Originally published in 1953, this adventure classic recounts Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer's 1943 escape from a British internment camp in India, his daring trek across the Himalayas, and his happy sojourn in Tibet, then, as now, a remote land little visited by foreigners. Warmly welcomed, he eventually became tutor to the Dalai Lama, teenaged god-king of the theocratic nation. The author's vivid descriptions of Tibetan rites and customs capture its unique traditions before the Chinese invasion in 1950, which prompted Harrer's departure. A 1996 epilogue details the genocidal havoc wrought over the past half-century.


From AudioFile
In this fascinating memoir Pigott-Smith's intonations reveal practically nothing of the German rogue who befriended the boy Dalai Lama in Tibet. His mellifluous British cadences are in the style of documentary narration -- excellent documentary narration, in fact -- not of personal confession. Anyone expecting a spiritual journey will be disappointed. The schematic abridgment tells an arresting tale of how a fugitive from the World War rose to prominence in an exotic locale and met the living incarnation of Buddha before being forced to flee. Whatever enlightenment Harrere achieved from the horse's mouth, as it were, gets short shift. Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine





Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German


From the Publisher
9 cds

ANNOTATION

The true story of Austrian explorer Heinrich Harrer in the Forbidden City of Lhasa.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In 1943, Heinrich Harrer, a youthful Austrian adventurer, mountaineer, and skier, escaped from a British internment camp in India and traveled through the rugged Himalayas to the Forbidden City of Lhasa in Tibet. Although he arrived with no money or permission to be in the country, his curious appearance and the traditional hospitality of Tibetan society soon worked in Harrer's favor, allowing him unprecedented acceptance among the upper class. His intelligence and his European ways also intrigued the curious young Dalai Lama, and he became his tutor and trusted confidant. When the Chinese invaded Tibet in 1950, Harrer and the Dalai Lama fled the country together.

FROM THE CRITICS

AudioFile - Yuri Rasovsky