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The Rose of Tibet
'I hadn't realised how much I had missed the genuine adventure story until I read The Rose of Tibet.' Graham GreeneA filmmaker is reported dead near Mount Everest. His brother, Charles Houston, is convinced he's alive and is determined to find him. It's a dangerous expedition. He travels from India to the forbidden land of Tibet. In the Yamdring monastery, he discovers an emerald treasure guarded by a woman with a deadly secret. But the Chinese army is coming.'Thrilling ... a perilous journey across Tibet in search of [a] missing brother.' Jake Kerridge, Telegraph
369 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
56 people are currently reading
964 people want to read
About the author
Lionel Davidson
45 books88 followersAka David Line
Lionel Davidson was a three-times winner of the Gold Dagger Award (for The Night of Wenceslas, A Long Way to Shilo and The Chelsea Murders). His thrillers and adventure novels have won him enormous international acclaim. He also wrote children's books under the name of David Line.
See also Obituary at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obitu...
[this reference added 12-Aug-2013].
Lionel Davidson was a three-times winner of the Gold Dagger Award (for The Night of Wenceslas, A Long Way to Shilo and The Chelsea Murders). His thrillers and adventure novels have won him enormous international acclaim. He also wrote children's books under the name of David Line.
See also Obituary at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obitu...
[this reference added 12-Aug-2013].
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 141 reviews
January 22, 2015
Several chapters in, feeling as though I’d stumbled into either or both of a H. Rider Haggard novel, or “Lost Horizon”, and looking for the film which really ought to have been made (starring Harrison Ford), I felt that I simply MUST find out something more about the author, of “The Rose of Tibet”, Lionel Davidson. On reading http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obitu... my jaw dropped open. What praise indeed from Graham Greene, Daphne du Maurier, Philip Purser, and Frederick Forsyth. What had since happened to this man whose work had been likened to John le Carré and Eric Ambler?
Do not omit to read the Preface of “The Rose of Tibet” Much valuable information is contained there; for the text of this book is anything but a quiet and sedate read.
Davidson cleverly and almost seamlessly sets the principle scenes of his fictional tale within the the mid-C20th history of Tibet. He then proceeds to blur the boundaries between fact and fiction by incorporating some of the real life characters of the time: the Dalai Lama, Heinrich Harrar, Peter Aufschnaiter, Arthur Hopkinson, his publisher, and others.
Whilst writing by reference to a collection of old Indian Ordnance Survey maps, Davidson makes no serious attempt to similarly mirror the topology of the factual Tibet. Rather refreshingly, I don’t think Lhasa was mentioned more than thrice.
Davidson pens such squealingly appealing tongue-in-cheek lines as “The proclivities of the holy women of Yamdring had come, certainly, as a great surprise to him. He didn’t think they would surprise the astrological correspondent of the ‘Hindustan Standard’ ”. Davidson kept this reader constantly on tenterhooks, looking to find out as to whether this book would turn out to be a complete ‘Ripping Yarns’ of an adventure; or something considerably greater?
Only on reading of a thousand priestesses, (remember, the real Tibet was, and is, very much a man’s world) did I wince slightly, before turning to speculate as to whether or not Ian Fleming might have borrowed more than a few ideas from Davidson! There again, looking at “The Rose of Tibet” from a different viewpoint, I thought it open to parody; but if that was subsequently done, I can think of no example.
Where Davidson really surprised me was by his ruthlessly subtle injection of superbly observed sharp humour into the story of high adventure in a strange land that he tells here so rivetingly well. The sixty-seven year old Governor of Hodzo (Ch.8) with his air cushion, is just one such picture of delight. The hero of this novel, Charles Houston (swiftly, in my mind, Harrison Ford c. 1981), is likewise probed, and found to be human “he saw that to survive he would have to exercise the combined talents of a Scheherazade and a demon lover, and he was not feeling up to it”(p.165).
There is so much that I dare not write here for fear of spoiling surprises within so very many perfectly believable yet unexpected twists and turns of the exhilaratingly adventurous plot. The final extraordinary escape through and out of Tibet, and the encounter with a bear, will forever rest in my mind as amongst the most vivid, precise, and exciting descriptive prose I have yet read. Right to the very last line, this book doesn’t let go of its reader. Why Lionel Davidson is not better known, and his books more widely read today, I simply cannot conjecture.
