Seven Years in Tibet

Seven Years in Tibet Review

Thanks to the author, we've a record of a unique, serene, & beautiful country. One lost for all time, due to the cruel invasion & genocide, committed by the Chinese communists. Tibet can never again be what it once was. Not if China got out today, not in one hundred years. It would be virtually impossible to recreate the magic that once was Tibet. Even by reverting to the old ways. Modernity couldn't be kept out entirely. I'd like to see them try, though. A remarkable journey by Herrer & Aufschnaiter. I can see why this is a classic among travel literature readers. I'd love to have seen it, but China destroyed it for greed. I now hate China more than I already did for machine-gunning their own citizens in Tianeman (SP?) square, & all their other atrocities. I don't buy anything Chinese if I can avoid it. I wish the world would do the same. Some accuse the Dalai Lama of wanting to be put back in control of vast riches. To be reinstalled as a tyrant, over a backward populace. They should read this book, & get a clue. The treasures were accumulated in Llasa because they were never spent. If China hadn't raped Tibet. They'd have had some moral high ground to take in their accusations of Japan having raped Nanking. Had this not happened. Today, Tibet could possibly be more or less, just as wonderful a place as it was. It's people have now been scattered to the four winds, & contaminated by outside influences. Except for the 1.2+ million who were murdered by genocide, plus all the others who were killed during the fighting, that is. I believe both Heinrich & Peter are no longer w/us. It would've been quite an experience to meet them.

Seven Years in Tibet Overview

Imprisoned in India by the British when WWII was declared, Austrian climber Heinrich Harrer escaped, crossing the Himalayas to Tibet. Settling in Lhasa, the Forbidden City, he became the tutor and friend of the present Dalai Lama in this classic of adventure literature. Heinrich Harrer, already a famous mountaineer and Olympic ski champion, was caught by the outbreak of the Second World War while climbing in the Himalayas. An Austrian national, he was imprisoned by the British in India. By an almost super-human effort, on his third attempt he succeeded in escaping from the internment camp and fled into Tibet. After a series of remarkable experiences in a country never crossed before by a Westerner, Harrer reached the forbidden city of Lhasa. He stayed there for seven years, learned the language and acquired a greater understanding of Tibet and the Tibetans than any Westerner had ever before achieved. He became the friend and tutor of the young Dalai Lama and finally accompanied him into India when he was put to flight by the Red Chinese invasion. Made into a successful motion picture starring Brad Pitt, this is a stunning story of incredible courage and self-reliance set against the backdrop of a mysterious and magnificent culture.

Seven Years in Tibet Specifications

Originally published in 1953, this adventure classic recounts Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer's 1943 escape from a British internment camp in India, his daring trek across the Himalayas, and his happy sojourn in Tibet, then, as now, a remote land little visited by foreigners. Warmly welcomed, he eventually became tutor to the Dalai Lama, teenaged god-king of the theocratic nation. The author's vivid descriptions of Tibetan rites and customs capture its unique traditions before the Chinese invasion in 1950, which prompted Harrer's departure. A 1996 epilogue details the genocidal havoc wrought over the past half-century.

Available at Amazon Check Price Now!

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Oct 26, 2010 21:31:08