Customer Reviews

Sky Train: Tibetan Women on the Edge of History

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Beautifully written, compelling, heartbreaking, but also vastly entertaining. Canyon takes us with her on a recent train journey to Lhasa while recounting the stories of four incredible women whose lives were radically altered by the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

Much is told in this book that has not been chronicled before, thus, it is a must-read for anyone interested in the story of Tibet.

I could not put this book down.

All of us involved in the struggle to restore Tibet to its rightful owners, the Tibetan people, owe Canyon a tremendous debt of gratitude for writing this incredible and beautiful book. May it give us all renewed courage and strength to continue to fight the good fight. Bhod rangzen! Free Tibet!

I bow my head in thanks to Canyon for writing such an intimate and relevant book. It was an honor, held in sorrow as well as amazement, to join in Canyon's journey. Her ability to weave personal stories (including her own) with hard and devastating facts, makes this book an engaging must-read! I am buying a copy for everyone in my book group!

Couldn't put it down!! Riveting stories within a story, wonderfully written, telling personal and heartfelt experiences of several Tibetan women within the framework of Canyon Sam's own experience. I read it in 1 day. Masterfully written. A must read for anyone interested in Asian Studies, Women's Studies and Human determination and perserverence.

Canyon Sam's book, Sky Train is a necessary read for everyone to get a better understanding of the world we live in. Her work, which follows her journey as she travels to interview Tibetan women about the Chinese invasion, is heartfelt and surprisingly shocking. It is an important story that everyone should read to learn more about the recent history of Tibet, how the Chinese government functions, and the human's innate struggle for survival (in this case for individual lives and to keep a culture alive).

One thing I particularly enjoyed about this book was the format - while most histories can be dry, her book included her own story of her travels to reach and interview various women, as well as the relationships she develops with them, which helped me latch on to something more personal than when I read a history book.

This amazing book takes readers on many journeys. On a 4-day train trip from Beijing to Lhasa we disembark in the heart of the 50-year Chinese occupation of Tibet. We accompany the writer across Tibet, India, Switzerland, Canada and the US to hear, with her, the untold stories of remarkable Tibetan women who survived shocking ordeals, sustained by their physical and spiritual strength. We also share Canyon Sam's inner journey to Buddhism, her activism on behalf of Tibetans in exile, and to a deeper understanding of her Chinese American heritage. By the end of this passionate and beautifully written book, I was in awe of the Tibetan women who, despite extreme hardships, continued to find hope and meaning in their changed lives. I'm also in awe of the writer who devoted many years to getting these stories into print. Her love and respect for the women she interviewed shine out as she deftly guides us, so we see why their struggle became hers.

Type in "Tibet" in Google, then click on "Maps." What does Google give you? A map entitled : "Tibet, China." Look at Wikipedia. Is Tibet a country, part of China, or both, and did this change over time? If you asked native Tibetans, they probably would tell you Tibet was a sovereign country, ruled by the Dali Lama, until the Chinese invaded in the 1950's. Very confusing.

To get a better understanding of how this mountainous part of Asia has evolved over time, pick up Canyon Sam's recently released book, "Sky Train: Tibetan Women on the Edge of History." Sam, a third-generation Chinese American born and raised in San Francisco, went to Tibet to work on an oral history project in 1990. In 2007, she returned, taking the Beijing to Lhasa Sky Train, the world's highest railroad, traveling at elevations over 16,000' above sea level. Her book traces the lives of four of the Tibetan women she met over a decade earlier, and reveals how "modernization" has vastly changed Lhasa and its people. It's clear from her book that "Tibet" really no longer is a place. As her last words of the story say, '"Tibet" is a state of mind."

Like Greg Mortensen's "Three Cups of Tea", "Sky Train" is a "must read" for Americans seeking a broader understanding of world politics.

This book is a page-turner, stays with you and seeps into your bones after you finish the last, heartbreaking sentence. Canyon Sam quietly walks your heart into Tibet, sits you down, and opens the door to China's destruction of its culture and vast resources. It exposes China's true political intent in this world and does it, stunningly, with compassion and beauty. I have not read a book in the last ten years that has so assuredly caused me to care about someplace so far away.

extremely well-written; commands the reader to think as well as to feel
(with an imbedded adventure, as well!) one 'gets' the urgency and passion with which canyon sam radiates these women's voices out, like offerings, to the world.
this is a flavorful meld of timeline, memories, history, narrative, humor, grief, joy and self-reflection. through this read, i am once again reminded of the power of the written word.

Sky Train is an absorbing narrative of Tibetan exile, told through a moving personal journey. I will not soon forget the many aspects of this book, and return to read again with fresh eyes.
Canyon artfully weaves a story that is memoir, oral history, and factual events told with creative great balance. I urge anyone who cares about the human experience to explore the pages of this book, and let truth, compassion, humor, human connection, loss, injustice and hope be revealed.

This is an incredible book. Based on first-person interviews, it tells the stories of several women who survived the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959 and the subsequent repressions. At times horrifying, this book tells the remarkable stories of the courage and resilience of these Tibetan women. It opens a fascinating window into womens'lives at "the roof of the world". I was amazed by the extreme changes these women experienced during their lives, and their ability to not only survive but thrive in extremely difficult conditions.