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91st out of 762 books
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3,525 voters
Seven Years in Tibet
In this vivid memoir that has sold millions of copies worldwide, Heinrich Harrer recounts his adventures as one of the first Europeans ever to enter Tibet. Harrer was traveling in India when the Second World War erupted. He was subsequently seized and imprisoned by British authorities. After several attempts, he escaped and crossed the rugged, frozen Himalayas, surviving b...more
Paperback, 330 pages
Published
August 25th 1997
by Tarcher
(first published 1952)
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I bought my copy of this book from a thrift shop last 27 January 2010. Handwritten on its first inside page is the former owner's name followed by:
"23 Jan 1999
"Los Angeles
"California
"7:00 pm."
I suspect he (or she?) was a Tibetan. It's typical of these religious and superstitious people to ascribe meaning to every event, or to the time, place and date it happened. Even when it is just a book purchase.
The former owner's name seems to read : "Yee Yitathajisi" but I'm not sure, especially the small...more
"23 Jan 1999
"Los Angeles
"California
"7:00 pm."
I suspect he (or she?) was a Tibetan. It's typical of these religious and superstitious people to ascribe meaning to every event, or to the time, place and date it happened. Even when it is just a book purchase.
The former owner's name seems to read : "Yee Yitathajisi" but I'm not sure, especially the small...more
This is a wonderful book and significantly different that the movie with Brad Pitt. While Harrar and his fellow PoW escapee, Peter Aufscnaiter, were simply trying to be free from the British in India during WWII (although Harrar seemed more interested not in Tibet itself initially but just making his way across Tibet and through China to the Japanese lines since the Japanese were Germany's ally) they both seemed to quickly fall in love with the people and the land of Tibet.
While at times the bo...more
While at times the bo...more
I'll be the first to say the movie version is... well, awful. It sensationalized aspects of Harrer's life (although the part about leaving his pregnant wife turns out to be true and was interestingly omitted by Harrer from the book itself). The film also created a stupidly melodramatic fake love triangle and gave short shrift to just how riveting the journey to Lhasa must have been. Of course, this shouldn't be the surprise. "The book is better than the movie" is a common refrain. Once you get i...more
Aug 09, 2011
Ryan Milbrath
added it
I've avoided a lot of travel diaries and writing in my free time because I did a lot of this reading for my history at classes at the U of E.C. In fact, I've not always enjoyed the reading. Often times the author is very tedious in outlining his descriptions and experiences in travel. Other times, I really just could not connect with the author's experience. What I like about Herrer's work is his focus on keeping a succinct account of his seven years in Tibet. Seven years is a hell of a long tim...more
I felt so honored as to get a rare glimpse of life at the ceiling of the world. No foreigners had made it into the city of Lhasa before, with the exception of an englishman who had befriended the 13th Dalai Lama, but from what I understand there was not a diary kept or a book written. This is the account of Heinrich Harrers journey through Tibet through the Himalayas and his final destination of Lhasa. <>
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I read "Escape from the Land of the Snows" which takes place shortly after Har...more
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I read "Escape from the Land of the Snows" which takes place shortly after Har...more
I really enjoyed this book, I think anyone who likes reading Harrer or reading about Tibet would find the book a worthwhile read. It provides a good snapshot of all levels of Tibetan culture, and I found Harrer's eye-witness accounts of the Tibetan oracle at work fascinating, and in no way in disagreement with the accounts found in, The Way of the White Clouds by Lama Anagarika Govinda. This is my first Harrer book, and while the writing isn't extremely polished, I found it sincere, completely b...more
A friend recommended this to me as his favorite book, so I looked it up at my library. While I wouldn't go that far, it was a very good book.
Harrer was an Austrian-born mountain climber who was held in a British internment camp in India during WWII, along with his German colleagues. He escapes with both the hope of regaining his freedom and -- more enticingly --venturing from India to Tibet, and the forbidden city of Lhasa.
His descriptions are rather dry, so your imagination can't help but to f...more
Harrer was an Austrian-born mountain climber who was held in a British internment camp in India during WWII, along with his German colleagues. He escapes with both the hope of regaining his freedom and -- more enticingly --venturing from India to Tibet, and the forbidden city of Lhasa.
