A Journey in Southern Siberia (Kindle Edition)

by Jeremiah Curtin (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Jeremiah Curtin, writer, polyglot, ethnographer and folklorist, travelled in 1900 to central Siberia to study the religion and folklore of the Buryat people. The Buryats are one branch of the Mongols, who at one point conquered a large swath of Asia, Europe and India. Their home is around Lake Baikal in central Siberia. The first third of this book is a travelogue which describes Curtin's Siberian journey; this is a fascinating glimpse at Tsarist Siberia just before the Revolution. The last two-thirds of the book is an extraordinary record of the mythology of the Buryats. The lore is of great interest, resembling in its fluid, dreamlike narrative the Native American tales. There are many elements found elsewhere through Asia and Europe such as epic horses (and horse sacrifices), battles with giants, a World-mountain and 'the water of life', (see The Epic of Gilgamesh). There are also unique elements such as heroes with oracular books embedded in their bodies.

This one of the last of Curtin's books, published after his death in 1906.--J.B. Hare

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 2539 KB
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Evinity Publishing Inc; 1.0 edition (May 13, 2009)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0029XG0XM
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #147,879 in Kindle Store (See Bestsellers in Kindle Store)

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  #46 in	Kindle Store > Kindle Books > History > Asia > Central Asia
  #50 in	Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Travel > Asia > India
  #97 in	Books > History > Asia > Mongolia

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Buryat Folklore, December 7, 2008

By	Benjamin Trovato (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews

After publishing his History of the Mongols, in 1900 Curtin travelled to the west side of Lake Baikal in the hope of learning what had survived of midieval Mongol culture. The ethnography is rather thin, with emphasis on folk tales. There are some interesting pictures of Siberian daily life. The manuscript was completed a few months before his death, which may account for some of the weaknesses. The text was digitized by something called sacred-texts.com. The pictures do not download and there may be missing pages or some other form of disorganization.