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Tiibetin Tyttäret (2011)

by Yangzom Brauen(Favorite Author)

3.87 of 5 Votes: 1

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Ajatus Kirjat

review 1: An interesting read, overall. I learned about Buddhism and the plight of Tibet and the Tibetan people, something I had not known much about even in my studies of history, as my studies have focused on the West, rather than the East. Brauen highlights the inconsistencies of the political reactions of the United States and the West (Europe, etc.) to recent events as compared to the outright ignoring of the plight of the Tibetan movement for autonomy or independence from China. However, I was looking for more of an intense story filled with drama. While the story is enticing with the subtitle "Epic Journey from Oppression to Freedom," I did not have this sense as I was reading. It was difficult for me to connect emotionally with the three women through which this story w... moreas told.
review 2: Very much a reading group book. Kunsang was a Buddhist nun who married a monk and kept a small temple. Many of her children died. After the Chinese brought the Cultural Revolution to Tibet, her family made the hard trek across the Himalayas to India. Many more died. With the blessing of Rinpoche Dudjom, her daughter Sonam married a Swiss man (and friend of the Dalai Lama) Walter Brauen. He brought the two women back to Europe. Walter and Sonam had a daughter, Yangzom, who had balls of steel. Went to Moscow to protest the award of the Olympic Games to China. Consequently spent time in a Russian jail. After an uncomfortable time in custody, a judge threw out the charges. Yay process. Also, she was in Aeon Flux. The core story is great. Our characters’ feudal life is violently disrupted by Chinese hegemony. India, Switzerland, and the United States take them in. Eventually, they visit their old home. They do not stay. I love the last few chapters, where Yangzom describes campaigning for Tibet’s autonomy. I also loved the various Triumph of Civilization bits. A letter from Switzerland, addressed with hope and vagueness, gets to a family not seen for decades. Switzerland gives a pension to an old Tibetan Buddhist nun that she uses to improve the lives of many. A civilization does something horrible, and then shows some measure of mercy. But much of the book was sufficed with an (admittedly understated) nostalgia for feudalism and a tolerance of misogyny that was like fingernails on a blackboard for me. The translation we read needed a hard edit. Good reading group book. less

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