His descriptions are rather dry, so your imagination can't help but to f...more
Harrer, an Austrian, was a mountain climber/adventurer who the first person to climb the North Face/Wall of the Eiger Mountain in Switzerland in the 1930s. He was in India to climb mountains when he was imprisoned by the English merely because his native language was German. This book, originally published in 1953, is an adventure classic that recounts Heinrich Harrer's 1943 escape from a British internment camp in India, his daring trek across the Himalayas, and his happy sojourn in Tibet, then...more
The story told in this book is phenomenal, but I just could not get into Heinrich. For one thing, he (and his companions) were rude, culturally insensitive, and uncompromising as they made their way towards Lhasa. He then wrote many things about Tibet and Tibetans as fact when 1) it seems unlikely that he would be a Tibet scholar, when he spent most of his seven years living among the rich and privileged in Lhasa, 2) some of his words sometimes contradicted each other. Additionally, the bitter p...more
Jan 18, 2013
^
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Those with faith, those with none, and all with a spirit of adventure and survival.
Recommended to ^ by:
My mother.
This is a comparative review of “Seven Years In Tibet” by Heinrich Harrar, first published in 1953, (read second) AND “Out Of This World” by Lowell Thomas Jr. first published in 1950, (read first).
I repeat this review on my records for each of these books.
Harrar mentions, in just one brief paragraph in his book (pg. 223), of the August 1949 visit of the Lowell Thomas’ Sr. & Jr. to Lhasa. He firmly categorises them as other interesting visitors; and confesses to envying their photographic equ...more
I repeat this review on my records for each of these books.
Harrar mentions, in just one brief paragraph in his book (pg. 223), of the August 1949 visit of the Lowell Thomas’ Sr. & Jr. to Lhasa. He firmly categorises them as other interesting visitors; and confesses to envying their photographic equ...more
Sete Anos no Tibete relata-nos a viagem do alpinista austríaco Heinrich Harrer após a sua fuga de um campo de prisioneiros na índia, aquando do início da Segunda Guerra Mundial.
Esta curta frase é suficiente para consolidar a perceção de que este é de facto um relato único! Escrevendo de forma bastante directa e sumarizando ao máximo uma extraordinariamente diversa exposição de factos, Harrer deixou-nos um relatório com imenso valor e interesse histórico. Desde a alimentação, cerimónias, crenças,...more
Esta curta frase é suficiente para consolidar a perceção de que este é de facto um relato único! Escrevendo de forma bastante directa e sumarizando ao máximo uma extraordinariamente diversa exposição de factos, Harrer deixou-nos um relatório com imenso valor e interesse histórico. Desde a alimentação, cerimónias, crenças,...more
This book was not only a tale of adventure in escaping a British POW camp in India but also a collection of observations and musings on Tibetan culture. The author was a resourceful and hardy individual who carved a life for himself in an unknown world. He found himself a well-off man whose ingenuity brought him close to a young Dalai Lama.
The book protects a memory and snapshot of Tibet before it was engulfed by China. It was a nation that had it own citizens house shackled prisoners in lieu of...more
The book protects a memory and snapshot of Tibet before it was engulfed by China. It was a nation that had it own citizens house shackled prisoners in lieu of...more
A memoir by a dude who was (A) an Olympic skier and (B) a famous mountaineer, who became (C) a POW in India when WWII broke out and decided to become (D) a fugitive to hoof it into the mighty Himalayas where he started a career as (E) a starving wanderer in a land where you cannot possibly survive without human assistance. And that's just the beginning. He goes on to do and be many other amazing things throughout the course of his tale. This is the kind of life story that anybody would want, and...more
Jan 17, 2010
Bryan
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone who appreciates autobiographies from honest and unassuming authors
Shelves:
autobiography,
highly-recommend
Few books captivate a reader to the point where he cannot help but wonder at the normality of his own life when extraordinary events such as these can happen in the lives of people of the same planet. I find this to be one of those books.
The story of Heinrich Harrer's seven years in Tibet, eventually leading him to the feet and intimate friendship of The 14th Dalai Lama, is so out of the normal range of human experience that I must compare his experience with those of Puyi (Last Emperor of China...more
The story of Heinrich Harrer's seven years in Tibet, eventually leading him to the feet and intimate friendship of The 14th Dalai Lama, is so out of the normal range of human experience that I must compare his experience with those of Puyi (Last Emperor of China...more
The first 120 pages or so is perhaps the best adventure/expedition novel I have ever read. I fell in love with real places in what is now China, and found myself obsessively searching google for proof of their existence night after night. This portion of the book flew by in no time, and will forever remain in my mind as some of the most rewarding literature in it's class.
The remainder of the book was rewarding on a different level, but unlike the first part of the book, is not reading for any m...more
The remainder of the book was rewarding on a different level, but unlike the first part of the book, is not reading for any m...more
Seven Years In Tibet is both an adventure book and an eyewitness account of Tibet before the invasion of the People's Republic of China.
