Return to Tibet: Tibet After the Chinese Occupation [Paperback]

Heinrich Harrer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 4, 1998

The New York Times bestseller Seven Years in Tibet told the incredible story of an idyllic life on the roof of the world, before it was destroyed by the invading Chinese army. Now, in the extraordinary Return to Tibet, Austrian adventurer Henrich Harrer revisits the people and places he left behind. A compelling mix of history, religion, and travel writing, his book bears witness to the suffering and perseverance of this ancient civilization under Chinese rule. Against a backdrop of ruined monasteries and the beautiful, mysterious Himalayas, Harrer vividly evokes both a free Tibet in which religion and faith were central features of daily life, and the present-day occupied nation from which a profoundly spiritual culture threatens to disappear. He reflects on the country's problems and in a reunion with his former pupil, the Dalai Lama, discusses ways of preserving the Tibetans' national character and their homeland. Like Seven Years in Tibet, this is a timeless story of Eastern culture that beckons readers to a land of majestic mountains and a religion that has endured for a thousand years.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

A fusty, indignant report--dated 1983--from Tibet by Harrer (Seven Years in Tibet, not reviewed), the now-celebrated adventurer who briefly returned to his ``second home'' 30 years after fleeing China's invasion. In 1945 the Austrian author escaped from a British prisoner-of-war camp, hoofed it over the Trans-Himalayan range, and eventually arrived in Lhasa, capitol of Tibet. There he found what he took to be an idyll: a sublime mix of Tibetan Buddhism, ancient customs, and dust-free air that made landscape colors incandescent. He became an important figure in the country--chief engineer, tutor of the Dalai Lama--but left as the Chinese commenced their occupation. In 1982 he was able to revisit Tibet during the ``Chinese-staged thaw,'' and he was by turns heartbroken and inspired by what he observed: Valuable cultural treasures had been destroyed by the invaders, and stories of concentration camps, forced labor, and political murders sent him reeling. Yet the country's religion was still strong, and there continued both armed resistance to the Chinese and an unquashable national will. His two sojourns in the country make for some intriguing before-and-after comparisons, and his comments on particulars of Tibetan Buddhism are revealing. But the tone of the book is dryly nostalgic, when not bitter, and Harrer's opinions sometimes seem jarringly contradictory. He rails against what the Chinese have done to the countryrazing monasteries, imprisoning and killing nationalsand then inexplicably suggests that China and Tibet might be well served by a partnership, with Tibet happily becoming ``part of that enormous yellow state.'' Moreover, every so often he lets the feudalist in him shine through unforgivably in making unfortunate remarks on his longing for a land ``where superstition would be the poetry of life.'' The insights are worth the cover price anyhow, despite the authors occasional reactionary comments and his priggishness. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

Product Details

• Paperback: 207 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher (May 4, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874779251
• ISBN-13: 978-0874779257
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,141,367 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Return to Tibet - not a story, more a thesis., August 9, 2000

By 

Ian A. Inman (http://drink.to/beefy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Return to Tibet: Tibet After the Chinese Occupation (Paperback)

After reading Seven Years in Tibet, this book (which I managed to pick up in Pilgrims bookshop in Kathmandu, after visiting Tibet myself in 1998) came across more as a thesis, compared to the story like format of the former book. Return to Tibet concerns Heinrich Harrer's return to Lhasa in 1982 as part of one of the first tour groups to enter Tibet after China began to open up after Mao and the Cultural Revolution. He compare the Lhasa and Tibet he knew over thirty years before with that he saw on his return. He also manages to break away from the group he was with and meet some of the people he used to know - again, the differences in these people show a sharp contrast.

Whereas Seven Years in Tibet is an easy read, this is a lot heavier going. To be honest, I felt that Heinrich Harrer spent too much time lamenting the old days which made for not one the most memorable reads. That said, if only to show how much had changed, it is still interesting from a historical point of view and what caught my attention most was the changes between the Heinrich Harrer's visit in 1982 and my own trip their in 1998 (for example, on the good side monasteries being rebuilt, easier to get around Tibet, but not so good was the development of Lhasa into a modern city with less character, with a very large influx of non-Tibetans into Tibet in general).

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Read It As History, Not Travelogue, August 14, 2001

By 

Matthew M. Yau "Voracious reader" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Return to Tibet: Tibet After the Chinese Occupation (Paperback)

It is amazing that Henrich Harrer has written separate accounts on Tibet, the roof of thw world, with incredible disparity in emotions. The successor of "Seven Years in Tibets", "Return to Tibet" records the author's revisit 30 years after his departure in 1950. "Return to Tibet" is often regarded as the continuation of "Seven Years in Tibet", except that readers shouldn't read it as a travelogue. Interwoven with the once-vivid and jocund recollection of the country, Harrer contrasted the dismal Tibet under the Chinese neocolonialism. One might find the later volume dry and even disappointing because "Return To Tibet" is not really a showcase of colorful Tibetan costumes, or the rancid butter tea, or the architecture of monasteries. Instead, it is more a political review of how China had annihilated the Tibetan cultures by forcing adoption of new beliefs and ideologies. The climax of the book falls into the author's report to the Dalai Lama, with whom Harrer had built a close friendship. It is through Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibet, that the author realized that Tibetans' beliefs are unshakable. "Tibetans are people of love and patience. They never value war. Yet they value religion and belief more than anything. They would value religion more than not going to war."

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but a little dry, July 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Return to Tibet: Tibet After the Chinese Occupation (Paperback)

I found Mr. Harrer's account of his return to Tibet after Chinese occupation an interesting account from a factual point of view, but it was rather dry from a reader point of view. If you are interested in Tibet, I would recommend it; if you are interested in a good story, I would not.