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The White Lama / Le Lama Blanc #5
Main Fermee, Main Ouverte
The White Lama - Open Hand, Closed Fist is the 5th book of the series. This mystical adventure chronicles the physical, spiritual, and emotional journey of Gabriel Marpa, the child of white explores who becomes the reincarnation of the Grand Lama of Tibet. He is the chosen one, who must be initiated in the sacred ways in order to confront a prophecy that tells of a long war against powerful invaders. Bess and Jodorowsky transform their hero's spiritual quest into a supernatural thriller, full of suspense and unbelievable adventures.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1992
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40 people want to read
About the author
Alejandro Jodorowsky
695 books1,948 followersAlso credited as Alexandro Jodorowsky
Better known for his surreal films El Topo and The Holy Mountain filmed in the early 1970s, Alejandro Jodorowsky is also an accomplished writer of graphic novels and a psychotherapist. He developed Psychomagic, a combination of psychotherapy and shamanic magic. His fans have included John Lennon and Marilyn Manson.
Better known for his surreal films El Topo and The Holy Mountain filmed in the early 1970s, Alejandro Jodorowsky is also an accomplished writer of graphic novels and a psychotherapist. He developed Psychomagic, a combination of psychotherapy and shamanic magic. His fans have included John Lennon and Marilyn Manson.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 22, 2022
The lama gives into his impulse for revenge. Spends many years in retreat meditating. Illusion, everything is but illusion. Yeti enlightenment. Very different way of looking at the world around one's self.
January 19, 2022
Drinking Hatred With Your Mother's Milk
From a scorpion of Fire to desolation in the snow, book 5 of the White Lama series deals more with inner movement than geographical changes. Gabriel comes into his own, but makes some hard choices, bad and good, about which voices he will heed in his new life. That is the one constant; the White Lama is human and makes bad choices sometimes. Like Gabriel's choices, this issue/volume was a winner and a loser.
The art finds itself in the great snowy outdoors of Tibet this time, as everything happens outside for the most part. Georges Bess, the illustrator, took this opportunity to capitalize on the great contrasts between the colorful characters and the black and white landscape. Where issue four's pages consisted of many golden yellow backgrounds, matching the cover colors; this volume five seemed to rely on the black and white theme. I found my emotions lifted into the air, on the open frames again. Bess has this way of moving back and forth between the primary busy frames filled with minute details, to open frames with minimalist open images that carry the landscape, or a bird on the clouds. The reader feels almost transported; lighter than air, by this technique. I've never noticed an illustrator use this to such advantage before this series.
The story gets bogged down a bit in the middle. Despite the fact that I had re-read volumes 1-3 before reading issue 4 and now 5, I found myself lost with a couple of plot details there on the mountain side. Were there loose threads, or did I just drop the thread? I am sure the last volume will make everything clear. Or will it? It seems questionable if there is enough time left to resolve everything in the one issue remaining. I find this issue the least satisfying of all. Wherever the author goes from here I have this nagging suspicion that he could have gone further if he had used this issue to greater impact. The effect of it is like going from the temptation of Christ (the Christ figure) to wandering in the Wilderness in the Christian Bible, all in this penultimate issue. What remains?
For more on this series, see my earlier reviews of Volumes 1 and 2 here: The First Step and Second Sight They contain more about the series as a whole.
From a scorpion of Fire to desolation in the snow, book 5 of the White Lama series deals more with inner movement than geographical changes. Gabriel comes into his own, but makes some hard choices, bad and good, about which voices he will heed in his new life. That is the one constant; the White Lama is human and makes bad choices sometimes. Like Gabriel's choices, this issue/volume was a winner and a loser.
The art finds itself in the great snowy outdoors of Tibet this time, as everything happens outside for the most part. Georges Bess, the illustrator, took this opportunity to capitalize on the great contrasts between the colorful characters and the black and white landscape. Where issue four's pages consisted of many golden yellow backgrounds, matching the cover colors; this volume five seemed to rely on the black and white theme. I found my emotions lifted into the air, on the open frames again. Bess has this way of moving back and forth between the primary busy frames filled with minute details, to open frames with minimalist open images that carry the landscape, or a bird on the clouds. The reader feels almost transported; lighter than air, by this technique. I've never noticed an illustrator use this to such advantage before this series.
The story gets bogged down a bit in the middle. Despite the fact that I had re-read volumes 1-3 before reading issue 4 and now 5, I found myself lost with a couple of plot details there on the mountain side. Were there loose threads, or did I just drop the thread? I am sure the last volume will make everything clear. Or will it? It seems questionable if there is enough time left to resolve everything in the one issue remaining. I find this issue the least satisfying of all. Wherever the author goes from here I have this nagging suspicion that he could have gone further if he had used this issue to greater impact. The effect of it is like going from the temptation of Christ (the Christ figure) to wandering in the Wilderness in the Christian Bible, all in this penultimate issue. What remains?
For more on this series, see my earlier reviews of Volumes 1 and 2 here: The First Step and Second Sight They contain more about the series as a whole.
January 26, 2017
Excellent art by George Bess, wandering disjointed pseudo-spiritual story by Jodorowsky.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews