From Library Journal
Ever since the Dalai Lama won the Nobel Peace Prize, increasing interest in the culture of Tibet has been evident in this country. These two books are both photograph collections, one recording the travels of botanist Rock in the Chinese and Tibetan borderlands from 1922 to 1949 and the other tracing mountaineer Harrer's excursions into Tibet itself from 1944 to 1950. Both are fascinating introductions into civilizations that no longer exist in the form depicted. The catalog for an exhibition at the China House Gallery, the Rock volume offers short introductions to the Tibetan borderlands and to the life of the botanist along with 126 compelling black-and-white photographs with brief identifying captions. The Harrer volume combines 200 black-and-white photographs with an extensive text by Harrer, interweaving the story of his years in Lhasa with explanations of the culture and recent history of Tibet and his continuing friendship with the Dalai Lama and his family. Harrer's photographs, while technically inferior to those of Rock, remain valuable as an accessible record of a culture distant from our own. Both volumes should appeal to a wide audience, from general readers to specialists, with the Rock volume perhaps of greatest interest as photography and the Harrer volume providing the more satisfying narrative.
- Kathryn W. Finkelstein, M.Ln., Cincinnati
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Kathryn W. Finkelstein, M.Ln., Cincinnati
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