As an adventure story, I think this is a great book with a grand storyline. I greatly enjoyed reading about Harrer's escape from a POW camp in India, and about his long trek through Tibet, in which he had to overcome several obstacles such as the mountains, the weather, thieves, but more importantly...the unwillingness of Tibet's officials to accept foreigners....more
As an adventure story, I think this is a great book with a grand storyline. I greatly enjoyed reading about Harrer's escape from a POW camp in India, and about his long trek through Tibet, in which he had to overcome several obstacles such as the mountains, the weather, thieves, but more importantly...the unwillingness of Tibet's officials to accept foreigners....more
'Seven Years in Tibet' is not a travel memoir, so do not call it one. This novel suffers from one of the greatest plagues in literature. It's placed in a genre, in a much too generalized subject, that it isn't admired for what it is.
How I came across this book is a long story, but needless to say it was on a whim and without recommendation. The first I heard about the possible plot of this text was when I had the chance to read the synopsis after bringing it home from the library. I was intrigue...more
How I came across this book is a long story, but needless to say it was on a whim and without recommendation. The first I heard about the possible plot of this text was when I had the chance to read the synopsis after bringing it home from the library. I was intrigue...more
This account left me feeling conflicted.
On the one hand, Harrer's description of his own situations at times comes off perhaps a bit pompous & played up. This may be the case, or perhaps it is a cultural or generational disconnect. Some of it seems bordering on offensive (ie, his unapologetic perspective on servants, homosexuality, etc seem quite arcane although perhaps at the time they were progressive?)
At other times, however, he comes off as a fortunate sort of Forest Gump type. His grat...more
On the one hand, Harrer's description of his own situations at times comes off perhaps a bit pompous & played up. This may be the case, or perhaps it is a cultural or generational disconnect. Some of it seems bordering on offensive (ie, his unapologetic perspective on servants, homosexuality, etc seem quite arcane although perhaps at the time they were progressive?)
At other times, however, he comes off as a fortunate sort of Forest Gump type. His grat...more
Imprisoned in India by the British when World war Two was declared, Austrian climber and Olympic ski champion Heinrich Harrer escaped, with his friend Peter Aufschnaiter, crossing the Himalayas to Tibet. After a series of remarkable experiences in a country never crossed before by a Westerner, Harrer reached the forbidden city of Lhasa. He stayed there for seven years, learned the language and acquired a greater understanding of Tibet and the Tibetans than any Westerner had ever before achieved....more
I read this a long time ago, and remembered enjoying it. It was a pleasure to read again. Harrer did an excellent job of observing Tibetan life from 1944 to 1950 being careful to keep his own personal opinions/beliefs out of the way. By the time he was forced to leave because of the Chinese invasion, he was deeply attached to the people and the country. Though he didn't actually meet the Dalai Lama until late in his stay in Lhasa, Harrer and the young boy (he was just 15/16 years old) became fas...more
I'm really proud of myself for reading this book-I have read some things that I've felt were pretty amazing, some really great books, but I'm just really proud that I read this one. It's nonfiction, a man's book-filled with adventure and physical endurance. It was very well-written using simple and concise language. I got a little bored because they walked around Tibet-a LOT! I have to give them credit for their courage and respect, for what they did, what they survived, the obstacles that they...more
I finally finished this fricken book! It took me over 7 years to read Seven Years in Tibet. I started it a couple of times in college, then again after I moved to Denver and got into mountain climbing, and finally finished it yesterday. While at the library, I ran across the audio version and decided to give it another go.
This book reads like a diary, which can be good and bad. He explains everything in tedious detail. Every trail they took, every glacier they saw, every yak they bought. After...more
This book reads like a diary, which can be good and bad. He explains everything in tedious detail. Every trail they took, every glacier they saw, every yak they bought. After...more
the lull in the middle killed this book for me.
maybe i got spoiled while eating up the travails of getting from india to tibet - two years of wandering, poorer than nomads, across the himalayas - and the flight from the reds and the fall of lhasa. these are interesting, colorful, evolving scenes. but in the middle it gets bogged down with harrer's daily life, which is to be expected as he settled into 'life'; but he ceases, at that point, to make life interesting. he stops giving interesting in...more
maybe i got spoiled while eating up the travails of getting from india to tibet - two years of wandering, poorer than nomads, across the himalayas - and the flight from the reds and the fall of lhasa. these are interesting, colorful, evolving scenes. but in the middle it gets bogged down with harrer's daily life, which is to be expected as he settled into 'life'; but he ceases, at that point, to make life interesting. he stops giving interesting in...more
If you loved the movie, you should definitely read this book. Don't, however, expect it to be exactly like the movie.
