Scan barcode
A review by fredmoyer
Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer
4.0
This book has two distinct parts: [1] the difficult journey that Heinrich Harrer (author) and Peter Aufschnaiter had reaching the Tibetan capital, Lhasa and [2] Heinrich’s experiences and observation of Tibetan life while living in Lhasa.
In the first part, their difficulties were many – and it was, among other things, fortuitous breaks in the weather and chance encounters with kind Tibetan nomads that allowed them to even survive the journey. During this time, you see how difficult it was to travel at “the top of the world”, and you get a glimpse of the lives of the average Tibetan.
In the second part, Heinrich (and Peter) soon become welcome guests of the Tibetan upper class. At this point, the book switches to glimpses of the life of the upper class, the religious pageantry displayed for the devout (and superstitious) multitudes and cloistered life of the Dali Lama.
The book ends with the Chinese conquest of Tibet – and so the start, I assume, of the wholesale dismantling of the rich historical Tibetan culture described in this book.
In the first part, their difficulties were many – and it was, among other things, fortuitous breaks in the weather and chance encounters with kind Tibetan nomads that allowed them to even survive the journey. During this time, you see how difficult it was to travel at “the top of the world”, and you get a glimpse of the lives of the average Tibetan.
In the second part, Heinrich (and Peter) soon become welcome guests of the Tibetan upper class. At this point, the book switches to glimpses of the life of the upper class, the religious pageantry displayed for the devout (and superstitious) multitudes and cloistered life of the Dali Lama.
The book ends with the Chinese conquest of Tibet – and so the start, I assume, of the wholesale dismantling of the rich historical Tibetan culture described in this book.