back to A. Of course this is massive exaggeration but it made me so tired with the book I thought I might not end it.

[Aleks · Rating 5 out of 5]

W kanonie polskiej literatury podróżniczej i reportażowej nie sposób pominąć jednego z najwybitniejszych i najoryginalniejszych głosów XX wieku – Ferdynanda Antoniego Ossendowskiego. Jego Przez kraj ludzi, zwierząt i bogów, opublikowana po raz pierwszy w 1921 roku, jest nie tylko fascynującym świadectwem dramatycznych losów autora, który przemierzył dzikie obszary Syberii i Mongolii w okresie bezprecedensowego chaosu historycznego, ale również jednym z tych literackich arcydzieł, które przekraczają granice czasu, przestrzeni i gatunku. To książka, którą można odczytywać jako reportaż, wspomnienie, filozoficzną refleksję, a nawet traktat metafizyczny – i w każdej z tych ról sprawdza się znakomicie.

Ossendowski, często porównywany do takich gigantów jak Joseph Conrad czy Ryszard Kapuściński, w swojej monumentalnej opowieści łączy w sobie wszystko to, co najlepsze w literaturze faktu: głębokie zrozumienie mechanizmów politycznych i społecznych, bezbłędny instynkt narracyjny, zdumiewające wyczucie detalu, a przede wszystkim – umiejętność wnikania w istotę człowieczeństwa.

Przez kraj ludzi, zwierząt i bogów nie jest jedynie zbiorem przygodowych opowieści z azjatyckiego interioru. Książka ta stanowi próbę ogarnięcia sensu egzystencji w czasie, gdy dawne imperia rozpadają się w proch, a nowe potęgi rodzą się w bólu i krwi. Ossendowski, który przed rewolucją rosyjską był wykładowcą w Petersburgu i wybitnym intelektualistą, znalazł się nagle w świecie, gdzie dotychczasowe wartości uległy radykalnemu zakwestionowaniu. Jego ucieczka z bolszewickiej Rosji przez Syberię, Mongolię i Tybet to nie tylko podróż fizyczna – to także metafizyczna wędrówka w głąb istoty ludzkiego losu, poznawania granic wytrzymałości, sensu wolności i miejsca duchowości w zlaicyzowanym świecie.

To, co uderza od pierwszych stron, to intensywność doznań i szeroki horyzont intelektualny autora. Ossendowski nie opisuje po prostu rzeczywistości – on ją kontempluje, analizuje, czasami przetwarza poprzez filtr własnych przekonań i refleksji. Dzięki temu powieść nie jest suchą relacją z trasy, ale żywym, pulsującym świadectwem życia w najpełniejszym tego słowa znaczeniu.

Język, którym posługuje się Ossendowski, jest świadectwem jego nieprzeciętnego talentu literackiego. Styl autora oscyluje pomiędzy klarownym reportażem a natchnionym poematem prozą. Opisy przyrody Mongolii, bezkresnych stepów, pustyń i gór, są tak plastyczne i sugestywne, że czytelnik niemal fizycznie czuje surowe piękno tych przestrzeni. Opisy spotkań z szamanami, lamami, mongolskimi książętami czy zwykłymi pasterzami przenoszą nas w świat niemal mistyczny, w którym sacrum i profanum splatają się w sposób niemal niezauważalny.

W tym sensie Ossendowski jest także wielkim poetą rzeczywistości – jego opowieść nie tylko rejestruje zdarzenia, ale również nadaje im znaczenie symboliczne. Kiedy pisze o tajemniczych rytuałach lamów, o przepowiedniach Buddy Żyjącego, o poszukiwaniu legendarnej krainy Shambali, nie mamy wrażenia egzotycznej sensacji – raczej uczestniczymy w głębokiej duchowej podróży, która przypomina duchowe wędrówki postaci z Braci Karamazow Dostojewskiego czy Procesu Kafki.

