Sorrow Mountain: The Journey of a Tibetan Warrior Nun [Hardcover]

Ani Pachen (Author), Richard Gere (Preface), Dalai Lama (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1568362943 | ISBN-13: 978-1568362946 | Publication Date: February 2000 | Edition: 1St Edition

Since the publication of Sorrow Mountain in 2000, I have received letters from people throughout the world who felt inspired by Ani Pachen's example. Her courage in the face of devastation, as well as the Buddhist teachings that helped her endure, brought comfort to people experiencing illness, depression, and loss. I heard from others who said they received solace from the book's essential message: the ability of an individual to face unimaginable tragedy and go on. It was a source of great satisfaction to Pachen to know that her story had touched so many, it was the culmination of her dreams. In February 2002 Ani Pachen died in her sleep. Those of us who knew and loved her are comforted that she lived to see the publication of the book. She took great pride in helping to tell the world what happened in Tibet. "After years of suffering, my prayers have been answered," she often said. "I feel blessed." -Adelaide Donnelley 2002

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Born in 1933 as the only child of a Tibetan village chieftain in the eastern province of Kham, Pachen refused an arranged marriage in hope of leading a monastic life. As Chinese troops hardened their grip on Tibet in 1958, she assumed her father's role upon his death, helping to lead the Tibetan resistance until her capture by the Chinese in 1960. Told to confess her crimes against the Chinese army and that if she didn't yield she would die, the Tibetan stood her ground. "When our time comes, each of us dies. There is nothing we can do," she explains. Although hundreds of thousands of Tibetans were killed along with many wild animals (to teach Tibetans to surrender their "superstitious" reverence of living things), Pachen was imprisoned for 21 years instead. Near starvation, she would rejoice if she found a worm to eat in the soil that she worked at labor camps. (One prisoner died from gouging out the innards of a dead horse buried in the field and consuming them, feces and all.) Asked what saved her, she replied, "The wish to see His Holiness," the Dalai Lama. As Pachen, who was released in 1980, concludes in an account that is more notable for its wrenching drama and its author's courage than for the style in which it is told, "As for me, the story will go like this: She led her people to fight against the Chinese.... She worked to save the ancient spiritual teachings. When I die, just my story will be left." Agent, Eileen Cope of Barbara Lowenstein Associates; foreign rights sold in the U.K., Italy, Germany and Holland; 7-city author tour. (Feb.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

As a contented teen, Pachen, daughter of a Tibetan village chieftain, dreamt of a life devoted to Buddhist practice. But she encountered numerous, intractable obstacles. First, her father arranged an unwanted marriage--and, although he eventually relented, more troubles soon appeared. In 1958 the Chinese occupied Eastern Tibet; the resulting distress contributed to her father's death and prompted Pachen to take a leadership role in the resistance. She was captured and spent 21 years in brutal Chinese prisons as her country and culture disintegrated at the hands of the occupiers. This plain-spoken chronicle joins Palden Gyatso's The Autobiography of a Tibetan Monk (Grove, 1997) in illuminating the overwhelming religious, cultural, and human tragedy in recent Tibetan history. Recommended for all popular collections despite this reviewer's discomfort with Donnelley's (Boundary Water) admission that she has "taken liberties to include outside stories and details where necessary in order to give a fuller picture of the tragedy ."--James R. Kuhlman, Univ. of North Carolina Lib., Asheville
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Kodansha America; 1St Edition edition (February 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568362943
• ISBN-13: 978-1568362946
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #693,776 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #29 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( D ) > Dalai, Lama

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Memoir, History, Politics, Geography, Spirit -- All in One, February 25, 2000

By 

Lauren S. Johnson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sorrow Mountain: The Journey of a Tibetan Warrior Nun (Hardcover)

This story is appealing on many levels, not the least of which is its thoughtful, powerful, flowing prose. The writers bring us the dramatic history and culture of the expansive country of Tibet through the personal oddyssey of the amazing Ani Pachen. An early surprise is learning about the day-to-day life of a Tibetan town and its culture prior to the Chinese invasion. Quite poignant is the Tibetan perspective of the Chinese Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. Far from being merely a catalogue of the long string of horrific abuses on the part of her captors, Donnelley sensitively narrates the details of Ani Pachen's 21-year imprisonment and torture by weaving the narrative with the gems of Ani's faith. While it is emotionally-draining, the reader is provided opportunities to regain strength. You cannot avoid being deeply moved by the power of this woman and her fellow Tibetans -- and moved to help save her culture. Read this book!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sorrow Mountain: The Journey of a Tibetan Warrior, July 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Sorrow Mountain: The Journey of a Tibetan Warrior Nun (Hardcover)

Ani Pachen & Adelaide Donnelly (2000), Sorrow Mountain: The Journey of a Tibetan Warrior-Nun, New York: Kodansha International, pp 293. Foreword by the Dalai Lama and preface by Richard Gere.

Some people live lives of such difficulty and suffering that it is hard to imagine how they carry on. Other people live lives in which they inflict so much suffering and difficulty that it is hard to imagine how they carry on. This book is a story of both kinds of lives.

It is primarily the story of Ani Pachen: a Tibetan woman born to a privileged life who lost everything when the Chinese invaded, became a resistance leader, was captured, tortured and endured 21 years of horrific imprisonment. When finally released she took part in protest movements before fleeing to India where she became a nun.

It is also a larger story of the Tibetan people and their Chinese oppressors. Invaded, oppressed, mistreated and murdered, the Tibetan people have endured for almost half a century their own holocaust in which 1 million of their 6 million people have been killed. This book puts a personal face on their suffering. As such it is a moving monument to the courage and forbearance of a person and a people. A moving foreword by the Dalai Lama and an equally moving preface by Richard Gere add further perspectives to the book. As Richard Gere concludes "May this book help to dispel the darkness of this darkest night of Tibetan history and be of benefit to all beings everywhere. May the hearts of our Chinese brothers and sisters be opened and may they quickly come to their senses."

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two Women of Genius, January 19, 2002

By 

K. Kendall (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sorrow Mountain: The Journey of a Tibetan Warrior Nun (Hardcover)

Sorrow Mountain is both a novel and a woman's life story. As Adelaide Donnelley explains in an afterword, "It is as much narrative as strict biography." Stories of the "life" of Ani Pachen, including her spiritual power to transcend torture and twenty-one years of imprisonment, and to transform destruction into hope, were the BASIS for this remarkable book. Ani Pachen wanted to be a nun, living peacefully and not killing (many Tibetan people have a religious calling); the circumstances of her birth forced her to become a warrior against the Chinese (again, this echoes the history of those of her generation). Captured, imprisoned, and tortured, she preserved her spiritual beliefs and her integrity (again, read the story of many her generation; the difference is that so many did not survive). Ani Pachen survived, made it to Dharamsala, and finally lives a life of meditation and spiritual focus. Thousands of Tibetans have escaped; many of those now live in northern India with His Holiness. The spiritual example they set: certainty of impermanence, compassion, forgiveness, and detachment--works for everyone on the planet. All of this matters.

But there is something more which matters. This book, like the story of its subject, transcends and crosses boundaries: in form, in approach. It is a novel, a spiritual guidebook, a history of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. The tone is mythic: "My country was once at the roof of the world, a place where the great spirits lived." The tone is cinematic: "In a darkened corner of my mind, a small patch of green appears. I watch it grow brighter, larger, until a vast green meadow stretches out at my feet. The meadow is dotted with clusters of flowers and is treeless, except for a willow or two." The tone is intensely personal, acutely descriptive: in prison, "The lice were so bad that I could see them crawling all over the heads in front of me. So thick I could sweep them off with my hand and not make a difference in their numbers."

The story is woven of dreams, memories, Buddhist teachings, horrors re-lived or imagined, and above all details that give it taste, sound, texture, and breath. As a work of art, it breaks all prior boundaries and should be studied by all writers who ever consider telling life stories--their own or anyone else's. If there is any drawback to the book, it is only that we cannot know what is Ani Pachen's voice and what is Adelaide Donnelley's. A Buddhist would assure us that the illusion of separation is unimportant, temporary, superficial. A Buddhist would tell us that Ani Pachen's story, and Adelaide Donnelley's storytelling genius, have become one voice for all of us. As the editor of another woman's life story, I come to this book to learn. I look back at my work and see how much trouble I took to leave Mpho Nthunya's voice exactly as it was, to be merely a secretary, taking dictation from her. I tried to keep my white privilege and sensibility out of the way of her African experience and her African ways of seeing. I think that was a good thing to do. But I deeply admire the merging of voices in the Pachen/Donnelley collaboration. It is a miracle to read, to study, to learn from. I am deeply grateful for it.