> Paru en 1924, « Bêtes, hommes et dieux » fut vite relégué, après un gros succès, au rayon ésotérisme des librairies. Réédition d'un récit d'aventures aux confins de la Mongolie, par un Polonais inclassable. Ed. Phébus, 283 pp., 128 F.
—Patrick Sabatier, le 27 avr. 1995 (Libération)

> Babelio : https://www.babelio.com/livres/Ossendowski-Betes-hommes-et-dieux/90830
> Critiques Libres : http://www.critiqueslibres.com/i.php/vcrit/6646
> Guide de la bonne lecture : http://www.guidelecture.com/critiquet.asp?titre=B%EAtes,%20hommes%20et%20dieux.%...
> Histoire E-Book : https://histoireebook.com/index.php?post/Ossendowsky-Ferdinand-Betes-hommes-et-d...
> Aryana Libris : https://aryanalibris.com/index.php?post/Ossendowski-Ferdinand-Betes-hommes-et-di...

> [Des pages vraiment glacées] — « BÊTES, HOMMES ET DIEUX », de Ferdynand Ossendowski. — Hiver 1920, dans la Sibérie centrale, un homme recherché par les troupes de l'Armée rouge prend son fusil et gagne la forêt pour échapper au peloton d'exécution. Commence alors une hallucinante course-poursuite qui le mènera à travers la Mongolie, le désert de Gobi puis l'Himalaya. Ed. Phébus Libretto, 279 pages, 59 F.
—Philippe Duval, le 23 déc. 2000 (Le Parisien)

Lately I've been interested in reading a book about Baron Roman von Ungern Sternberg, the esoteric Buddhist White Russian general who, during the Civil War, conquered Mongolia with cavalry and intended to reestablish both the Mongolian and the Russian empires and was believed by some to be an incarnation of the Tibetan Buddhist God of War. A Facebook group I follow devoted to him, the grammatically tragic (yet forgivably so, since so many of its members are not native English speakers) Realm of the Living Buddha Whom is Death Incarnate, recommended Beasts, Men, and Gods, by the Polish author Ferdinand Ossendowski. I was delighted to acquire very cheaply (because I was the only bidder on eBay) a beaten-up 1923 Literary Guild reprint, hardcover with cotton pages, that saw much use while it was in the Los Angeles Public Library system, many years ago.

Given how it came into my possession, you can imagine my surprise that Ungern isn't even mentioned until page 83, and then only in passing. The first part of the book is the adventure of how its author escaped eastern Russia in 1922. It was a brutal time. General Kolchak had already been captured and executed, his body slipped beneath the ice of the Angara River along with the bodies of so many others. The Whites had lost Russia, and the Reds were hunting men like dogs. Ossendowski intended to flee east, through China to freedom. And so much of the book is a telling of his escape from Russia and his initial failures at fleeing further east. Along the way, he tells a few strange stories of lamas he met, and the miracles they worked.

Ultimately he arrives in Baron Ungern's capital, Urga, where Ungern ruled alongside the living Buddha, the blind Bogd Khan, the Jebtsundamba Khutughtu, then the third most important figure in Tibetan Buddhism. Ossendowski reports long conversations with Ungern and documents reported oracles from the Bogd Khan, when he retreated into his inner temple to talk with the gods. The book closes with a section on Agharti and the King of the World. One wonders how accurate all of this is, whether Ossendowski would really have such access and whether members of Bogd Khan's court would really translate for a wandering Pole. I don't know how any of it compares to authentic Buddhist teaching, although in these days, when anyone who can afford to can hear the Dali Lama speak in a college amphitheater, one could probably find out. But it made for interesting and enjoyable reading that influenced twentieth century thinking in the west, even if it was false.

Throughout the work Ungern is aware of his impending death. Not long after Ossendowski finally fled Urga, Ungern was betrayed to the Reds and shot.

Ossendowski has much to say about the awakening east. He was right in a way. The east did awaken, but it did not unite under the old leaders. Instead, Mongolia created its own Soviet Socialist Republic. After another few decades China fell to Mao. Rather than unite behind a mysterious local religious leader the east adopted a weird foreign millennialist cult, Communism.

