Wolf Children and Feral Man

by J.A.L. Singh and Robert Zingg

After all those books I read on feral children, especially Kamala and Amala, the girls supposedly raised by wolves and then kept at an orphanage in India, I finally got ahold of the original (or as close to it as you can get) source material. Wolf Children and Feral Man is mostly comprised of the Reverend Singh's own diary entries about the girls. He tells how he first found them, how they were brought to the orphanage, attempts made to teach them to eat, walk, speak, etc. There are a number of black and white photographs, which I pored over with interest. Singh speculated a lot about the nature of their souls, especially what the girls' behavior suggested to him about original sin and the divinity of human nature (vs. animal). Some of his conclusions feel kind of forced, as he viewed the girls' situation only through the lens of his religious convictions, and gave no thought to other possibilities. (For example, reading detailed descriptions of the girls' behavior makes me think they were autistic, or had some other mental handicap, not that they were really raised by wolves). I have to wonder what Singh left out, or fabricated- did it all happen exactly as he wrote? was he mostly concerned for the girls' welfare, or using their novelty to bring funds into the orphanage? I've read elsewhere that the photos were fabricated, the diaries not authentic, and he charged visitors a fee to see the girls. In spite of my skepticism, it's still a very interesting book. There is also included an account of Kaspar Hauser, and some other case studies of feral children. Some of it is dry reading, but curiosity kept me turning pages to the end.

Rating: 3/5                            379 ages, 1942

Wolf Children and the Problem of Human Nature

by Lucien Malson

Another book I read about feral children several years ago. Wolf Children and the Problem of Human Nature examines numerous cases of "feral children" who for the most part were abandoned at a young age and left to fend for themselves in the wild before being discovered by someone and brought back into civilization. Unlike the other books I read which tried to determine if these children could have been raised by animals and picked apart which aspects of human behavior are learned or intuitive; this book focuses (more practically, I felt) on how the lack of social contact at such an early age affects the overall development of the child. In most cases it was pretty severe and almost irreversible. Most of the accounts were very brief with little details available; some editions of this book also include the entire text of The Wild Boy of Aveyron, as it is one of the more well-documented accounts. I expected this book to be very dry, technical reading, but was surprised to find that it felt more like reading an essay, and the writing style reminded me a lot of Konrad Lorenz.

Rating: 3/5                          179 pages, 1972

Children of the Wolf

by Jane Yolen

In 1920, a missionary in India called the Reverend Singh brought to his orphanage two half-starved children that had been found by villagers in a wolf den carved out of a termite mound. The girls were named Amala and Kamala. Amala died in 1921, but Kamala remained at the orphanage eight more years, where they tried to teach her language and simple human behaviors like wearing clothes, using utensils, walking upright- all things the girls resisted.

Children of the Wolf, Jane Yolen's fictional account of the wolf girls, is told from the viewpoint of a boy who lives at the orphanage. While the other children view the girls with disgust or fear and constantly taunt them, Mohandas is intrigued by them. He tries to understand them and gain their trust. He keeps a diary in secret where unfolds a slow love of words and language. As Mohandas gets closer to Kamala, he tries to coax words out of her, encouraged by the Reverend who hopes the girls will one day speak and tell everyone details of their past with the wolves. But eventually Mohandas realizes that the girls' true nature and abilities do not match up with anyone's assumptions- they are not terrifying demons as the villagers fear, nor sources of hidden information as the Reverend hopes. They are something else altogether. Mohandas keenly observes how everyone reacts differently to the girls, and what that reveals about each person, including himself.

At the end of the book Yolen describes her sources, how much of it is based on historical fact, and how much of it is fictional. (Although if you read the Wiki article I linked to above, you'll find that the historical account may itself be fiction). Children of the Wolf is an intriguing story, just as much about one boy's growth and understanding as it is about the feral children themselves.

Rating: 4/5 ........ 136 pages, 1984

Have you written a blog review about this book? Let me know, and I'll add your link here.

Lost Prince

the Unsolved Mystery of Kaspar Hauser
by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson

I came across this book when I was reading others about feral children. Unlike the stories of children abandoned in the forest or presumably raised by animals, Kaspar Hauser's neglect was intentionally inflicted upon him. He was a German boy who at the age of four was shut up in a castle dungeon, with very little human contact. When he was about sixteen, Kaspar was suddenly released and found wandering around the streets of Nuremberg, in 1828. At first he could barely speak and people assumed he was mentally impaired, but under the care of tutors Kaspar rapidly made progress and eventually gave his own account of being in the dungeon cell. A mere ten years after being found, he was suddenly murdered. The mystery behind Kaspar Hauser's identity, his imprisonment, and his death remained clouded. Lost Prince, a heavy but fascinating book, contains translations into English of an 1832 biography of Kaspar Hauser written by Anselm Ritter von Feuerbach (who investigated his case at the time); an account of the diary kept by Georg Friedrich Daumer, one of Kaspar's first tutors; and Masson's own essays and articles about the boy. Masson gives some analysis of Kaspar's dreams, reconstructs events in his life, compares his case to those of other feral children, and speculates that he was born of German nobility and heir to a throne. It was a bit difficult for me to get through this book- at times it almost felt like a homework assignment- and reading the details of the boy's suffering in the dungeon was very unpleasant. But I had never heard of his story before and was intrigued to the end. I looked up on wiki to find out more; apparently the idea that Kaspar was heir to a throne has been refuted, which makes his murder all the more mysterious.

Rating: 4/5                    272 pages, 1996

The Wolf Children

by Charles Maclean

Of all the books about feral children supposedly raised by wolves that I've come across, this is one of the more comprehensive. Maclean did extensive research into the story of Kamala and Amala, two children found by Indian villagers in a wolf's den and rescued by an English missionary in the 1920's. The first part of his book describes the setting where the girls were found in the forest and of Singh's orphanage. The end of the book describes how the story of the wolf girls became known to the world, and what kind of fact-checking was done. The bulk of the middle is Maclean's summary of all the facts he dug up- written in a fluid, narrative style that while lacking in exact details, makes for easy reading. He brought to light many original documents and reports, and adds some historical background which gives more depth to the story. Maclean comes to his own conclusions about the veracity of the account- were Amala and Kamala really raised by wolves? Personally, I don't agree with his conclusion, but I can see how he reached it, with the limited knowledge at his disposal in the seventies. One thing that became clear to me, gleaning through his presentation of the facts, was that Singh omitted some things from his diary in order to glorify his role as the girls' rescuer, and sensationalize the story for its publicity. The Wolf Children is a fascinating account, and reading between the lines makes it even more intriguing to puzzle over.

Rating: 4/5                   324 pages, 1977

Have you written a blog review about this book? Let me know and I'll add your link here.

The Wild Boy of Aveyron

by Jean-Marc Gaspard Itard
translated by George Humphry

In the late 1700's, a young boy was seen running naked in the forest near a French village. He was captured and given into the care of a widow, then escaped and survived the winter alone in the forest before being caught a second time. The villagers reported having seen a naked child in the woods some five years earlier, so many of them believed the boy had been living in the wild all that time. Some physicians from Paris examined him and decided he was not really a feral child, but simply mentally handicapped. Itard, a young medical doctor, undertook to "civilize" Victor and educate him. The Wild Boy of Aveyron is Itard's firsthand account of his attempts. It details all the painstaking methods Itard invented to try and help Victor. Most of it appears to have failed- Victor never learned to speak more than a few words, and even as an adult still behaved in many ways more like an animal than a human being. Yet Itard's work was a breakthrough in terms of how mentally handicapped children were treated, and some of his work became (as far as I understand) the foundation of modern sign language.

At the time of his discovery, people were fascinated by Victor because they thought by studying his case they could determine what divided humans from animals- what aspects were learned human behavior, or innate human nature. In the wake of The Wild Boy of Aveyron came many publications studying accounts of feral children thought to have been raised by wolves or other wild animals. The subject fascinated me, and I read half a dozen of them in 2004 (all to be featured here eventually).

Rating: 3/5 ........ 102 pages, 1894

more opinions:
Shelf Love

Adventures with Ari

by Kathryn Miles

Another book about a dog, this one was pretty darn good. Very thoughtful, interesting and funny at times. Also some sad moments. The author relates her first year with a newly adopted puppy, an endearingly cute jindo/husky mix full of spunk and plenty of wild crazy energy. The story is not just about puppy antics, adjustments in the household, training issues and how their resident cat struggled to accept the newcomer. It's about how the author made an effort to pay attention to how her dog saw the world, to follow where the dog led her on walks in the forest and let the canine senses guide them in exploring the natural world. Sometimes this just led them to mud puddles, or to remains of dead animals on the roadside, but there were also many encounters with squirrels, a beaver, a glimpse of a bald eagle and so on. Lots of internal musings on canine characteristics and abilities, nature vs nurture, the relationship of dogs and humans, our impact on the natural world and even economic developments in their small, rural town. Even some side topics that interested me were dipped into, like feral children. I'm familiar with most of the books on dogs and other animals that Miles mentioned; it was good to see someone else's thoughts on them. And the few she discussed or quoted that I haven't read, are going onto my list.

