Customer Reviews

BioGraphic Novel (Series 1): The 14th Dalai Lama

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I highly recommend this book. This manga style comic tells the story of the current Dalai Lama. The artwork has a slightly cartoony feel similar to Osamu Tezuka's Buddha but-- as with Tezuka's work-- does not lose any of its power or humanity. The author captures many of the most important events of the Dalai Lama's life including the "discovery" of him as a small boy, his meeting with chairman Mao, his exile to India, and the Tiananmen Square uprising. It also contains a number of interesting photographs.

This book is part of a series of comics that aims to inspire up by telling the stories of "real life superheroes." I hope people buy this book becuase it is inspiring, and a great way to introduce a new generation to the Dalai Lama (and, presumably, to other Nobel Peace Prize Winners in future editions).

It's worth the read!!!!!

I picked up this book for a friend who is a New Ager, thinking it might be amusing to present her with a comic book depiction of her idol, the Dalai Lama. Although I meant it as a joke, I found myself intrigued by the Japanese images of The Man, but found I truly did not know the story of him as well as I thought. I ended up getting a copy for myself also and reading it the same night.

In short, the images are excellent and entertaining, and it is historically acurate (I picked up another book at the book store just to check). This is not for someone who wants to get into the weeds and philosophy of the Dalai Lama's life, but is an excellent quick read to understand the key historical and philosophical milestones of his life, and of Tibetan Budhism. Use this as an entertaining and thoughtful Dalai 101 for you, and dare I say even for kids - I read through the book with my 5 year old daughter and she loved the pictures.

This book brings to life the true story of the 14th Dalai Lama with exceptional power and clarity. The graphic novel format works very well to give an energetic account of the Dalai Lama's life in Tibet as well as his escape into exile. The exceptional writing and imagery make the experience of reading it more like watching an epic film than reading a historical biography.

Highly recommended for anyone who wants to know about the Dalai Lama or for those who like historical adventure. It is accessible for adult and young readers alike.

I got the book yesterday and I finished reading all of it just today. Its a great and smooth read if you want to get a quick background that led to the exile of His Holiness Dalai Lama. The graphics make it more engaging. Being in manga style don't expect a lot of details of the events mentioned in the book. Many events are quite simplified. For details you will have to read many conventional books. This series-1 book definitely lays the ground work for the other series.

I was given this book by an enthusiastic friend and couldn't put it down once I started reading! I'm not a Buddhist or into Japanese Manga, but I enjoyed it! It gives loads of information in a straightforward and fun way. It's easy to read and the images really add a new dimension to a story I'm already familiar with. My 9-year-old son enjoyed the book so much that he took it to school to share with his class.

If you liked Art Spieglman's (Pulitzer winning) "Maus I & II"...you'll love this book!

I went to the publisher's website and see that they are producing other books on historical figures. I'll definitely buy them.

If you've seen the Martin Scorcese movie "Kundun" then you already know the Dalai Lama's story. This graphic novel relates it pretty clearly. Like the movie, the graphic novel is also kind of long and rambling. The artwork is all in black and white, standard manga style... definitely competent but to be honest I didn't find it particularly gripping. Color would have helped a lot. You can see for yourself as Amazon lets you search inside the book and see a sample of the artwork. Then you can decide if you want it based on the artwork and how interested you are in the subject matter. As far as I know it is the only graphic novel about the Dalai Lama, therefore it is also the best graphic novel about the Dalai Lama. I guess that deserves three stars.