Among Warriors: A Pilgrim in Tibet [Hardcover]

Pamela Logan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1996

An aerospace scientist inspired by her study of martial arts embarks on a journey to investigate warrior tribes in eastern Tibet, and her quest for knowledge leads her on a thrilling trek. 15,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The woeful tale of hardscrabble sojourns through China has become one of the great cliches travel literature. Pamela Logan, a onetime engineer who developed considerable skills in the martial arts tries her hand at the genre. Her version involves an attempt to reach Lhasa on bicycle and hitching rides on long-haul trucks. She never did make it to Lhasa, at least not on that trip, but it's the adventure of the journey and not the destination that makes stories of this sort worth reading.

From Publishers Weekly

Aerospace engineer Logan had been a longtime karate student with more than 30 "special training" group karate retreats under her black belt when, in 1991, she embarked on a solo retreat to a remote area of Tibet. Logan aimed to visit the region of Kham, home of the fearsome Khampa warriors, who, Logan believed, actually lived the death-facing ideal that she had trained for in karate class. She planned to befriend and learn from these men who are "notorious not only for fierceness, but for banditry and mayhem all over the Himalayas." Logan spent two years preparing for this daunting goal, plotting how she would penetrate the feudal Kham, studying both Mandarin Chinese and Tibetan. All the more surprising, then, that she finds these near-mythical warriors quite early in the book and accords the great moment only scant mention before launching into an account of her impassioned efforts to visit Lhasa. Later, she will become equally driven to see the region of Mustang. Along the way, Logan displays some fine writing: "By now an azure watercolor wash was leaking from the eastern horizon." Mostly, though, she allows only partial glimpses of her journey and of the people she became enamored of as she traveled, resulting in a frustrating, seemingly aimless travelogue.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Hardcover; 1 edition (April 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879516437
• ISBN-13: 978-0879516437
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,081,176 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Martial artist stumbles through Tibet, February 25, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Among Warriors: A Pilgrim in Tibet (Hardcover)

Logan finds out almost immediately on her arrival in Tibet, as almost anyone could have told her, that a bicycle is not a viable means of conveyance for a trek across the Tibetan plateau. She ditches the bike early on and becomes just another foreign roadie. Not having learned Tibetan, Logan finds it unnecessary even to find a Tibetan-speaking guide, in the absence of whom she speculates on what Tibetans are saying to another by the tones of their voices and their gestures, without ever interacting with them much. Through her eyes, the tale is one of false starts, dying falls, and inexplicable actions.

The habit of false starts and quick changes of direction persists throughout the book. One more example: She goes all the way to Kham for a chance to learn about the Khampa cowboys. She sees them, but she doesn't even approach one.

By the end of this book, I was angry that Logan failed to deliver solid first-hand information about journeying through this magical place.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A link between martial arts and a life experience, December 9, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Among Warriors: A Pilgrim in Tibet (Hardcover)

This book seems especially written for those people that think that karate is only about fighting, punching or hurting. "Among Warriors" will give you the insight that karate deserves as an art of inner strenght, humbleness and above all respect. A book where the begining or the end are not as important as the content itself, just as life is.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From the Tibetan plateau to my mind., August 9, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Among Warriors: A Pilgrim in Tibet (Hardcover)

Among Warriors is a book of boundless inspiration. It is a beautiful journey that reaches deep into the human condition. Pamela Logan depicts a mysterious and unknown land that most will never know. A land of spiritual struggle and mastery. A place alone, and a place connected. An incredible part of this planet called Tibet. Her words struck a symbolic chord inside of me. One similar to her own, in Nepal. This book opened up a world that will forever exist inside of me.