Customer Reviews

The Rose of Tibet

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was sad to see only there were only two reviews of this very good book. I have reccomended this book to many freinds and they all agree that it is one of the best novels they read as well. A real page turner and well written - one of my freinds said it qualifies as "liturature." I agree. So if you happen on this remote corner of Amazon.com consider this selection, you won't be disappointed.

Although this is a fantastic tale, much from it is echoed by current events, from the Tibetan persecutions to the ongoing struggles of modern Himalayan climbers. This gripping adventure story is set amidst the quite real Chinese suppression of Tibet, although it evokes many parallels with Kipling's "The Man Who Would Be King". I only wish John Huston was still around to direct this book as a film, and Sean Connery young enough to play the lead; Kipling would be rightly envious - this book is better! I like most of Davidson's books, but the only one that's on a par with this is "Smith's Gazelle." His political thrillers are quite enjoyable, but not up the the level of LeCarre or Trevanian.

Yes, I've longed for the far-off, edge-of-the-world, seat-of-your-pants distraction where, in this instance at least, the hero is a Hitchcock-like average Joe from England (where ALL great adventures get underway) who sets out to unearth the whereabouts of his brother; he travels to Tibet; it is 1950, the Red Chinese are massing on the Eastern borders and the Tibetans are not Heinrich Harrar's (of "Seven Years in Tibet" notoriety) chubby, moon-faced brothers of the high hills -- hey! the book is a barn stormer and refreshing after so much of today's overthought, underwrought fictions of mass distraction.

In a lifetime reading addiction, this novel shares equal place in my affections with Bengtson's "The Long Ships" for sheer reading and re-reading pleasure; my paperback copy is absolutely tattered! Even the initial colour and background chapters are well-crafted enough to reward re-reading, whilst the later chapters are both alive and page-turning.
The hero of the piece, Houston, is a decidedly callow specimen, and his rise to the status of demi-god lover of a she-devil, and his metamorphosis into reactionary Imperialist dog and terrorist against the invading Chinese, is an absolute delight.
None of Davidson's characters are perfect, but their imperfections place them perfectly in the well researched (I hope) Tibetan world that Davidson has created. The only really honourable character is the native guide Ringling who deserved a better deal than he got for his loyalty and courage.
How this book has avoided being made into a film is beyond me, as is my inability to like any of Davidson's other books, (not that he's written many!).
This book has single-handedly stopped me from writing a novel of my own, I don't think I could even come close. One can't give a work a higher endorsement than that.

This is the most fascinating book I have read in years. What makes it so good is that it's based on real events and about a country closed to the western world and about which the west knew very little at the time. The book was written in 1960, nine years after Houston returned from Tibet. What happened to him in that remote country was so strange as to be unbelievable, yet I was left with the feeling that those events really did occur. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I couldn't relax till I'd finished the book. One is left wondering about so many things, not least what really happened to Houston in the end, one can really only guess from the clues given in the story.

I first read this novel in August 1974. It was recommended to me by someone in Izmir after, what I now realise, was something of a Lionel Davidson scemario. I had wondered about the camouflage planes on standby at Istanbul and Izmir airports. I had been in Italy, taken up an invitation by a virtual stranger and found myself in Turkey just as it started war in Cyprus. As there was no means of getting out of the country - and I had been rung by the British Consulate to tell me of this - I sat on the roof and read the Rose of Tibet. I couldn't put it down. I have read it 3 times since and am never sure whether Houston existed or not. I have recommended it to my reading group and we are about to discuss it tomorrow.I shall be interested to hear what they think but for me this is one of my desert island top 10 choices.

The Rose of Tibet is a classic adventure book and thoroughly up to Lionel Davidson's high standards. This was one of his first and it remains as charming and unique as when I first read it about 25 years ago. The reason for writing this review is because of the paperback edition that I purchased through Amazon, a so-called Faber Find published by Faber and Faber of London. THIS EDITION IS A DISGRACE TO PUBLISHING. DO NOT PURCHASE IT!!!! It is replete with copy editing howlers, misspellings, omitted words etc. etc. This occurs throughout the book. While reading it, it became clear that this was not a new edition, freshly typeset. It became clear that Faber had scanned an old edition using OCR (optical character recognition) software, which software had a done an atrocious job of rendering the original edition. And to top it off, Faber had not "found" it necessary to proofread the output of the OCR software. This sin of omission is clear because the errors are obvious to any English speaker and occur throughout the book. SHAME ON YOU FABER! SHAME!

I have read this book (in hard copy) before and enjoyed it immensely, interesting plot, unique location and nice device of introducing the author as a character.
But... this digital edition which I bought for my e-reader while travelling is dreadful. Full of typography and spelling mistakes to a ridiculous level. I would not buy anything published by Faber and Faber again if they think it is okay to sell something so shoddy.
Being a cheaper edition is no excuse. I would not like to think the increase in digital books means a decrease in editing and proofing standards.

I read this book in 1982 and thought it was a pretty darn good read. I've since re-read it a few weeks ago, and while it hasn't stood the test of time very well, it's still not a horrible way to spend a few hours. Bonus points for the female lead referring to Charles Houston as Chao-li, though!

The book arrived quickly and was in exactly the described condition. I am totally satisfied with my purchase. Good seller, good service. I have read the book before and can recommend it. The literary style is of the first person in a page turning adventure which takes our story teller to India and the Himalayas in search of a lost brother. Quite extraordinary account story, exotic, intrepid and charming.