"The White Ship" ("Белый пароход") is a
novella
A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...
written by
Kyrgyz Kyrgyz, Kirghiz or Kyrgyzstani may refer to:
* Someone or something related to Kyrgyzstan
*Kyrgyz people
*Kyrgyz national games
*Kyrgyz language
*Kyrgyz culture
*Kyrgyz cuisine
*Yenisei Kirghiz
*The Fuyü Gïrgïs language in Northeastern China
...
writer
Chinghiz Aitmatov. It was first published in 1970 in
Novy Mir
''Novy Mir'' (russian: links=no, Новый мир, , ''New World'') is a Russian-language monthly literary magazine.
History
''Novy Mir'' has been published in Moscow since January 1925. It was supposed to be modelled on the popular pre-Soviet ...
,
accompanied by a film adaptation of the novel titled ''
The White Ship'' which was released in 1976.
Plot summary
"The White Ship" is a story of a young boy who grows up with his grandfather, Momun, on the shores of
Issyk-Kul Lake
Issyk-Kul (also Ysyk-Köl, ky, Ысык-Көл, lit=warm lake, translit=Ysyk-Köl, , zh, 伊塞克湖) is an endorheic lake (i.e., without outflow) in the Northern Tian Shan mountains in Eastern Kyrgyzstan. It is the seventh-deepest lake in th ...
. He spends time exploring, listening to legends from his grandfather, and looking out over the lake as white ships sail along. He finds particular interest in the stories that his grandfather tells him about the Horned Mother Deer that is sacred to the Bogo tribe. A series of tragedies occurs at the end of the novella, and a hunting party kills a sacred deer with Momun and the boy as witnesses. This sends the boy into despair. Longing for love and acceptance, he dives into the waters of a stream nearby to "turn into a fish" and swim towards
Issyk-Kul in search of his father.
A controversy surrounded the novel after publication due to its graphic and violent depictions of Soviet "heroes" as well as hints of child suicide.
English translation of the story available in print
''The White Steamship'', translated by Tatyana & George Feifer, Hodder & Stoughton, 1972
''The White Ship'', translated by Mirra Ginsburg, Crown Publishers Inc., New York, 1972
References
Kyrgyzstani novels
Soviet novellas
Books by Chinghiz Aitmatov
Fictional Kyrgyzstani people
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