Seven Years in Tibet

BOOK REVIEW: Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer

My Recommendation

This is recommended for anyone and everyone who has a burning desire to achieve their goal in life, a desire that doesn't allow you peace until you are at it. The high experienced when the wait for that one spark turning to lightning is over. It is a narrative of what every adventurer can endure to realize that dream which he nurtures in his heart. A tale of strong will power and determination, the beauty of belonging and friendships is well described in the association of Heinrich and Dalai Lama. This is a literary preservation of a theocratic culture that has been eroded. As you read along, you can draw visual interpretations of every aspect of the story owing to its simple and clear style of writing.

I lay my eye on this book, years ago, purchased and stacked on the shelf. I wouldn't have picked it up anytime soon, had it not been a genuine recommendation. Soon after reading this I realized, what I had been missing for a long time in the world of non-fiction. 

The Review

Seven Years in Tibet is an engrossing and gripping tale of Austrian Mountaineer  Heinrich Harrer’s trysts with the escape from an Indian POW camp and the realization of his boyhood dream. Unlike other boys of his age, as a child he found the achievements of the heroes far more inspiring than book reading. The goal of his life was to be one of those who conquered great peaks and took the road less traveled  An amazing narration that keeps you hooked, yearning for more.  

Life takes a turn, when he receives an invitation to realize his long cherished dream of the Himalayan Expedition. The past failure of many heroes, who lost lives, did not deter the young dream to be achieved. He had his determination focused on climbing the 25000 foot mountain. The exquisite beauty of the mountains, the immense height that he climbed took him by a spell.

It was while his return, that the World War II broke out and Britain declared war with Germany. He along with his comrades were held as POW and taken to an Indian POW camp. This was in the year 1939 when India was under the British Rule. But Hein had other dreams to pursue. He refused to be taken as a captive and lead a life that may have been pleasant, because the prisoners were not ill treated, but that certainly could not devour his appetite of measuring his strength against the mountains.

He chalks out a plan to escape the POW camp and fails at his first attempt. The second attempt was more carefully etched, moves minutely planned, resources well arranged and determination at its peak. He succeeded in his endeavor, which was only the beginning of a herculean task that he had set upon. He managed to survive against all odds; the suspicion of the natives, lack of food and shelter, ill-health, rough terrains and the fear of being caught and taken back to the POW camp hovering every moment.

After nearly two years of walking when he and his associate finally entered Lhasa, the forbidden land, they had frostbite and blisters, were starved and ill. At a time, when it was impossible to inhabit a land without a pass, they were taken into shelter and a hospitable environment. The association of the then Dalai Lama and the author is a bond that makes emotions stride. He holds it very dearly and close to his heart.

Heinrich is amused by the simplicity that the Buddhist culture had to offer. He defines in great details the simple reclusive country, its friendly inhabitants that believed in the power of prayer and superstition. Tibet was a land that shunned technology and was totally cut off from the rest of the World. 

But it grieves me to think that this beautiful “Roof of the world” has been crushed and changed beyond recognition. The death of a culture that was pious and sacred to preserve the lives on earth, for they believed that more the number of lives you preserve, better the chances of re-incarnating to a higher soul. The land was secluded to an extent that its wish to live in peace and freedom won no sympathy from any nook-corner of this world, extending no help at all. All this finally forcing the culture and its people succumb to power.

My Rating: 4.5/5

Go grab it, read it and experience a new high.

With Love,

Megha S.