Do not omit to read the Preface of “The Rose of Tibet” Much valuable information is contained there; for the text of this book is anything but a quiet and sedate read.
Davidson cleverly and almost seamlessly sets the principle scenes of his fictional tale within the the mid-C20th history of Tibet. He then proceeds to blur the boundaries between fact and fiction by incorporating some of the real life characters of the time: the Dalai Lama, Heinrich Harrar, Peter Aufschnaiter, Arthur Hopkinson, his publisher, and others.
Whilst writing by reference to a collection of old Indian Ordnance Survey maps, Davidson makes no serious attempt to similarly mirror the topology of the factual Tibet. Rather refreshingly, I don’t think Lhasa was mentioned more than thrice.
Davidson pens such squealingly appealing tongue-in-cheek lines as “The proclivities of the holy women of Yamdring had come, certainly, as a great surprise to him. He didn’t think they would surprise the astrological correspondent of the ‘Hindustan Standard’ ”. Davidson kept this reader constantly on tenterhooks, looking to find out as to whether this book would turn out to be a complete ‘Ripping Yarns’ of an adventure; or something considerably greater?
Only on reading of a thousand priestesses, (remember, the real Tibet was, and is, very much a man’s world) did I wince slightly, before turning to speculate as to whether or not Ian Fleming might have borrowed more than a few ideas from Davidson! There again, looking at “The Rose of Tibet” from a different viewpoint, I thought it open to parody; but if that was subsequently done, I can think of no example.
Where Davidson really surprised me was by his ruthlessly subtle injection of superbly observed sharp humour into the story of high adventure in a strange land that he tells here so rivetingly well. The sixty-seven year old Governor of Hodzo (Ch.8) with his air cushion, is just one such picture of delight. The hero of this novel, Charles Houston (swiftly, in my mind, Harrison Ford c. 1981), is likewise probed, and found to be human “he saw that to survive he would have to exercise the combined talents of a Scheherazade and a demon lover, and he was not feeling up to it”(p.165).
There is so much that I dare not write here for fear of spoiling surprises within so very many perfectly believable yet unexpected twists and turns of the exhilaratingly adventurous plot. The final extraordinary escape through and out of Tibet, and the encounter with a bear, will forever rest in my mind as amongst the most vivid, precise, and exciting descriptive prose I have yet read. Right to the very last line, this book doesn’t let go of its reader. Why Lionel Davidson is not better known, and his books more widely read today, I simply cannot conjecture.
May 24, 2020
Appearing to blend fact and fiction, the author visits an elderly man to gently tell him that the publisher is rejecting his Latin primer for which he has labored diligently for years. Instead Lionel Davidson walks off with a series of exercise books of a tale as told to Mr. Oliphant by his friend, Charles Houston. In January 1950, Charles left England for India and returned in June 1951 sick and injured. Devastated to learn that his brother died in an avalanche in Tibet, Charles journeys to India to obtain proof of his brother’s and fellow companions’ deaths. After spending weeks in India with bureaucratic delays, Charles discovers that his brother may still be alive at a monastery in Tibet. In mid-April 1950, Charles sneaks into Tibet with a local teenaged guide, Sherpa Ringling, and an outdated map. Their trek to the monastery fighting the elements are realistically portrayed with howling winds, hunger, thirst, fatigue, altitude sickness, blizzards, and the bone chilling cold through the stark mountains, frozen tundra, and barren land. Almost a month later, Charles and Ringling arrive in Yamdring for the Spring Festival of the Monkey. This is a time of mysticisms and prophecies. The seven golden roofs of the monastery is the home of the Abbess, the she-devil, or the 18th body of the Good Mother. This journey will challenge Charles’ beliefs and views when he discovers the vile and beautiful customs and rituals of the monastery. Unbelievable and difficult events befall him. Full of hope, frustration, and perseverance, Charles encounters hardship, reverence, violence, murder, traditions, and love. An enjoyable read of a forgotten storyteller. Note: The book has some typos as sometimes 1960 and 1961 dates are used instead.
April 17, 2013
I cannot agree that this is a man's book. I have read and re-read it constantly since it was first published and it never fails to capture my interest. In fact I would rate it as my favourite book. But... you must read the very long introduction! This is something people sometimes skip but it's essential with this book otherwise the reader will never follow the plot satisfactorily. I have tried two or three of Lionel Davidson's other book but they have never gripped me as this does.