Jednym z najbardziej poruszających aspektów książki jest duchowy wymiar podróży Ossendowskiego. Autor nie ukrywa swojej fascynacji buddyzmem, lamizmem, a także różnymi lokalnymi formami religijności, które spotyka na swojej drodze. I choć nie przyjmuje żadnej z nich w pełni, potrafi oddać im głęboki szacunek i zrozumienie. Jego refleksje na temat życia, śmierci, cierpienia i przeznaczenia są szczere, głębokie i uniwersalne.

Fragmenty opisujące spotkanie z tajemniczym "Bogiem Żywym", czyli Buddą Żyjącym w Urdze, należą do najbardziej poruszających kart literatury XX wieku. Ossendowski, jako racjonalny intelektualista, staje naprzeciw niepojętej mocy duchowej, której nie potrafi wyjaśnić – ale której nie może także zanegować. To konfrontacja człowieka Zachodu z odwieczną mądrością Wschodu, w której nie ma zwycięzców ani pokonanych, lecz jest wzajemny szacunek, zdumienie i... pokora.

Choć książka opowiada o wydarzeniach sprzed ponad wieku, jej przesłanie pozostaje niezwykle aktualne. Przez kraj ludzi, zwierząt i bogów to bowiem nie tylko kronika ucieczki z rewolucyjnego piekła, ale też opowieść o tym, co to znaczy być człowiekiem w czasach kryzysu. O godności w obliczu upodlenia, o odwadze w chwilach grozy, o solidarności i zdradzie, wierze i zwątpieniu. Ossendowski przypomina nam, że historia nie jest jedynie sumą faktów i dat, ale przede wszystkim zbiorem osobistych dramatów, triumfów i cierpień.

W czasach, gdy świat na nowo zmaga się z napięciami geopolitycznymi, migracjami, duchowym zagubieniem i poszukiwaniem tożsamości – książka Ossendowskiego jawi się jako przewodnik i ostrzeżenie. Jego opowieść o cywilizacyjnych spotkaniach i zderzeniach, o niesamowitej ludzkiej odporności i zdolności adaptacji, powinna być lekturą obowiązkową dla każdego, kto chce zrozumieć złożoność świata i ludzkiej kondycji.

Warto podkreślić, że Przez kraj ludzi, zwierząt i bogów zdobyła ogromne uznanie nie tylko w Polsce, ale i na całym świecie. Książka została przetłumaczona na ponad dwadzieścia języków, a Ossendowskiego czytano z zapartym tchem od Nowego Jorku po Tokio. W latach 20. i 30. XX wieku był jednym z najbardziej rozpoznawalnych polskich autorów na arenie międzynarodowej, a jego dzieła stały na półkach obok Kiplinga, Londona i Curwooda.

W Polsce przez wiele lat był zapomniany, a wręcz cenzurowany – ze względu na swoją antykomunistyczną postawę i niechęć władz PRL do jego spuścizny. Tym bardziej zasługuje dziś na przypomnienie i uhonorowanie. Ossendowski jest bowiem pisarzem, którego dorobek dorównuje – a w niektórych aspektach nawet przewyższa – największe osiągnięcia literatury faktu XX wieku.

Przez kraj ludzi, zwierząt i bogów to książka totalna. Z jednej strony można ją czytać jako trzymającą w napięciu powieść przygodową – pełną dramatycznych zwrotów akcji, ucieczek, walki o przetrwanie. Z drugiej strony – jako głęboką refleksję filozoficzną i duchową. Z trzeciej – jako wnikliwy dokument historyczny, który ukazuje nieznane oblicze Rosji po rewolucji i barwne realia azjatyckiego interioru.

Nie brakuje w niej również walorów literackich najwyższej próby. Ossendowski potrafi budować nastrój, operować niedopowiedzeniem, wprowadzać elementy grozy i tajemnicy – w sposób godny największych mistrzów prozy światowej. Jego zdania tchną rytmem i harmonią, a dialogi – nawet te najprostsze – brzmią autentycznie i przekonująco.