Rating: 4/5      280 pages, 2009

more opinions:
Vulpes Libris

Victor

A Novel Based on the Life of the Savage of Aveyron
by Mordicai Gerstein

Victor is an account of the wild boy of Aveyron told in novel form. The story is related from several different viewpoints: of the doctor Itard, the matronly housekeeper, the young household maid, and Victor himself. The most interesting chapters (to me) were those from Victor's point of view, expressed in a stream-of-consciousness flow of sensations and impressions, clearly illustrating Victor's apparent simplicity, confusion and lack of a sense of self. Itard is portrayed as not only being compassionate and creative in his attempts to teach Victor, but also a bit obsessive and sometimes even unkind when he looses patience. The maid is afraid of Victor, not only due to his strange and often wild behavior, but because when Victor reaches puberty, his awakening feelings of s-xuality are focused upon her. There are several scenes in the book I think are unsuitable for the age group its writing style is aimed at (ages 9-12, the publication info states) so I would recommend it for an older group, or to be read with an adult who can answer the inevitable questions it raises. Like the other books I've read about this feral child, Victor addresses (in a casual format) the education of mentally afflicted children, how society treats them, and questions of what it means to be human.

Reading this book made me think strongly of two others: An Imaginary Life, by David Malouf and Listen to the Silence, by David Elliott, both fiction. The first is about the ancient Roman poet Ovid being exiled to a primitive society where he befriends a feral child, the second about an unfortunate young boy's experience inside an insane asylum. I'll be writing about these two books sometime in the future.

Rating: 3/5                      272 pages, 1998

Dog Boy

by Eva Hornung

This is the story of a young boy abandoned during a time of political upheaval in Moscow. Unlike hundreds of other street children who took to begging or living in gangs, Romochka was adopted by a pack of feral dogs. He survived the first harsh winter snuggled in the dog den under a derelict building, nestled among the mother dog's puppies and nursing with them. Being only four years old, Romochka readily took on many canine mannerisms, learning how to be a dog in order to communicate with and be part of the pack. But as he grew he found his role dissatisfying- he sensed the other dogs saw him as a weakling needing to be protected and provided for, with his poor sense of smell and blunt teeth. So Romochka began tapping into his human nature in order to prove himself. He used abilities for logic and planning to become a successful hunter, terrorizing other children in the streets and gradually working his way from acceptance in the pack to being their leader. As he got bolder and started exploring new territories, he became more and more interested in humans, feeling drawn to them despite his loyalty to the dogs. He also started to attract the attention of older, more dangerous street kids, local law enforcement, and finally of a group of scientists...

The story fascinated me, but it was also pretty unsettling at some points. The author has no qualms about describing the more brutal aspects of Romochka's life- eating dead rats, licking his companion's wounds, scavenging through trash, stinking to high heaven; his behavior to rival dogs and threatening humans could be very savage too. The story has quite a few twists that heighten its drama, and I was shocked at the very end. While to some readers the narrative switch when the story is told from the scientists' viewpoint might be a relief, I found it dull compared to the sensory richness when it was focused on Romochka and the dogs- unpleasant though it may have been. A book that really gets you thinking about human nature and the capacity we (and dogs) have for love, patience and compassion as well as hatred and cruelty.

I borrowed this book from the public library. I saw it on a list at someone's blog, but now can't remember where.

The book was based on a news story about a boy found living with dogs in Moscow. You can read two news pieces here and here and an article about the author's inspiration here.

Rating: 3/5 ........ 293 pages, 2009

More opinions at:
Whispering Gums
Over the Fence

The Cats of Lamu

the Feral Cats of an Exotic African Island
by Jack Couffer

     It was lovely to re-visit this book. I would not change one word of what I said on it eleven years ago. Delightful and intriguing account of a study on feral cats the author delved into while living as an expat on Lamu Island (off the coast of Kenya). What I found more interesting this time around, that I don't think I mentioned before: more tidbits of culture, like how the author felt he had to hire a housekeeper and then a cook, because that's simply how it was done on the island. The letter he includes that his housekeeper wrote to him when he was back living in America, is so different in syntax it takes concentration to read as if the person who wrote it thinks in different patterns.

The mention of how islanders interacted with the cats, even thought at first it was assumed most were wild and untouchable. A few would let themselves be petted, or even rub against people in greeting. One man once gave a beach cat a bath in the sea "because he looked dirty". Several people he found out sheltered dozens of cats in their homes- one old woman routinely fed about forty of them in her three-room house. Also at the village school, some fifty cats were regularly fed and hung out all the time, sitting among the children- which surprised the author when he discovered it, and a few photos showing the cats among the boys are just charming. There's mention of the island donkeys that provide nearly all transport and load-carrying, as the streets are too narrow for cars. There are bats- both insect-eaters and frugivores. 