April 17, 2021
Had never heard of either this book or author, so big thanks to my GR friend (and fellow Tibetophile) Sophie Schiller!
Surprisingly, this book is in many ways similar to Jack Higgins' Year of the Tiger* - a lone Westerner and his guide head into Tibet to rescue other imprisoned Westerners, and then race back to India across frozen mountains just steps ahead of the invading Chinese. The main difference is that Tiger generally, um, sucked; while this story is outright fantastic - proving yet again that plot aside, it is still true that voice and style and overall skill carries the day. So...that should be a big win for literary values, right? Except that it's Higgins that is the household name, while almost no one has ever heard of Davidson....and so I'm frankly unsure of the lesson here.
But I digress. The Rose of Tibet is a delightfully-told tale that swings between slight whimsy (as basically any story set in Tibet must) and hard-core horror (as also must basically any story that includes a winter crossing of the Himalaya and/or a race against 1950's Communist Chinese forces). It's also told through a unique device - beginning, middle and end chapters show that this is a found memoir that a fictionalized (?) "Lionel Davidson" is working to authenticate and publish - which landed the book on my "unconventional style" list and almost earned it 5 stars, but ultimately fell half a point short based on my own opinion that the ending (in London's publishing houses, not the mountains) could have been a little more definitive.
This is still not the grand Tom Clancy-like story I've been looking for as far as a fictionalized account of Western involvement in the whole China/Tibet war of the late 50s-ealy 70s - sword-wielding Khampa cavalry charging Chinese armored divisions; CIA airdrops of US-trained guerillas and the ultimate betrayal of the Tibetan cause by President Nixon as part of his outreach to Beijing. But until I find that book - and I'll keep looking - this is the next best thing: a rollicking (I don't think I've ever used that word before) Indiana Jones-type debacle featuring a fortune in emeralds, a beautiful and exotic princess, and a horde of evil Nazis...er, Commies.
* Yeah, I know GR says Year of the Tiger was written by "Martin Fallon," but that was just one of the multiple pseudonyms Higgins wrote under. In fact, he isn't even really Jack Higgins - that too is a "nom de plume" (thank you, high school French); his real name is Henry Patterson.
Surprisingly, this book is in many ways similar to Jack Higgins' Year of the Tiger* - a lone Westerner and his guide head into Tibet to rescue other imprisoned Westerners, and then race back to India across frozen mountains just steps ahead of the invading Chinese. The main difference is that Tiger generally, um, sucked; while this story is outright fantastic - proving yet again that plot aside, it is still true that voice and style and overall skill carries the day. So...that should be a big win for literary values, right? Except that it's Higgins that is the household name, while almost no one has ever heard of Davidson....and so I'm frankly unsure of the lesson here.
But I digress. The Rose of Tibet is a delightfully-told tale that swings between slight whimsy (as basically any story set in Tibet must) and hard-core horror (as also must basically any story that includes a winter crossing of the Himalaya and/or a race against 1950's Communist Chinese forces). It's also told through a unique device - beginning, middle and end chapters show that this is a found memoir that a fictionalized (?) "Lionel Davidson" is working to authenticate and publish - which landed the book on my "unconventional style" list and almost earned it 5 stars, but ultimately fell half a point short based on my own opinion that the ending (in London's publishing houses, not the mountains) could have been a little more definitive.
This is still not the grand Tom Clancy-like story I've been looking for as far as a fictionalized account of Western involvement in the whole China/Tibet war of the late 50s-ealy 70s - sword-wielding Khampa cavalry charging Chinese armored divisions; CIA airdrops of US-trained guerillas and the ultimate betrayal of the Tibetan cause by President Nixon as part of his outreach to Beijing. But until I find that book - and I'll keep looking - this is the next best thing: a rollicking (I don't think I've ever used that word before) Indiana Jones-type debacle featuring a fortune in emeralds, a beautiful and exotic princess, and a horde of evil Nazis...er, Commies.
* Yeah, I know GR says Year of the Tiger was written by "Martin Fallon," but that was just one of the multiple pseudonyms Higgins wrote under. In fact, he isn't even really Jack Higgins - that too is a "nom de plume" (thank you, high school French); his real name is Henry Patterson.
