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5.0 out of 5 stars
A definitive, and enlightening Work., October 22, 2003
This review is from: The Dalai Lama: A Biography (Greenwood Biographies) (Hardcover)
This biography of the Dalai Lama was both interesting and enlightening. One of the reviews I read felt that the treatment of the Communist Occupation of Tibet showed bias. I disagree. It is evident to me that Ms. Cronin has captured the essence of a truly remarkable man who, like many others, endures despite adversity. He is clearly a holy man. He is an inspiration to us all, and what we can achieve with faith. All of these attributes, come through in this work. I am gratified that the target market, our youth, will be well served with it. Who knows, it may spark the next Age of Reason in World Affairs! The Dalai Lama resisted oppression and unlike some of our American Academics, he doesn't apologize for it.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
The Dalai Lama: A Biography By Patricia Cronin Marcello, November 26, 2008
From his potty humor to his politics, Patricia Marcello paints a detailed and holistic picture of his holiness the Dalai Lama. But the book begins even before the Dalai Lama's birth. Marcello explains the history of Tibet, the daily life of a Tibetan, and the lineage of the Dalai Lama's family, both biological and spiritual. The death of the thirteenth Dalai Lama launches a fairytale-like adventure of omens and evidence of reincarnation. After search parties and clever tests of character, the reader is introduced to a divinely precocious young boy in the rural village of Amdo, named Lhamo Dhondup, the future Dalai Lama and the future of Tibet.
The boy must leave his family behind to journey to Lhasa, the religious capital and even from his childhood came into conflict with the Chinese. Muslim Warlord Ma Pu-Feng holds Lhamo and his search party from Lhasa for heavy ransom. Lhamo Dhondup does however safely assume his throne at the seasoned age of four. He begins his learning process shortly after, with intense tutoring under monk Reting Rinpoché on subjects from poetry to metaphysics. The young Dalai Lama also becomes interested with the west, watching western films, reading western papers and eventually cultivating friendships with westerners, Heinrich Harrer, the Austrian mountaineer and Thomas Merton, the Catholic trappist monk among them. However, his childhood was short-lived, with China's plans of "liberating' Tibet beginning in January of 1950. At age fifteen he thus began a life of struggling with the Chinese to preserve his homeland, his people, and the customs of his country without the use of violence. Often the Dalai Lama would acquiesce to the Chinese. While many would say that these were the actions of a weak leader, Marcello reveals the thought processes of the Dalai Lama who weighed his decisions based on what he thought would result in the least amount of violence.
In hopes of gaining international sympathy, he spread the message of Tibet's suppression to the world through letters and eventually meeting with leaders and making speeches, even addressing the United Nations. After his exile to India in 1959 for the purpose of diffusing tension in Tibet, caught between freedom fighters he did not want to fight and the Chinese who did, he furthered these hopes by establishing a democratically modeled government. Even with continued Chinese aggression, increases of refugees headed for India, and an international reluctance to acknowledge the needs of Tibet, the Dalai Lama never lost his spirit. He wrote prolifically and continued to stress nonviolence, as he felt personally responsible for all sentient beings on earth, an attitude that would win him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 and many friends along the way.
In the biography, Marcello has a knack for bringing the reader into the intimate space of the Dalai Lama with personal anecdotes, which often portray the Dalai Lama in a humorously human light. She cites stories when yes, the Dalai Lama stole from a local market, tried to take apart a clock and was almost blinded by its shrapnel, and took his drivers car and accidentally crashed it into tree. She also recounts the historical affairs within his lifetime with great fluidity as the inner political drama amongst leaders she includes avoids the sound of a history book, making it more akin to a trashy novel...in a good way. Similarly the style flowed well with cliffhangers from chapter to chapter such as Chapter Four's conclusion, "Losing [his brother]...was a major blow; yet this first loss was minimal to what he would come to lose in the future". Marcello also did a masterful job acquainting the western reader to everyday Tibetan life with the use of Tibetan words, explanation of Buddhist reasoning and principles, and other seemingly irrelevant information that still added to the overall picture of Tibet. For example did you know that the national beverage is Yak butter tea and due to its dry consistency a bit of yak dung is added to hold it together? The biography also begins with a timeline of events in the Dalai Lama's life, which is helpful for orienting even the most disoriented reader.
