The Skull Mantra [Hardcover]

Eliot Pattison (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Book Club Associates (2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312268475
• ISBN-13: 978-0312268473
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,885,426 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eliot Pattison has been described as a "writer of faraway mysteries," a label which is particularly apt for someone whose travel and interests span such a broad spectrum. After reaching a million miles of global trekking, visiting every continent but Antarctica, Pattison stopped logging his miles and set his compass for the unknown. Today he avoids well-trodden paths whenever possible, in favor of wilderness, lesser known historical venues, and encounters with indigenous peoples. An international lawyer by training, early in his career Pattison began writing on legal and business topics, producing several books and dozens of articles published on three continents. In the late 1990's he decided to combine his deep concerns for the people of Tibet with his interest in venturing into fiction by writing The Skull Mantra. Winning the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery--and listed as a finalist for best novel for the year in Dublin's prestigious IMPAC awards--The Skull Mantra launched the Inspector Shan series, which now includes Water Touching Stone, Bone Mountain, Beautiful Ghosts, and The Prayer of the Dragon. Both The Skull Mantra and Water Touching Stone were selected by Amazon.com for its annual list of ten best new mysteries. Water Touching Stone was selected by Booksense as the number one mystery of all time for readers' groups. The Inspector Shan series has been translated into over twenty languages around the world.
Pattison entered China for the first time within weeks of normalization of relations with the United States in 1980 and during his many return visits to China and neighboring countries developed the intense interest in the rich history and culture of the region that is reflected in these books. They have been characterized as creating a new "campaign thriller" genre for the way they weave significant social and political themes into their plots. Indeed, as soon as the novels were released they became popular black market items in China for the way they highlight issues long hidden by Beijing.

Pattison's longtime interest in another "faraway" place -the 18th century American wilderness and its woodland Indians-- led to the launch of his Bone Rattler series, which quickly won critical acclaim for its poignant presentation of Scottish outcasts and Indians during the upheaval of the French and Indian War. In Pattison's words, "this was an extraordinary time that bred the extraordinary people who gave birth to America," and the lessons offered by the human drama in that long-ago wilderness remain fresh and compelling today.

A former resident of Boston and Washington, Pattison resides on an 18th century farm in Pennsylvania with his wife, three children, and an ever-expanding menagerie of animals.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing but confusing, December 26, 1999

By 

"wingdalereader" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Skull Mantra (Inspector Shan Tao Yun) (Hardcover)

"Skull Mantra" offers an interesting look at the shamanic origins of Tibetan Buddhism. If one is open to a departure from what we believe Buddhism is, to how it may actually operate in the Tibetan society, this book shows how otherwise learned men in the spiritual sense, can operate in worlds that allow for a physical manifestation of spirit demons in the modern world. While the book kept my interest, it was not an easy read. Many Chinese and Tibetan terms had to be integrated with a very elaborate plot. The author does not make things easy for the reader. When the protagonist has an insight into what might be happening, the author only informs the reader after a number of pages and other plot manipulations. I did love, however, the ease with which the Tibetan characters could view events on many planes and levels without any of the contradictions that a Westerner may have had. The two American characters seemed superficial and simplistic compared to the workmanlike attitude of the various Asian characters. People accepted their positions matter-of-factly, concentrating their energies on a more spiritual practice that most Americans would find incomprehensible. The cultural attitudes dealing with death in a country where it is difficult to simply bury the dead (the earth is, after all, often frozen and rocky ) are particularly foreign to the Westerner., much like Joel's reaction to the process in Northern Exposure! Interesting setting, fascinating culture, and unfortunately one that may be doomed to death by the destruction of not only the spirit but the land as well! If you like Tony Hillerman or stan Jones, you'll like this if you keep with it!

55 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Imperfect, but with a perfect center, like all of life., January 16, 2000

By 

Lisa Brandt (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Skull Mantra (Inspector Shan Tao Yun) (Hardcover)

When I started to read The Skull Mantra, I was not happy with the author's apparent lack of understanding of Tibetan Buddhism, which I practice. Just having Buddhists refer to their "soul" and having them kneel to pray made me cringe, and I hated to see Tibetan Buddhist practice reduced to reciting mantras. But after finishing the book in record time (the plot left me no other choice), I wonder whether the technical errors reflect ignorance so much as an attempt to allow uninitiated readers to relate to the feelings of the characters. Where it really counts, the book faithfully represents the deeper currents of Tibetan Buddhist thought. This is especially true in the conclusion, which starkly presents the way in which different cultural backgrounds find resolutions for the same problem (I'm trying not to give too much away here!). Yes, the foreign words and concepts make the book hard to read for those who are completely unfamiliar with the background. But if you want to read a great mystery that also introduces you to a culture worth knowing and an international conflict worth knowing about, this is it.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Heavy going, but generally rewarding, January 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Skull Mantra (Inspector Shan Tao Yun) (Hardcover)

This is an engrossing story, and the author does a splendid job of bringing the setting alive. His picture of Tibet under the Chinese administration is painful to read but unfortunately accurate, and, to his great credit, he avoids the temptation to depict all Chinese officials as Bad Guys; the occupation of Tibet is shown to be painful for the more conscientious Chinese too. I found that the characters were a mixed bag: Shan and his Chinese and Tibetan partners-in-investigation were fully rounded and believable, but some of the other characters (especially the two Americans) were one-dimensional. The novel was rough going at times, too: there are long stretches where what you're reading is fascinating, but it's hard to see the relevance of it to the investigation; and although the author offers a neat resolution of the mystery at the end, some of the other possible explanations he raised were never satisfactorily resolved. As for the criticism that the novel's depiction of Tibetan Buddhism is full of errors, I'm not an expert on the subject, although I do volunteer work for a Tibetan refugee relief organization and hang around with a lot of Tibetans. But I know that it's erroneous to view Tibetan Buddhism as a monolithic whole: there are various schools of thought and monastic traditions, and the indigenous Bon religion, which preceded Buddhism, is shamanistic and magical. Westerners are usually initiated into the monastic side of Tibetan Buddhism, but the magic often looms larger in ordinary people's lives, and I think the author did a good job of showing that. All in all, the novel is rewarding, but it's not the light escapist reading that one often expects from mysteries.