March 25, 2012
My wife has an eccletic habit of picking up books past and present. She was right to pick up this one. This classic from 1962 by Lionel Davidson is as compelling today as it was 50 years ago. This is a story of adventure, intrigue and mystery that transports the reader into another world, the traditional Tibet of the Dalai Lama as it stands on the precipice of communist China's takeover. The protoganist stumbles into this world with minimal planning or forethought and we discover it as he does, in all its complexity and fascination. An excellent read.
March 28, 2019
Tutto sommato la trama è ok, ma quello che non mi ha convinto sono state in primis le aspettative non soddisfatte, e poi anche lo stile: i dialoghi sono incredibilmente lapidari e monotoni (al millesimo "vecchio mio" avrei voluto bruciare il libro), la maniera di raccontare è molto scialba, ma soprattutto non è affatto il romanzo che prometteva la quarta di copertina. È un mix fra romanzo di avventura e un thriller vecchia scuola, con inseguimenti e cose di questo genere, ma dalla sinossi pareva un incrocio fra paranormal fiction e qualcosa di più misterioso, boh. Inoltre durante tutta la lettura ho sentito molto la distanza temporale fra oggi e l'epoca in cui è stato scritto. Non conoscevo la data di pubblicazione ma ho capito subito che non era una lettura contemporanea, la narrazione mi è sembrata subito parecchio "vecchia" e oltrepassata.
Morale: 2*.
Morale: 2*.
September 20, 2017
There are two things that struck me about Lionel Davidson. One, he has a legion of famous authors who love him and write eye catchingly fond blurbs for him. In short if Graham Greene gushes I read, Stephen king not so much partially because I am a snob but also I like authors who are miserly in their praise, do not nurture young talent, and don't open their mail.
To the book which induced such august happiness. It's a pure escapist cracking yarn. Man seeks brother in Tibet shortly before the Chinese invade. It's great, it's funny and thoroughly immature.
To the book which induced such august happiness. It's a pure escapist cracking yarn. Man seeks brother in Tibet shortly before the Chinese invade. It's great, it's funny and thoroughly immature.
March 16, 2016
Charles Houston is not a particularly appealing hero. He is an art teacher in a London school when his brother disappears with a few others after a landslide in Tibet when he is working on a film assignment. Charles sets off to find him. After some time, he realises that he is never going to get to Tibet by legitimate means. The Tibetans are worried about some dangerous prophecies and the Chinese army is threatening to invade. He employs a boy to help him sneak across the mountains and get to the monastery of Yamdring, where the abbess is never seen without her mask, and who is known to weep tears of emeralds. Eventually he returns, terribly wounded, but with quantities of emeralds, and this is the story of his adventures along the way. The story is related by a publisher, who has been given some notebooks by a friend of Houston's who spoke to him after his return. I found the story slightly unsatisfactory, as there are large gaps in what you want to know. His brother barely appears, aside from inducing him to go the Tibet in the first place, and what happened after Charles returned?
May 15, 2013
Lionel Davidson is (was ?) a brilliant writer, I have also read his Kolymsky Heights and A Long road to Shiloh. The Rose of Tibet is of the same quality.
This story is about an Englishman that ventures on a whim into Tibet and barely makes it back. The book has a very strong story with a lot of very interesting facts about Tibet. The harrowing journey back is gripping, with very well described scenes of survival in the harsh winter. I really recommend it.
This story is about an Englishman that ventures on a whim into Tibet and barely makes it back. The book has a very strong story with a lot of very interesting facts about Tibet. The harrowing journey back is gripping, with very well described scenes of survival in the harsh winter. I really recommend it.
November 28, 2015
Brilliant - one of my favorite adventure stories of all time.
February 21, 2011
Enjoyable thriller set in Tibet, hard to put down as I wanted to know how it would all end.
Read
April 28, 2024DNF wherever I DNFed. Not sorry to this book, I will say it was an entertaining adventure story so might pick it up again if I ever find it (I moved and now idk where it is) but tbf the racism and misogyny are uh the prototypical kind. You could say this book was of its era but I have also read a book this author wrote in the 90s and that was not magically better!