The Bogd Khan was allowed to live out his reign, which lasted only two more years. I wondered if the Jebtsundamba Khutughtu reincarnated because, unlike the Dali Lama and the drama surrounding the abduction of the Panchen Lama, I hadn't heard of this office. As it turns out, the Jebtsundamba Khutughtu secretly reincarnated in 1933, but his existence was kept secret until 1990, when, after the collapse of the USSR, the Dali Lama considered it safe to reveal him. The ninth Jebtsundamba Khutughtu passed away in 2012, and the Dali Lama reportedly began searching for his reincarnation in Mongolia in 2016.

In short, not the book I went out looking for, but enjoyable nonetheless. I might read more Ossendowski, but will keep looking for a book on Ungern.

Bestias, Hombres y Dioses
Es un libro fascinante que ha marcado una época y ha sido fuente de inspiración en diversos ambientes. Ferdinand Ossedowski, científico y escritor polaco, se encontraba en Siberia cuando estalló la revolución rusa, lo que le hace pasar a la clandestinidad buscando escapar de los bolcheviques y formar por azar parte de las fuerzas blancas contrarrevolucionarias en Mongolia.
Ferdinand Ossendowski se gana un lugar entre los escritores polacos más importantes del siglo pasado. Se distinguió por su pluma ágil y colorista de observador perspicaz que se vale de sus conocimientos científicos para relatar con exactitud su prosa.
El libro relata sus increibles aventuras en Siberia, Mongolia, Tibet y China, con un lúcido análisis de los acontecimientos políticos que ocurren en el "corazón de Asia", pero a medida que el relato avanza comienzan a hacer aparición las más diversas historias sobre la religión budista, encuentros con Lamas, médicos y místicos, tanto como brujos y adivinos. Resulta interesante su encuentro con el "Buda viviente", elegido entre los campesinos como sucesivas encarnaciones del mismo Ser y llevado a ser criado entre los lamas cada vez.
El personaje que tal vez más destaca de entre los que toman contacto con Ossendowski es el en ese momento no muy conocido en occidente Barón Ungern Sternberg, del que los historiadores podrán verificar lo contado en el libro y se volverá famoso por su impresionante personalidad, mezcla de místico budista y despiadado guerrero, decidido a hacer frente a la amenza bolchevique en Asia buscando restituir las dinastías de origen divino. Al frente de su división de caballería libera Mongolia y le da más de un dolor de cabeza al ejército bolchevique.
Más sorprendentes aun son las abundantes leyendas que recoge sobre el reino subterráneo de Agartha, donde gobierna el Rey del Mundo. Mito ya tradicional en Asia pero que ha inspirado cientos de libros en occidente a partir de la fama que Ossendowski le ha dado en nuestro medio. Sobre todo tras los proféticos anuncios que el Rey del Mundo ha dejado a la posteridad según Ossendowski.
Por la diversidad de sorprendentes relatos, "Hombres, Bestias y Dioses" ha ganado popularidad y ha sido discutido tanto en ámbitos ocultistas como de investigación histórica y tradicionalista, pero siempre se ha convertido en un éxito en cada país que se editó atrapando a los lectores.

Cinematic super-hero and Western-pulp combine with Eastern mysticism made for a best-seller in 1923. Not sure I believe most of it, but as an archetype of events, it's believable. Anything is possible. I couldn't get past the American Western pulp-fiction tropes which makes it seem insincere. And some obvious BS like the Lama who cuts a man open and lives. At least it doesn't lack adventure. One contemporary reviewer called it "ingenuous" which is a tricky word depending on the meaning it could be a compliment (obs: honorable) or a pejorative (lacking craft or subtlety), perhaps some of both. ( )

I began reading with great anticipation; I found it different, exotic and exciting. Then, the more I read, the more redundant it seemed to be. Soon I felt I had been reading about the same strange, angry adventures time after time. I did finish, but it was a chore. Too bizarre for me; perhaps a series of maps would have helped. I still gave it three stars, maybe a half star too much, for effort. ( )