elstaffe’s Reviews > Lost in Tibet: The Untold Story Of Five American Airmen, A Doomed Plane, And The Will To Survive > Status Update

"Then, to the airmen's horror, they heard a growl that rapidly grew louder, like the roar of an approaching stampede, and looking up they were appalled to see an avalanche of rocks, snow, and ice tumbling toward them." (174) NO KIDDING

"It took more than give hours for them to fight their way down the 2,000 feet from the pass ... zigzagging their way to the bottom. And there, in a wild moment of exhilaration, McCallum pulled out his pistol and fired a shot into the air. There was a loud crack and an echoing response, followed by a moment of silence. " (173-174) well that seems like a bad plan

"A few miles on, the airmen stopped again to eat some rice and a little cold mutton, and then they continued to climb, passing beneath the snout of a glacier." (159) glacier snoot!

"Page 158. Nearby Samding monastery... The monastery was headed by the 'Thunderbolt Sow,' or Dorje Phagmo, the only female incarnation in Tibet." (209)

"Before long, they entered a barren land of yellow dunes, sculpted by the wind into smooth undulations." (153)

"And the Tibetan elite did love to party. They liked to dress up in fine clothes—in richly embroidered silks, finely shaped hats, sparkling jewelry, and brightly colored sashes and scarves—and then gather together for lunch, dinner, tea, a picnic, or a party." (136) seriously, authors. Why not just outright call them primitive and childlike (again) and be done with the veiled patronizing

"The Tibetans loved the movies, especially the comedies, which appealed to their childlike sense of humor. They also loved the backgrounds and settings, which appealed to their sense of wonder. They would stare open-mouthed at the city streets, at the buildings. At those skyscrapers! Those cars! Those trams! Trains! And that jitterbug!" (135) ooof the author tone when it comes to Tibetans is definitely...a choice

"As she later recalled of the journey, the Sherriffs' 'caravan was a mixed and fairly large one,' comprising four riding mules, forty-two pack mules, five porters, four servants, two guinea fowl, a couple of ducks called Tunis and Bizerta, two ponies named King Rabden and Gallingka, and a Labrador called Jill." (116)

"But Betty approached it with the British stoicism and unconscious eccentricity that allowed her to endure discomfort and hardship with the amused detachment of a well-to-do English lady traveling abroad." (116) unconscious eccentricity?

"...but now that the crowd knew for certain the Americans were still in the building, it kept up a steady bombardment of rocks, stones, and clods of earth that came thumping against the wall of the mission." (111) how are rocks and stones different, authors, pray tell