I saw the movie several years ago, so maybe my recollections of it are slightly skewed. What I remember most is Harrer's relationship with the Dalai Lama. But in the book that plays a much smaller part. And that's ok -- the book is quite beautiful and engaging on its own.
Harrer's experience is so over the top that it's almost unbelievable! I am jealous of his opportunity in Tibet...more
I saw the movie several years ago, so maybe my recollections of it are slightly skewed. What I remember most is Harrer's relationship with the Dalai Lama. But in the book that plays a much smaller part. And that's ok -- the book is quite beautiful and engaging on its own.
Harrer's experience is so over the top that it's almost unbelievable! I am jealous of his opportunity in Tibet...more
For the first third of the book (the journey through the Himalayas before arriving in Tibet), I was interested, but not overly so. The writing style was pretty emotionless and stoic. It seemed like the author did little more than transcribe diary entries.
When they finally reached Tibet, though, the character of the book changed and I could sense a lot more wonder and excitement. Also, the explanations of the culture of Tibet were more prominent.
The book ends rather abruptly, but I suppose the s...more
When they finally reached Tibet, though, the character of the book changed and I could sense a lot more wonder and excitement. Also, the explanations of the culture of Tibet were more prominent.
The book ends rather abruptly, but I suppose the s...more
Heinrich Herrer steals into Tibet over the Himalayas after becoming bored and restless in an Indian Prisoner of War camp but instead of focusing on the suffering of his nearly-barefoot passage over the mountains in the winter, he instead focuses on fascinating descriptions of Tibet. Herrer was one of few European explorers not to come close to a developing country from an advanced position when he arrived in Lhasa, he had nothing but the clothes he wore, and his firsthand knowledge of the Tibeta...more
This is a woderful account of Heinrich Harrer's long journey as a exile in Tibet. Although it is written from the point of a mountaineer I think that any one will enjoy the story. And best of all it is true.
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This book deserves two different star ratings as it holds two completely different stories. That is the way I look at it anyway. Heinrich Harrer was a mountain climber who fled into Tibet when German's were being rounded up during the war. His journey, along with a friend, through the wastelands of Tibet was amazing. It was told in a way that you really felt for them and their trials and tribulations. Once they reach the city I lost interest. It goes on and on about how they had to make sure not...more
I just saw the movie on TV, so I wanted to read the book. This is about an Austrian mountain climber who gets captured and sent to a POW camp by the Germans. After several times trying to escape, he finally does escape, and this talks about their trying to elude the Germans, to not going back into the POW camps. He ends up in Lhasa with several other Europeans, and they eventually ingratiate themselves and become tudors, and help build a water system. He eventually meets the Dalai Lama, at age...more
There is so much missing from this book and so many unanswered questions, that this is a case were the reader should view the film in order to fill in the missing gaps. (And there are many.) While Harrer paints a vivid portrait of life in Tibet in the 1940's with all of its Buddhist pomp and ceremony, his own inner landscape is noticeably bleak and vacant. The reader may, in fact, unintentionally sympathize more with his Austrian climbing buddy, Peter Aufschnaiter, who at least makes a human con...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| World Travel thro...: * November 2012: Seven Years in Tibet | 2 | 7 | Nov 06, 2012 12:02am |
Heinrich Harrer (6 de Julho de 1912 – 7 de Janeiro de 2006) foi um montanhista, investigador, geógrafo e escritor austríaco.
Heinrich Harrer nasceu em Hüttenberg na região de Caríntia. Entre 1933 e 1938 Harrer estudou geografia e desporto na Universidade Karl-Franzens em Graz.
Harrer fez parte da primeira equipe que escalou a face norte do Eiger na Suíça, junto com Anderl Heckmair, Fritz Kasparek e...more
More about Heinrich Harrer...
Heinrich Harrer nasceu em Hüttenberg na região de Caríntia. Entre 1933 e 1938 Harrer estudou geografia e desporto na Universidade Karl-Franzens em Graz.
Harrer fez parte da primeira equipe que escalou a face norte do Eiger na Suíça, junto com Anderl Heckmair, Fritz Kasparek e...more
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“We have a saying in Tibet: If a problem can be solved there is no use worrying about it. If it can't be solved, worrying will do no good.”
—
7 people liked it
“In the time between the two wars, a British colonial officer said that with the invention of the airplane the world has no secrets left. However, he said, there is one last mystery. There is a large country on the Roof of the World, where strange things happen. There are monks who have the ability to separate mind from body, shamans and oracles who make government decisions, and a God-King who lives in a skyscraper-like palace in the Forbidden City of Llhasa.”
—
7 people liked it
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Nov 10, 2010 05:11am
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Aug 20, 2012 12:26pm