I would say interesting to read as a historical document, and the adventure stuff was pretty good, but definitely don’t drop everything and read this.
I would say interesting to read as a historical document, and the adventure stuff was pretty good, but definitely don’t drop everything and read this.
November 16, 2020
An adventure novel set during the Chinese invasion of Tibet, The Rose of Tibet has the feel of the 1930s or even 1920s to it. In fact, it resembles the work of another adventure writer who set his stories in India and the Himalayas, Talbot Mundy, albeit stripped of the, sometimes, excessive mysticism you find in a Mundy novel. Davidson's novel stands on its own as a masterpiece of storytelling and formal expression. Shifting locations, times, and even perspectives give it a modernist flavor. As an overall work, it's immensely satisfying. Rarely do you read something where you want to immediately start over and reread it again. Yet that is the precise feeling this book creates. Superb.
February 4, 2016
A great adventure story, think early Bond crossed with the Zenda novels. There is some dodgy period racial and sexual stuff but actually far less to offend contemporary sensibilities than you get in the Bond stories.
February 24, 2018
A man in search of his brother, lost in Tibet in the tense days before the Chinese arrive to take control. Jewels, goddeses, mountain passes, intrepid exporers...and twists galore.
A fun read. Recommended for adventure fans.
A fun read. Recommended for adventure fans.
October 24, 2010
Nicely paced story set in the Himalyas.
July 23, 2023
I gave up on page 227. I just couldn't bring myself to care. The story starts to get very superficial, in a weird way. They flee and the Chinese are chasing them and and and... I don't care.
There are characters, but the book takes a very aloof and distant view of things. Occasionally there's some interesting events and scenery. Intrigues. Plots. Secrets. But after a while it just seems dated and off somehow.
I picked up this book at a book bazaar sale for a school. My copy is a library discard.
Cannot recommend this book.
There are characters, but the book takes a very aloof and distant view of things. Occasionally there's some interesting events and scenery. Intrigues. Plots. Secrets. But after a while it just seems dated and off somehow.
I picked up this book at a book bazaar sale for a school. My copy is a library discard.
Cannot recommend this book.
December 11, 2024
I am bias as this story takes places in places I love (Darjeeling, Sikkim). Nevertheless, this book is amazing. It has all the good elements of a book, you will find that you cant stop reading it. Also, if you were thinking doing a trekking into the Himalayas, this book might be for you.
May 17, 2025
Such a good book! Was going to be a 5 until I realised it’s not actually a true story :(. But still very gripping and super interesting insight into Tibet. I would recommend this book to anyone and loved reading it.
July 20, 2021
I'm in two minds about this one! I loved it and not-so-loved it. The Tibet that we see through this book is so enigmatic it took my breath away. I was totally immersed in the terrain, the monasteries, the mountains. I want to go there :-)
The construction of the story is interesting. However, somewhere in the middle, the reader is snatched from the 'main' story - the one unfolding in Tibet and brought back to England. This is so abrupt, so sudden, I wanted to scream.
There are parts of the book where it slows down to the point of getting boring. I'm not usually one to speed read. I savour the word and practically read every word, skipping nothing and yet I found myself skimming through to move ahead to where stuff happened again.
My biggest grouse, I suppose, is that I couldn't get invested in any of the characters. Which is a shame, really. This is perhaps due to the style - it's written more as a narration which makes the characters remote and unreal.
But everything said and done, I did want to complete the book (even though there is no 'mystery' in the plot. The plot is intricate, the wealth of local information makes it even more so.
This was the first book I read by Lionel Davidson and I am going to be reading more of his books.
The construction of the story is interesting. However, somewhere in the middle, the reader is snatched from the 'main' story - the one unfolding in Tibet and brought back to England. This is so abrupt, so sudden, I wanted to scream.
There are parts of the book where it slows down to the point of getting boring. I'm not usually one to speed read. I savour the word and practically read every word, skipping nothing and yet I found myself skimming through to move ahead to where stuff happened again.
My biggest grouse, I suppose, is that I couldn't get invested in any of the characters. Which is a shame, really. This is perhaps due to the style - it's written more as a narration which makes the characters remote and unreal.
But everything said and done, I did want to complete the book (even though there is no 'mystery' in the plot. The plot is intricate, the wealth of local information makes it even more so.
