Customer Reviews

A Tibetan on Tibet (Dorje Zodba of Tachienlu ; With An Introductory Chapter on Buddhism and)

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

 

 

Despite what you would think from the way this book is advertized, it really isn't a travelogue through early 20th Century Tibet. Only 2 chapters are really devoted to this. The rest of it is an account of Dorje Zodba's reflections on Tibetan culture and customs, and this is presented in a rather cut and dry manner, not that different from a typical anthropological or sociological survey. Again, despite what you would think, the vaunted viewpoint of the author (both Christian and Buddhist influenced) does not deliver the variations of insight or spark of tension you would expect. Dorje doesn't really bring either to obvious reflection on the task. So why 4 stars? Because, even though its tone isn't that different from many other books, there are a lot of interesting details brought out due to the author being Tibetan and having grown up in the culture, yet having an analytical distance from it, caused by his exposure to Western methods of information gathering. Of particular note is the fact that this account was written before Tibetans had fully realized that not everything in their culture was politically correct or should be aired too openly, so you gain a more realistic picture of their lives before the Communist takeover and Western idealisms about their culture.