I loved a description of kids on the beach making toys out of palm fronds that skidded across the sand, pushed by the wind, how a kitten pounced on one repeatedly. And of course, all the little observations of the cats' lives in their various groups- some claim the beach, others live at the dump, yet others in town where they get regular handouts. They fight for status, court each other, some move from one group to another. Kittens are born and raised, hierarchy shifts when an older male dies. Many hours just spent in quiet companionship, the cats sitting together, or each in its little patch of shade spaced evenly apart. They often go about their own affairs, where the author couldn't follow (through strangers' gardens and private courtyards), much of their lives remaining a mystery that he tried to piece together. Beautiful photographs. 

Though relatively brief, the book spans many years, and he mentions at the end how things have changed from when they first moved to Lamu. I can only assume it has changed even more since then. Yet it looks such a timeless place in the pictures, the ancient-looking cats strolling independent on the beaches under the bluest sky.

 

Rating: 4/5                  156 pages, 1998

Heartsease

by Peter Dickinson

This is the sequel to The Devil's Children, and I'm glad to say the story more or less stands on its own. It's set five years after the Changes which made people in England revolt against technology (some kind of mental sickness) and flee the cities, living in small villages and farming communities while deliberating avoiding modern conveniences. A man from America (unaffected by the Change) who arrived on foreign shores to find out what is going on in England is attacked and stoned for being a "witch". Two young people rescue him in secret. He's severely injured but they hide him in a shed and nurse him back to health with rough care. The kids are gradually becoming disaffected by the Change- the girl Margaret still feels uneasy around machinery but is curiously compelled to visit the empty city and explore. The boy on the farm, Jonathan, is intrigued by machines and good at figuring out how they work. Together they form a plan to get the injured man out of the country. It involves Jonathan manning an old tugboat through the canals while Margaret rides ahead on her pony to open bridges. It has to be secret because the locals are highly suspicious of anything unusual; even their maid's brother Tim, a gentle man with mental disabilities, is at risk of being called a witch and killed by the community simply because he is different. The plot of the rescue mission is really straightforward, what makes this book so much better is how well its characters are written. Jonthan is quick of mind and keen about solving problems, yet totally callous and dismissive of animals- when a pony balks at getting aboard the tug he just says "I hate horses" in disgust. Margaret for her part finds anything remotely mechanical confusing and avoids being around it, but is remarkably patient with the ponies and understands their behavior and needs very well. She's also pretty brave- getting chased by a pack of feral dogs, and baiting an aggressive bull as a diversion during the getaway. They make an interesting contrast and a good team. Too bad there wasn't more of the other characters in the story- the foreigner, the maid and her brother Tim are all interesting people as well. but play minor roles. It was a pretty good read. A few times it seemed like the kids made remarkably complex plans or conveniently drew overly quick conclusions, but I took it in stride to enjoy the story. The ending surprised me somewhat.

Rating: 3/5          189 pages, 1969

yet another TBR-

Evidence that I still read your book blogs! 

here's what you influenced me to put on my list the past two months: 

Strange Birds by Judith Gilliland

Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild- Shelf Love

Feral by Nicole Luiken- Thistle-Chaser

Timothy by Verlyn Klinkenborg

Barn 8 by Deb Olin Unferth

The Changeling by Victor Lavalle- Shelf Love

Being Toffee by Sarah Crossan- Rhapsody in Books

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes- Rhapsody in Books

Dominicana by Angie Cruz- Bookfoolery

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel- Indextrious Reader

The Tusk that Did the Damage by Tania James

The Well-Gardened Mind by Sue Stuart-Smith- Captive Reader

I Am I Am I Am by Maggie O'Farrell- Bookfoolery

The Time of Green Magic by Hilary McKay- Bookfoolery

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue- A Bookish Type

Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey by Kathleen Rooney

Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Richardson- Last Book I Read

King a Street Story by John Berger

The Slynx by Tatyana Tolstaya- Indextrious Reader

Flush: A Biography by Virginia Woolf

The Way into Chaos by Hary Connolly- Thistle-Chaser

Rat by Andrzej Zaniewski

The Honey Farm on the Hill by Jo Thomas- Read Warbler

Garden on Holly Street by Megan Attley- Captive Reader

Winterbound by Margery Williams Bianco- Semicolon

The White Road Westwards by B.B.- Read Warbler

The Better Half by Sharon Moalem- Caroline Bookbinder

No-Till Intensive Vegetable Culture by O'Hara- Sustainable Market Farming Blog

Grow Great Vegetables in Virginia by Ira Wallace- Sustainable Market Farming 

There Once Lived a Mother Who Loved Her Children Until They Moved Back In by Petrushevskaya- Indextrious Reader