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Bhutan: Hidden Lands of Happiness | 
 enlarge | Author: John Wehrheim
Publisher: Serindia Publications, Inc.
Category: Book
List Price: $65.00
Buy New: $54.26
You Save: $10.74 (17%)
New (5) Used (1) from $54.26
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 259212
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 280
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4.7
Dimensions (in): 11.4 x 11.3 x 0.7
ISBN: 1932476326
EAN: 9781932476323
ASIN: 1932476326
Publication Date: February 28, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Tibetan folksongs sometimes sing of beyul - hidden lands that can only be seen by those of pure heart and mind. Tucked into the towering peaks and steeply forested valleys of the Eastern Himalayas, the Bhutanese believe their country to be such a place. Bhutan: Hidden Lands of Happiness is a geographical and cultural passage from the yak pastures along the Tibetan border to the rice lands in central Bhutan. Guiding the reader through the districts of Paro, Thimphu, Punakha, Gasa, Laya, Lunana, Wangdi, Bumthang and Trongsa, the book reveals remote hot springs and isolated hermitages and ends in the streets and nightclubs of the country s capital, Thimphu Town. 108 black and white images narrated with stories, journal entries, folklore, dharma teachings and oral history create a portal across centuries. Clear, skillfully composed and rich in depth and detail, these flawless images illustrate an intimate tale of Bhutan told by an artist who is deeply familiar with his subject.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
Bhutan Book Comment July 17, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"The portraits are as wonderful as the words and the people are so
beautiful. They definitely loved posing and being photographed. I hold
off reading BHUTAN until the end of the day when I need and want a
mental boost and not once has 'Hiddens Lands of Happiness' failed."
- Woodfin Camp
 Searching for Life's Missing Ingredient April 29, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
There is something qualitatively different about the happiness depicted in this book. The people of Bhutan have a quiet, bemused look about them that is so different from the forced, frenetic smiles we see in photographs of ourselves in the west.
We see their rustic dwellings and simple clothes and think of them as backward, yet their peaceful countenances speak of values different from our own. While they're satisfied with taking care of their basic needs, we clamor incessantly for more.
I was so initially taken by John Wehrheim's photographs of the Bhutanese that I couldn't wait to discover what he had written about the culture. His telling character sketches whetted my appetite for a deeper understanding of the Buddhist way of life.
With a book so beautifully packaged, the danger is to judge it as mere travelogue, memoir, or coffee table bric-a-brac. Rather, it is an opening on a true Shangri-La culture that points in its simplicity to missing aspects of our western way of life.
A true adventure April 17, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
As a print media professional in Europe for 20 years, I must say that I've not encountered another book quite like this - great stories, great pictures, great energy. It feels like a full-fledged travel narration - an illustrated story - rather than a photography book with explanatory text. The way the author leads the readers into a personal experience of the theme, is truly captivating.
Given the quantity an importance of the text I would have preferred block set with serif fonts - always better for reading stories because this is a full fledged travel and cultural narrative in the style of Paul Theroux and not merely a coffee table "picture book". Literary quotes need to appear "loose" and work well left-justified. The lack of page numbering for the introduction, which is long and full of narrative, appears somewhat confusing since the layout is the same as in all the chapters.
But truly, this is a beautiful book. I enjoyed the stories and the insights into Bhutan's culture as well as the brilliant photographs - many of them have stayed in my mind ever since I first saw them.
Congratulations to John Wehrheim and Serindia for a great and original work of art.
Bhutan - hidden lands of happiness April 16, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Congratulations to John Wehrheim and the publisher to this book. Black and white photography is very rare in the field of illustrated books from exotic countries nowadays. You feel on every page how close John was to the people and how he loves them. Great portraits are accompanied by fantastic landscape photographs. John not only is an excellent photograper. He is a very good writer too, a rare combination. I hardly can remember when I read the text in a photographic book from the first line to the last one. John's humour and knowledge made the reading a great fun! My own travels to the places John visited became present as if they would have happened yesterday. It is the best book on Bhutan I ever had in my hand!
It's wonderful! March 26, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
John's window into another culture, his new book entitled Bhutan: Hidden Lands of Happiness, is bright and clear. His book is filled with marvelous stories of his travels and the legends and history of this amazing country. His exquisite photographs look through the lens into the very soul of a traditional Tantric Buddhist culture and its remarkable people.
His stories are filled with great humor and portray the Bhutanese people - of all ages and stations in life, from a child to a Senior Abbot and the soon-to-be King - as playful, respectful and devoted to their culture. I've followed his work for more than thirty years, and this book - together with his new film "BHUTAN -- Taking The Middle Path To Happiness" - make a bright and welcome package into a world "where happiness is the guiding principle of government. Imagine a people who see all life as sacred and the source of their happiness, a place with an abundance of clean and renewable energy, a nation committed to preserving its culture. Imagine a Kingdom where the King lives in a simple wooden cottage and judges his progress by the country's `Gross National Happiness.'"
John Wehrheim's book "Bhutan: Hidden Lands of Happiness" is marvelous!
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