Na koniec tej rozbudowanej refleksji trzeba powiedzieć jasno i wyraźnie: Przez kraj ludzi, zwierząt i bogów Ferdynanda Ossendowskiego to jedno z najważniejszych osiągnięć literatury polskiej XX wieku. To książka, którą można i trzeba czytać wielokrotnie, za każdym razem odkrywając w niej coś nowego – zarówno o świecie, jak i o sobie samym.

To również dzieło, które wzrusza, zadziwia, porusza sumienie i rozszerza horyzonty. Czy można od literatury oczekiwać więcej?

[Riccardo Marchio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quando mi sono approcciato a questo libro, ho pensato che due categorie di persone possono avere interesse per la storia che racconta: la prima, interessata a un certo misticismo esoterico, presente nelle ultime pagine del libro, come dimostrato anche dalla Prefazione di Julius Evola (presente nell'edizione da me scelta), teorico dell'esoterismo con posizioni apprezzate anche dalla cultura fascista e da Mussolini; la seconda categoria è frutto di una curiosità che viene da una nota di Tiziano Terzani, il quale nel libro "Un indovino mi disse" ne fece un'ottima recensione. Attraverso un racconto autobiografico, il funzionario polacco Ferdinand Ossendowski, al servizio del Governo zarista prima della Rivoluzione russa e costretto a scappare per paura di essere ucciso dai "rossi", descrive la fuga che lo ha portato in Siberia, Mongolia, Tibet e Cina, mondi straordinari e a tratti mistici. Un viaggio che è una vera e propria avventura, un documento che racconta delle persecuzioni del neonato governo sovietico e dell'orgoglio mongolo. Un libro che non dovrebbe mancare nella libreria di un viaggiatore.

[Max Nemtsov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Удивительно хорошая книжка, которой не повезло с продвижением. Никакой мистики/эзотерики там нет и в помине — у Хейдока ее больше. Это вполне достоверные, судя по тому, что мы знаем об этих местах и временах, отчеты о путешествиях, по необходимости беллетризованные, по Сибири, Монголии и немного Тибету и Маньчжурии — человека, который и в родном городе свой след оставил (описал бы кто его пребывание во Владивостоке, что ли, а то мне как-то ничего не попадалось). В мистической же части (в особенности об Унгерне) он просто излагает то, что слышал от других, как нормальный этнограф, хоть и попсовый (хороший, хоть и не исчерпывающий разбор фактологии тут: http://www.vostlit.info/Texts/Dokumen...). Вообще на этого человека история (хотя преимущественно журналистика) навешала бог знает что; ну и отвратительная советская пропаганда, конечно, постаралась. Хотя он, конечно, сам такой «модус операнди» выбрал, чего уж там.
Перевод ОК, хотя переводчица путает парламентеров и парламентариев.

[Christopher Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating memoir of a White Russian émigré fleeing from Siberia through Tibet, Mongolia and China. Ossendowski vividly describes battling bears and wolves, fighting off Red cavalry patrols and Tibetan bandits, and encountering High Lama Bogd Kahn and the infamous Baron Ungern-Sternberg. This book strains credulity even more than most memoirs. For one, Ossendowski omits his service in Admiral Kolchak's government or that he served as Ungern's political advisor, not merely an interested passerby. He also seems obsessed with Buddhist mysticism, recounting Mongolian myths and ceremonies in great, credulous detail. So obsessed, indeed, that the narrative fizzles out and his actual escape becomes an afterthought. Nonetheless, a remarkable though dubious volume.

[Castilla Andrus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone else with an unhealthy obsession with various hollow Earth theories?

It's a bit dull for a book that covers a face-to-face interaction with the devil(?) but I think that may be due to poor translation.

I may be in the minority in that I don't think that this book is necessarily fiction. Ossendowski was a man with a fascinating life. He exposed me to a Mongolian culture rabbit hole. I can’t get enough.