Dersu Uzala

16 hrs. 22 min.

Author Vladimir Arsenyev

Narrator Oleg Isaev

Description

The mountain ranges of Sikhote-Alin officially became part of the Russian Empire only in the mid-nineteenth century. These picturesque places became not only known, but also acquired a kind of romantic aura—thanks in no small part to the works of Vladimir Arsenyev, a traveler, researcher, writer, and a man deeply interested in the subject. This geographer, ethnographer, and biologist left behind many books: "Along the Ussuri Region," "Dersu Uzala," "In the Mountains of Sikhote-Alin," "Through the Taiga," and others.

Dersu Uzala is perhaps Arsenyev’s most famous character—one who revealed to Arsenyev the secrets of the Ussuri taiga by talking about the habits and behavior of birds and animals, as well as about the customs, beliefs, and everyday life of the Orochs, Golds, Udegeys, and other peoples of the Far East. In comparison with Dersu, Arsenyev, despite his considerable experience traveling through the wild taiga, sometimes feels himself like someone who doesn’t quite understand, isn’t very skilled, and knows too little…

The image of the wise and intelligent Gold in Arsenyev’s works is so convincing that any reader will be shocked to learn the fact: in reality, there was no man with that name and surname! Dersu is a composite character—he wrote it from many of his guides. The Gold figure is also fictional: this character is invented for Arsenyev’s stories, which describe nature and the discoveries of researchers, yet are still works of fiction.