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A review by krdegan
Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer
3.0
Interesting and inspiring book, made even more poignant by my trip to the mountains of Uzbekistan while I was reading it. I wrote that I still have to read the post-movie copy with the Afterward by Harrer (but of course I don't know what this means any more as I hardly even remember having read the book).
The quote below sounds patronizing now ("stage of evolution"), but I do often miss the pace of life in Uzbekistan and think that much would be lost if suddenly Uzbeks had to live their lives at the pace we do here in the US. I miss drinking tea for a half hour before getting to the point of a visit. I also miss a lifestyle in which having a guest in the home trumped all else. These things were frustrating when I had something that "had to get done." But in retrospect it's the times drinking tea or being treated like a royal guest that I remember...not the deadlines.
"I listened to the news the first thing every day and often found myself shaking my head and wondering at the things which men seemed to think important. Here it is the yak's pace which dictates the tempo of life, and so it has been for thousands of years. Would Tibet be happier for being transformed? A fine motor road to India would doubtless raise the people's standard of life very greatly, but by accelerating the tempo of existence it might rob the people of their peace and leisure. One should not force a people to introduce inventions which are far ahead of their stage of evolution. They have a nice saying here -- 'One cannot reach the fifth storey of the Potala without starting at the ground floor.'" p. 193
The quote below sounds patronizing now ("stage of evolution"), but I do often miss the pace of life in Uzbekistan and think that much would be lost if suddenly Uzbeks had to live their lives at the pace we do here in the US. I miss drinking tea for a half hour before getting to the point of a visit. I also miss a lifestyle in which having a guest in the home trumped all else. These things were frustrating when I had something that "had to get done." But in retrospect it's the times drinking tea or being treated like a royal guest that I remember...not the deadlines.
"I listened to the news the first thing every day and often found myself shaking my head and wondering at the things which men seemed to think important. Here it is the yak's pace which dictates the tempo of life, and so it has been for thousands of years. Would Tibet be happier for being transformed? A fine motor road to India would doubtless raise the people's standard of life very greatly, but by accelerating the tempo of existence it might rob the people of their peace and leisure. One should not force a people to introduce inventions which are far ahead of their stage of evolution. They have a nice saying here -- 'One cannot reach the fifth storey of the Potala without starting at the ground floor.'" p. 193