Although the information was quite insightful into the life of the Tibetan monk, few insights were drawn pertaining to the political reasoning that China would want to deal with the international headache that Tibet became. Understandably the book followed Dalai Lama, however seeing as he was in exile for a large period of time, the reader misses out on the details of the Tibetans actually struggling with the Chinese, or even investigating the perspective of the freedom fighters. Whether a reflection of the Dalai Lama or of the book, there little evidence of progress for the Tibetan people, and as it pertains to nonviolent demonstrations there was neither description nor commentary on their strategies. These gaps were dismaying, but the substance in the Buddhist theology, the Tibetan injustices, and the detailed life of the charismatic and lovable fourteenth Dalai Lama, left me with the desire to learn so much more about Tibetan politics and eastern philosophy.
Marcello leaves us with questions of Tibet's future. Will nonviolence succeed? Or will it prove to be weak against the hardened Chinese superpower? And what will the Dalai Lama become to the evolving and increasingly modern Tibetans? Will his spirit even choose to return? I personally, want to know not only if nonviolence could ever deter an ill-intentioned superpower from their agenda, but also how long can a people hold out for the good of all mankind before they feel compelled to take up arms for the good of their homes and their families? The fourteenth Dalai Lama serves as an inspiration to prioritize all life above those of individuals or even groups, even in the most dismal conditions, though it is a sadly novel concept.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Splendid Simplicity, October 8, 2007
This review is from: The Dalai Lama: A Biography (Greenwood Biographies) (Hardcover)
The simplicity of the title mirrors the simple approach to what could be a daunting and challenging biography. Marcello's biography follows a straightforward timeline explanation of critical events in the life of the Dalai Lama without delving too deeply into an analysis of the issues. Even though the book follows a relatively effortless structure, the actual events of the life of the Dalai Lama are fascinating enough to quickly carry the reader through the text.
Marcello's effort to capture the Dalai Lama's inspiration, humor, and devotion is validated in her biography of his life. The clean chronology makes it very easy for a reader who knows nothing about the Dalai Lama and Tibetan customs to follow along and understand the basic principles that he has followed. Sporadically throughout the book, though mostly concentrated in the beginning, are sections dedicated to the history behind specific customs. Marcello does a wonderful job explaining the history of the Dalai Lama and the traditions that are associated with the selection of the Dalai Lama, especially since the customs may seem quite strange to most Western readers. Her biography is obviously well researched with full notes at the end of every chapter and direct quotes that help make the events more real and relatable.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of the biography was Marcello's ability to intertwine the stories with the lovable sense of humor of the Dalai Lama. Each chapter is sprinkled with either a quote or situation which convinces the reader that, even though he dealt with serious and difficult issues, the Dalai Lama still was a human being at heart, one whose wit and cleverness kept him optimistic. It is an often occurrence for the reader to find him or herself smiling or laughing out loud at the comical situations described, which is appreciated, especially because of the gravity of the other events described.
Although the biography is applauded for its simplicity, it is also one of its shortcomings. Admittedly by the author, the book is aimed at a high-school reading level and has little depth when it comes to exploring specific issues of negotiation with the Chinese, or even explaining the perspectives of other players. There is very little attention to the Chinese outlook, which suggests the bias of the author. Understandably, however, it is a biography of the Dalai Lama, not the Chinese, so it is clear why there is not equal representation of ideas.
Also, one of the most difficult things to over come as a reader was the insurmountable number of strange names and places. There was a constant urge throughout the book to look at a map, yet there is not one provided in the book pages themselves. The timeline and index were helpful, but a map and a list of important names and relationships would have been even more so.
After finishing Marcello's biography, I found myself wanting to read the autobiography of the Dalai Lama published in 1990. Marcello refers to it often and many of the fun stories and inspirational quotes come from that autobiography, which creates a certain attraction to it. It would be fascinating to hear about all the events of his life from the Dalai Lama's point of view. In addition, Marcello's biography, though thorough in its descriptions of Tibetan tradition and the lifestyle of the Dalai Lama, had little description of Buddhist teachings themselves. I understood basic concepts from her text, but found it a little difficult to understand where the Dalai Lama's principles and actions were rooted from. I am glad, however, that I read this biography first. It served as a useful introduction to the life of the Dalai Lama and served to keep me interested enough to want more.
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