This was the first book I read by Lionel Davidson and I am going to be reading more of his books.
November 17, 2012
This was in someone's 10 favorite books to take to a desert island. I'm not sure whose list, but it had to be a man, I'm sure because this is a man's book. The story takes place in the
early 1950's when the Chinese communists were
overtaking Tibet. I thought it would be full of history, mystery and intrigue. It did have small doses of each, but mainly it was an action novel. Similar to today's action movies where something dreadful happens in almost every scene, this book had unending hardships. beatings,fights, and killings.
Houston, the hero, sneaks into Tibet to find
his brother who disappeared along with some other members of a film crew. After his excruciating crossing of the mountains into Tibet, he finds a monestery whre his brother is rumored to be imprisoned. He becomes friendly and intimate with the lovely young
abbess and as the Chinese advance toward the
monestery, Houston, his brother and the other film crew members along with the abbess and a few other women escape. Houston's trip into Tibet was a real picnic compared to the return trip.
early 1950's when the Chinese communists were
overtaking Tibet. I thought it would be full of history, mystery and intrigue. It did have small doses of each, but mainly it was an action novel. Similar to today's action movies where something dreadful happens in almost every scene, this book had unending hardships. beatings,fights, and killings.
Houston, the hero, sneaks into Tibet to find
his brother who disappeared along with some other members of a film crew. After his excruciating crossing of the mountains into Tibet, he finds a monestery whre his brother is rumored to be imprisoned. He becomes friendly and intimate with the lovely young
abbess and as the Chinese advance toward the
monestery, Houston, his brother and the other film crew members along with the abbess and a few other women escape. Houston's trip into Tibet was a real picnic compared to the return trip.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 24, 2015
Graham Greene said, "I hadn’t realised how much I had missed the genuine adventure story."
Daphne du Maurier said, "It has all the excitement of King Solomon's Mines."
No argument from me. That's exactly what it is, a cracking good adventure story. Davidson one-ups Haggard by evoking a sense of the fantastic without having to resort to fantasy/SF explanations, and he gives the old model of the adventure story a new spin by having it revealed via a framing narrative (with its own, much more low-key suspense elements) in which the main plot appears as the literary equivalent of found footage.
I'll read more Davidson, no doubt, but don't feel any urgent rush to do so. It's the kind of book that keeps you turning pages but is largely forgotten as soon as you finish. Entertainment has its place, of course, but I prefer the kind of adventure story or thriller that we're served by Ambler or Hitchcock, where you're going on a journey into a character's heart of darkness as well as being gripped by an exciting story.
Daphne du Maurier said, "It has all the excitement of King Solomon's Mines."
No argument from me. That's exactly what it is, a cracking good adventure story. Davidson one-ups Haggard by evoking a sense of the fantastic without having to resort to fantasy/SF explanations, and he gives the old model of the adventure story a new spin by having it revealed via a framing narrative (with its own, much more low-key suspense elements) in which the main plot appears as the literary equivalent of found footage.
I'll read more Davidson, no doubt, but don't feel any urgent rush to do so. It's the kind of book that keeps you turning pages but is largely forgotten as soon as you finish. Entertainment has its place, of course, but I prefer the kind of adventure story or thriller that we're served by Ambler or Hitchcock, where you're going on a journey into a character's heart of darkness as well as being gripped by an exciting story.
August 21, 2019
If you take Leon Uris and H. Rider Haggard and had them write a story, this would be that story. The Rose of Tibet is a compulsively readable thriller about a young man's journey into the heart of the Forbidden Kingdom during the 1950 Chinese invasion. Charles Houston is a young man whose life is going nowhere. When his brother disappears while in Tibet, he takes upon himself the impossible mission of finding him and getting him out alive. Along the way he becomes the willing consort of a young priestess, the "Rose of Tibet" (a girl who is the reincarnation of ancient priestesses of Buddhism) who falls in love with Charles, thus intermingling their two destinies into one. This book is aching for a screenplay. The story is at its heart an allegory against the nihilism, cynicism, and moral corruption so inherent in society today (as symbolized by the invading Chinese Army). Everyone must go on his own spiritual journey to find his own "Rose of Tibet."
