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 enlarge | Author: Xinran Xue
Publisher: Anchor
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy Used: $3.26
You Save: $10.69 (77%)
New (38) Used (29) Collectible (2) from $3.26
Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 30776
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5 x 0.7
ISBN: 1400095646
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781400095643
ASIN: 1400095646
Publication Date: August 8, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Visible shelf wear -- may have some notes/markings on pages
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 6-10 of 10 | | « PREV | | |
 Learn about Tibetan life October 17, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
My book club selected this book, and I was dreading the "love story" purported in the title. But this is actually a pretty neat story about Tibetan life, and since it's supposedly based on a true story, I'm assuming it's pretty accurate. I knew nothing about nomadic Tibetan culture and their environment (except what I've seen in movies), and I enjoyed being introduced to it in novel form. I also enjoyed reading the Tibetan take on the Dalai Lama conflict between China/Tibet. The book is simply written and plot slow at times, and since it is a translation, I suspect some things might have been lost. I didn't have too much of a problem with the writing, but I didn't care for all the coincidences that occur toward the end. I'm assuming this is where the book is very LOOSELY based on reality. Overall, I do recommend it.
In this book the Chinese invaders are not the bad guys March 18, 2007
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
I've always been interested in reading books about Tibet. And so I gladly embraced this 2004 novel by Chinese journalist Xinran. A mere 224 pages, it is a fast read and a romantic adventure. Supposedly based on a true interview the author had with an old Chinese woman who spent 30 years in Tibet, this is the story of Shu Wen, a newlywed in 1958, whose young doctor husband was reported dead in Tibet. The details of his death were not clear and Shu Wen wanted to find out the truth. And so she signed up for the Chinese Communist Army, one of the few females in the group who traveled to Tibet under spartan military conditions with the hope of finding out what happened to her husband.
It took her 30 years to find out the truth. But that was only after she spent most of those years living with a family of Yak herders and befriending a former wealthy Tibetan woman who taught her to survive in the harsh landscape. I loved the part of the book which introduced the family and the Tibetan lifestyle. It also gave humanity to the Chinese invaders who saw themselves as bringing a better life to the people who seemed backward to them and much too steeped in religion. This made interesting reading. The author's language is simple and its clarity had the perfect tone to describe Tibet through this Communist Chinese woman's eyes.
In this book, the Chinese are not the bad guys. And the theme made their conquest of Tibet inevitable. Less effective was the plot because it's hard to believe. There are just too many coincidences. And it's much too romantic. But then again, this is a novel.
Sky Burial's point of view was rather refreshing because it didn't demonize the Chinese. And for that reason think it will best be enjoyed for those who can view it in context.
Sky Burial November 3, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
A fasinating love story. Brings you into the Tibeten world & culture. A must read book!
 A Must Read August 22, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I picked up Sky Burial in a book store and started to read it and couldn't put it down. I bought the book, brought it home and read it all in one sitting. I thought it was a wonderful book! It is well written, full of passion, love, feeling, harsh reality. It is a must read!
An amazing tale of friendship, vast lands and sorrow May 19, 2005
14 out of 15 found this review helpful
Now here is an epic story of love, friendship, courage and sacrifice. Set in Chinese-occupied Tibet and based on a true story, Xinran's extraordinary second book takes the reader right to the hidden heart of one of the world's most mysterious and inaccessible countries. In March 1958, Shu Wen, a young woman and doctor learns that her beloved husband, an idealistic army doctor, has died while serving in Tibet not even a hundred days after their marriage. Unwilling to accept this as fact, she sets out to find out what happened to him by joining his regiment in Tibet. For over twenty years she walked, searching for her husband on a life-changing journey through the Tibetan countryside that leads her to a deep appreciation of Tibet in all its beauty and brutality. Sadly, when she finally discovers the truth about her husband, she must carry her knowledge back to a China that, in her absence, has experienced the Cultural Revolution and changed beyond her ken. Xinran has done an amazing job in depicting the vast Tibetan landscape to us. Surely you too will cry as I did when nearing the end of this amazing must read!
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