Customer Reviews

Among the Tibetans

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I was somewhat disappointed in this book. Certainly, the noble Ms. Bird had made this remarkable journey (and many others) in a time (the late 1800s) when 'women didn't do such things'. For that I applaud her spirit and determination.
While interesting, in my opinion, most of the book comes across as fairly uninspired. She seems unable to share the sense of wonder one must feel when in the presence of such dramatic physical geography. Her description of the local citizenry is, to my mind, also fairly unimaginative. While her narrative is certainly straight forward and no doubt accurate, it seems she never really 'gets into it'.
There are several moments in the story when we are given an insight into Ms. Bird's character and we see her as an enormously resilient and self-reliant person. There are also interesting glimpses of her Victorian roots as portrayed in her comments regarding local Tibetan customs and habits.
All in all, I would recommend this book but I would caution the reader not to expect 'Lost Horizons'.

This book is good, but only if you approach it with the proper frame of mind. To begin with, there are two things that the reader must remember. The first is that she is writing about a land which no longer exists, and the second is that it is the mindset of the writer which is as interesting as the land she is describing.

The fact that there have been many changes since the 19th century need not be elaborated upon. This book is an interesting historical description.

But it is the mindset of the writer which I found most interesting. Throughout the entire book she talks about her horse better than she talks about most of the people she encounters. The level of ethnocentricity and cultural insensitivity in the way that she describes all the people she meets is appalling. Curiously she is completely oblivious to this. It is easy to pass this off as being typical of Victorian world views. But I lived for many years in India, and I am afraid to say that even today, this is an all to common mindset among Christian Missionaries.

First, a minor quibble - the journey does not actually take place in Tibet, but rather in Ladakh (or Little Tibet, as the author refers to it). That matter aside - what an incredible journey - it is just a terrible pity that the author carried so much unwarranted baggage with her - elitism, racism, distaste for anything Moslem-related and a contempt for Buddhism and the Lamas, who treated her with such kindness and high regard during her journey. She could have learned and enjoyed so much more if she had truly opened her eyes. It really does reflect all our worst perceptions of the British-Raj - Ms Bird 'luxuriating' in her massive tent while her servants and 'coolies' were at times required to sleep without cover in the snow.

There are wonderful descriptions of this, for us, remote territory - incredible scenery, villages, towns, people and customs. Unfortunately the book is written in a peculiar 'distant' style, as if the author was an observer from afar - Ms Bird never draws us into the adventure or journey, giving a feeling of actually being there. Perhaps the original edition, which presumably carried the many illustrations of which the author speaks, was better able to convey the grandeur and the trials of the very difficult terrain.

Still, it is a great period piece and a true eye-opener on the character of Ms Bird, the adventurer, as well as conveying a picture (albeit not fully engaging) of a time and place past.

Isabella Bird's travel writing is a wonderful look at the world at the turn of the last century. Her writing is fluid and clear and her insights into people and places are gentile but pointed. In this travelogue we travel with her through uncomfortable steamer voyages, interactions with other travelers and exposure to practices and culture endemic to Hawaii at that time. She introduces us to the flora, fauna and food she encounters as well as the variety of people she meets.