MovieChat Forums > Dersu Uzala (1977) Discussion > Just finished the book.

Just finished the book.


I just finished reading the book last night. I thought fans of this wonderful movie may be interested.

The book is no literary masterpiece but it is entertaining and a pleasant read. It is basically an expansion of Arseniev's diary. Obviously it contains much more detail than the film but overall the film retains the essential feel of the book. A few discrepancies are outlined below:

1 - Dersu is somewhat less saintly and far more human in the book.
2 - Arseniev is more competent and knowledgeable. He was a pretty good shot with his rifle and he knew some things about the forest that Dersu didn't, eg. he ate some berries from a tree. Dersu said he had seen these berries often but didn't know you could eat them.
3 - In the encounter with the Chinese brigands, Dersu tried to run but they chased him. He knelt and shot one, then the others retreated. There was no mention of finding the Chinese men tied up in the river.
4 - Chan Bao and his men pursued the brigands but didn't find them. He accompanied Arseniev and Dersu for quite some time afterwards and they became good friends. Arseniev was full of praise for Chan Bao and admired him greatly.
5 - Dersu did not accidentally shoot a tiger. On the first expedition he warned Arseniev that if he shot a tiger they would no longer be friends. There was one case where it was deemed OK to shoot a tiger that had raided their camp. However, they were unable to catch it.
6 - In the film, Dersu chided a soldier for throwing meat in the fire. In the book, it was Arseniev who threw the meat in the fire. This happened long before Dersu's eyesight problems and was simply based on his philosophy that abhorred waste.
7 - There was no mention in the book of Arseniev having a wife or son.
8 - Arseniev did not give Dersu a rifle. When Dersu announced that he had to return to the forest, Arseniev asked him to wait another day so he could get him some money, ammunition and supplies. But when he got up the next morning, Dersu was gone. Dersu would probably have declined a rifle anyway. Arseniev offered him one as payment at the beginning of the first expedition but Dersu declined. Apparently he was very sentimentally attached to his old rifle and would not give it up.

While reading the book I went to Google Earth and looked at the area: the wilderness just north and northeast of Vladivostok. There is now a town there named Arsenyev.

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hey, really appreciate this, thanks

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By Arsenyev, Russia - "The Uvalnaya Hill displays the monument to Russian explorer Vladimir Arsenyev and his guide gol'd Dersu Uzala, built in 1972 by donations from Arsenyev's residents."

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/77576498.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenyev

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Just wanted to thank you for this post. Anyone who watched the movie and finds out it was based on true events/biographical work has the questions for which you shared answers here.

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Many thanks. I've got the book on order now after seeing this wonderful film.

A bird sings and the mountain's silence deepens.

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Thank you for all of that!

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