April 10, 2017
There's been renewed interest recently in Davidson's work because he writes well and plots well. The Rose of Tibet is a story of a story in a story, and thus framed gives it an elusive, intangible quality much like a Cornell box picture. Charles Houston travels to forbidden Tibet just as communist China prepares to invade. He is looking for his much loved half-brother, and encounters many adventures and hardships along the way. The shadow of Kipling and Rider Haggard fall across the story and, while wonderfully written with some lovely images and phrasing not usually associated with adventure stories, for me the the characters never really formed beyond cut-outs, and the narrative didn't quite gel as it rolled down the valleys and squeezed through the passes of the Himalayas.
March 17, 2016
This could be a YA novel in that it reads like a 'boys-own' adventure story for a large part. Beware though for any under 16s that there is a very unpleasant rape scene midway through.
Strong fiction about mountains and adventure is rare. Probably because reading the actual stories is usually more exciting, particularly set in those halcyon days of exploration, late 1800s and early 1900s, and great first ascents, the battle with Everest for example. Davidson writes well though, and there is certainly a thriller tag to much of the book, as the hero Houston braves his way through the Himlaya. Also though, he provides a great picture of Tibet just after the second war, and the persecution of its people by the Chinese.
Strong fiction about mountains and adventure is rare. Probably because reading the actual stories is usually more exciting, particularly set in those halcyon days of exploration, late 1800s and early 1900s, and great first ascents, the battle with Everest for example. Davidson writes well though, and there is certainly a thriller tag to much of the book, as the hero Houston braves his way through the Himlaya. Also though, he provides a great picture of Tibet just after the second war, and the persecution of its people by the Chinese.
February 17, 2016
Love stories can either end happily ever after or they can end with the death of the lovers or the love itself. The former is known as a comedy, or a rom com. The latter, a tragedy, like Romeo and Juliet. The same can be said of adventure stories; they can be either comic or tragic. This book is both an adventure and a love story, and one of them is a tragedy while the other is a comedy. I'll leave you to figure out which is which. Or better yet, read the book. Though it first came out 50 years ago, in its gruesomeness and thrilling descriptions of all manner of violence, sickness, and death it feels quite modern. Highly recommended for a rainy weekend or beach read.
August 23, 2018
Davidson has been called the master thriller writer you've never heard of.
He wrote at least two books in the thriller genre, 'Kolymski Heights,' and 'The Rose of Tibet,' - both are terrific reads.
I was so involved in the story that I started waking early to read more--usually after reading late into the night.
Be warned if you choose to read it yourself. There is a slow beginning involving a publishing company before the story gets going. It's as if Davidson is clearing his throat. Persevere. It's worth it and important for the final scenes in the novel.
4 stars but almost 5.
He wrote at least two books in the thriller genre, 'Kolymski Heights,' and 'The Rose of Tibet,' - both are terrific reads.
I was so involved in the story that I started waking early to read more--usually after reading late into the night.
Be warned if you choose to read it yourself. There is a slow beginning involving a publishing company before the story gets going. It's as if Davidson is clearing his throat. Persevere. It's worth it and important for the final scenes in the novel.
4 stars but almost 5.
December 6, 2024
3.5 rounded up. This was my deceased husband’s favorite book. I wish I could say I loved it. It is a fascinating story, full of action, mystery, adventure and even romance.
In my opinion, this is one of the rare books where a movie could actually be better. In fact, I have never read another book that is more perfect movie material. I spent a lot of time trying to envision the challenging environment and the characters. It is so different than anything I’ve experienced that it wasn’t easy to do.
In my opinion, this is one of the rare books where a movie could actually be better. In fact, I have never read another book that is more perfect movie material. I spent a lot of time trying to envision the challenging environment and the characters. It is so different than anything I’ve experienced that it wasn’t easy to do.
February 9, 2016
Once it gets into the story proper, the Tibetan adventure, it rattles along nicely, however the initial framing, set-up of the tale is rather clunking. There is precious little in the way of character or character development. I also got the impression that the tale within the tale device was used as a get-out clause for an unsatisfactory denouement.
If you like your H Rider Haggard this may be right up your Tibetan alley.
If you like your H Rider Haggard this may be right up your Tibetan alley.
March 28, 2016
Great novel - Davidson is brilliant. The story captures the tension and sense of impending ethnocide that accompanied the Chinese destruction of Tibet, its civilisation and its ancient culture.
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