What do you think?
Rate this book
Tibet Is My Country: Autobiography of Thubten Jigme Norbu, Brother of the Dalai Lama as Told to Heinrich Harrer
The Dalai Lama's brother recalls the details of his life: his childhood, his recognition as a reincarnated lama, the story of his brother, and the exile of thousands of Tibetans from their homeland.
276 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 23, 2024
A deeply touching tale from Thubten Norbu, brother of the Dalai Lama, about his childhood and life up to the exile of the Tibetan Government.
I think the main theme I see in more mixed to negative reviews is a desire for more focus on both the Dalai Lama and/or the annexation of Tibet however I think both are not needed. The true purpose of the book as Norbu tells us is to capture his memory of Tibet and of life there. In this regard the book is invaluable in explaining the customs and culture of Tibet, as well as capturing the feel of a lost, much less developed world.
Most of the pages are spent detailing his training or experiences in different Monsatries as a monk, as well as going into great detail about many aspects lost to history. An example of the latter that stood out to me was the details given as to how travelling caravans actually functioned, back before cars, electricity, or even roads and bridges were wide spread. In this regard something is captured as a cultural memory, and while details of the annexation are given they do not overtake the narrative or are there for very long. (I'd say at most 10%.)
This appears to me intentional however because it is not how Norbu, nor his brother, or any Tibetan remember the country. Rather than focusing on its ultimate collapse which was a blip in its history compared to what came before he focuses on Tibet before any such troubles began. It is in this setting we are met with a truly peaceful and relaxing world, which only helps us understand the pain when he realises it's going to all be destroyed in his near future.
I think the main theme I see in more mixed to negative reviews is a desire for more focus on both the Dalai Lama and/or the annexation of Tibet however I think both are not needed. The true purpose of the book as Norbu tells us is to capture his memory of Tibet and of life there. In this regard the book is invaluable in explaining the customs and culture of Tibet, as well as capturing the feel of a lost, much less developed world.
Most of the pages are spent detailing his training or experiences in different Monsatries as a monk, as well as going into great detail about many aspects lost to history. An example of the latter that stood out to me was the details given as to how travelling caravans actually functioned, back before cars, electricity, or even roads and bridges were wide spread. In this regard something is captured as a cultural memory, and while details of the annexation are given they do not overtake the narrative or are there for very long. (I'd say at most 10%.)
This appears to me intentional however because it is not how Norbu, nor his brother, or any Tibetan remember the country. Rather than focusing on its ultimate collapse which was a blip in its history compared to what came before he focuses on Tibet before any such troubles began. It is in this setting we are met with a truly peaceful and relaxing world, which only helps us understand the pain when he realises it's going to all be destroyed in his near future.
April 8, 2026
every tibetan is imbued with a great veneration for life in all its forms
November 21, 2014
I was very disappointed in this book. I was hoping it would be as good as SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET by the same author. It was not , I can not beleiv3e it is by the same author. So very dry and just because the person being written about was the brother of the DALAI LAMA was not reason enough to think his life was interesting enough to have a bio . Something that NORBU did make me question was about how important MONEY seemed to be to him and his brother monks.
September 5, 2014
Interesting to learn about rural Tibet and how the Dalai Lama and other religious figures are chosen and fit into culture. Fascinating, really, but I got this nagging feeling that the seemingly arbitrary way that holy figures are chosen as kids kind of serves to keep people from feeling they have any control over their lives....
May 7, 2012
Excellent portrait of a disappearing world
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews