The Blue Mountains of China

by Rudy Wiebe

For readers of Wiebe's Of This Earth: A Mennonite Boyhood in the Boreal Forest and Sandra Birdsell's The Russländer.

An epic novel on the Mennonite experience, by a Governor General's Award-winning author.


From the eBook edition.

Genres: Fiction, Canadian Literature, School

227 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Wiebe was born at Speedwell, near Fairholme, Saskatchewan in what would later become his family’s chicken barn. For thirteen years he lived in an isolated Mennonite community of about 250 people. He did not speak English until age six since Mennonites at that time customarily spoke Low German at home and standard German at Church. He attended the small school three miles from his farm and the Speedwell Mennonite Brethren Church.

He received his B.A. in 1956 from the University of Alberta and then studied at the University of Tübingen in West Germany. In 1958 he married Tena Isaak, with whom he had two children.

He is deeply committed to the literary culture of Canada and has shown a particular interest in the traditions and struggles of people in the Prairie provinces, both whites and Aboriginals.

Wiebe won the Governor General's Award for Fiction twice, for The Temptations of Big Bear (1973) and A Discovery of Strangers (1994). He was awarded the Royal Society of Canada's Lorne Pierce Medal in 1986. In 2000 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Reviews

[Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wiebe is an Alberta author whose rugged, lyrical prose fills the mind and spirit. This novel rewards the effort. It’s not long and it’s not about China, except the China of a fantasy. He is a true wordsmith. If you want something a bit different.

[Cynthia Heinrichs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a powerful read for me because my grandparents were all Mennonites who escaped Ukraine. I grew up hearing how they got out and about those who didn't. Reading Blue Mountains was like hearing their stories told again, just with different names. While Wiebe's writing style can sometimes leave me cold, I did find myself completely caught up in what were, for me, stories very close to home.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were so many times I wanted to stop reading this book but I persisted and I'm glad I did. It is pretty depressing reading how difficult early lives of pioneers (Mennonites in this history of their journey) and how many died. I just can't imagine having to live through that. The ending was good. Some of the language was a bit teadious and difficult to slog through also but was authentic.

[Ian Giesbrecht · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone who's interested in Mennonite history should plough trough this. Rudy's written better, more accessible books, with more interesting characters - so don't start here. Felt sprawling, without a real sense of ending. The end bit with the comparison to the Jews is something I'm always saying to my family, it's nice to have a respected menno fellow back me up.

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Essential book if you are intersted in Mennonite history. Chronicles tales of several generations of Russian Mennonites throughout the world. However, book has dry parts and the writing style is difficult to understand in some parts {sections in Lowgerman and many grammar errors}. Accurate to a historic senses in ways. Certainly an interesting read!

[Chad D · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first Rudy Wiebe. Probably not the best to start with. A series of interrelated short stories. Oblique, artsy. A lot of drama, some of it narrated more obliquely than others. Highlight: "The Vietnam Call of Samuel U. Reimer." Not enough Jesus. That might be its point.

[Ted Dettweiler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential Russian Mennonite History.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was good but a very difficult reading experience. Some stories I really enjoyed and some I had absolutely no clue what was going on. Well written.