The Cave Of The Yellow Dog

[elusivek]

The Cave Of The Yellow Dog
Byambasuren Davaa, Lisa Reisch
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Davaa, a young filmmaker, returns to her native country and to the region where she grew up to show us life among the nomadic people. Through the touching story of the young girl Nansaa and her little dog Zochor, she depicts the freedom of life on the steppes, as well as the spirituality of the people and the significance of the Buddhist faith. Delicate and poignant, Davaa’s story also highlights the increasing tensions as these rich traditions come into conflict with the demands of modern urban life. Following the international success of The Story of the Weeping Camel, director Byambasuren Davaa takes us on a journey into another world, and through poetic writing and exquisite photography she reveals the magic of Mongolian culture.

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For such a thick- looking book, this was a quick read.

Showing snippets of life from both the author (and director of the documentary) and the life of a Mongolian nomad family, I found this a very touching read. There were also short Mongolian proverbs and songs and poems before each chapter and that has made me more appreciative of the culture and its views on death. In a way, it was pretty romantic.

I remember reading "The Art of Racing in the Rain" (Garth Stein) and Enzo the dog talked about Mongol dogs reincarnating as humans. In "The Cave of the Yellow Dog", this is mentioned too. At the burial, the dead dog's tail is cut off and placed at the back of its head... so that it will be born again as a man with a ponytail and not an animal with a tail.

The book itself was a mix of sweet and bitter for me... In a way it speaks highly of dogs but at the same time the family was trying to get rid of a dog. In the end, it took the dog's heroic act of saving the family child for the family to decide to take the dog in.