I first discovered Eliot Pattison when I was living in Vladimir, Russia. The school where I taught had a very large library of English language books of all varieties, and I utilized it a lot. There was a book entitled The Skull Mantra which stared at me for months from the shelves before I so much as bothered to read the back cover. I know you should never judge a book by its cover (or title), but I simply didn’t think that a book with such a name would be worth much. It was after I had worked my way through nearly all of the cheesy mysteries owned by the American Home and found myself running out of options for mindless entertainment that I finally picked it up – and I’m most definitely glad I did. Here’s a reprint of the short review I wrote of The Skull Mantra at the time:
For those of you who enjoy reading mysteries and/or for those of you who are interested in Tibet, I have a book recommendation for you. As you may or may not know, I've been slowly working my way through the rather large collection of paperback mysteries in the AH library. There's one that's been sitting there for a while that I'd been ignoring due to its horribly cheezy title. I finally picked it up the other day and read the back of the book and decided to give it a try. The book is The Skull Mantra by Eliot Pattison. It's too bad that it has such a cheezy name (although after reading it, I discovered that there's a legitimate reason for this absurd title) because the book is fabulous. Not only is it a well written and engaging mystery, but it gives a clear and fascinating look into life in Tibet, life in the Tibetan prison systems, and Tibetan Buddhism. Now granted, I know remarkably little about Tibet or Tibetan Buddhism, so I have no way of knowing whether or not Pattison's depictions are accurate; however, while reading it I felt such a strong sense of place - so beautiful and magical - that I now find myself wanting to learn more about both Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. The description on the back of the book says that it "will change the way you think about Tibet - and freedom - forever." I read that and thought what a crock of shit... but whaddyaknow. You should all definitely check it out.
The Skull Mantra was the first book in what has become quite a fascinating series. Luckily for me, the next two in the series were at my mom’s house when I returned from Korea. I just finished reading Water Touching Stone and Bone Mountain, the next two books, and am looking forward to reading Beautiful Ghosts (and the forthcoming Prayer of the Dragon, which will be out in December). These books are beautiful and wholly engaging; I could hardly put the one down, and immediately picked up the second as soon as I had finished the first. I feel that I have learned so much about Tibet through reading these books, and I almost want to go there. I say almost for two reasons: The books have shown me that if I wanted to see *real* Tibetan Buddhism, I’d have to either break the law and sneak around with alleged reactionaries, or I’d simply need to go to northern India. Otherwise I’d be exposed to Beijing’s pre-approved version of Tibetan Buddhism, which doesn’t appeal to me whatsoever. Also, if I went to Tibet, I’d probably die; altitude sickness sounds like utter hell, and a horridly miserable way to die. So, since I’m not going to pack up and head for Tibet, I’m going to have to continue reading Eliot Pattison’s books! Whether you’re the sort of person who enjoys exciting escapist mysteries, or the sort who enjoys books with literary/historical/cultural/etc merit, Pattison's works will most definitely have something that will appeal to you.
For those of you who enjoy reading mysteries and/or for those of you who are interested in Tibet, I have a book recommendation for you. As you may or may not know, I've been slowly working my way through the rather large collection of paperback mysteries in the AH library. There's one that's been sitting there for a while that I'd been ignoring due to its horribly cheezy title. I finally picked it up the other day and read the back of the book and decided to give it a try. The book is The Skull Mantra by Eliot Pattison. It's too bad that it has such a cheezy name (although after reading it, I discovered that there's a legitimate reason for this absurd title) because the book is fabulous. Not only is it a well written and engaging mystery, but it gives a clear and fascinating look into life in Tibet, life in the Tibetan prison systems, and Tibetan Buddhism. Now granted, I know remarkably little about Tibet or Tibetan Buddhism, so I have no way of knowing whether or not Pattison's depictions are accurate; however, while reading it I felt such a strong sense of place - so beautiful and magical - that I now find myself wanting to learn more about both Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. The description on the back of the book says that it "will change the way you think about Tibet - and freedom - forever." I read that and thought what a crock of shit... but whaddyaknow. You should all definitely check it out.
The Skull Mantra was the first book in what has become quite a fascinating series. Luckily for me, the next two in the series were at my mom’s house when I returned from Korea. I just finished reading Water Touching Stone and Bone Mountain, the next two books, and am looking forward to reading Beautiful Ghosts (and the forthcoming Prayer of the Dragon, which will be out in December). These books are beautiful and wholly engaging; I could hardly put the one down, and immediately picked up the second as soon as I had finished the first. I feel that I have learned so much about Tibet through reading these books, and I almost want to go there. I say almost for two reasons: The books have shown me that if I wanted to see *real* Tibetan Buddhism, I’d have to either break the law and sneak around with alleged reactionaries, or I’d simply need to go to northern India. Otherwise I’d be exposed to Beijing’s pre-approved version of Tibetan Buddhism, which doesn’t appeal to me whatsoever. Also, if I went to Tibet, I’d probably die; altitude sickness sounds like utter hell, and a horridly miserable way to die. So, since I’m not going to pack up and head for Tibet, I’m going to have to continue reading Eliot Pattison’s books! Whether you’re the sort of person who enjoys exciting escapist mysteries, or the sort who enjoys books with literary/historical/cultural/etc merit, Pattison's works will most definitely have something that will appeal to you.
No comments:
Post a Comment