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Seven Years in Tibet
He not only ventured into the forbidden land at a very turbulent time (1944 to 1951) and returned to tell the tale but also had the good fortune of becoming a close friend of the Dalai Lama, then a young boy. The book reads like a fairy tale despite being a true account. The Dalai Lama has this to say about the tome: "Harrer has always been such a friend to Tibet. His most important contribution to our cause, his book, Seven Years in Tibet, introduced hundreds of thousands of people to my country. Even today, he is still active in the struggle for Tibetans’ right to freedom and we are grateful to him for it". Much has changed in the country that he traversed under forbidding circumstances. But that makes the account all the more valuable. At the same time there is an eternal quality about this wonderful world which no aggression can destroy. Of late there has been a renewed interest in Tibet which increases the intrinsic value of the book. It has been considered one of the great travel stories of our times, as the venerable The Times described it once. In these 50-plus years, it has made publishing history with umpteen editions coming out and several generations of readers "rediscovering" it. It is a tribute to its abiding quality that it has had one more edition in the year 2005 with several extras. In the epilogue, Harrer, now past 90, laments the continued destruction of Tibet but holds out hope for the future, taking solace from the greeting that the Tibetans use while crossing the high passes: "The gods will overcome!" There is also a brief biography of Harrer written by Miranda Haines and also his tips to modern explorers. |
THERE are some books which
book their place in the list of classics right from the day of their
publication. Seven Years in Tibet had acquired that cult status
soon after it came out in 1953. Not only was the subject matter exotic
and mysterious, the events that took place in the life of the Austrian
author Heinrich Harrer were the stuff legends are made of.