This edition contains a 40-plus page Introduction that would be of interest to Mundy scholars but I found eye-glazing in its detail about Mundy's other works, his philosophy and his (many) romantic liaisons and marriages. I skimmed past most of it.
The story itself tends to be confusing and although the writing is pleasant, the journey to Tibet is a torturous one for the reader. So much extraneous dialogue bogs down this supposed tale of adventure. The cast of characters, many of whom have their own secret agenda, sometimes helping, sometimes hindering American agent Tom in his efforts to reach Tibet (and most of the time I wondered what his actual motivation for going there was. It seems Tibet is crucial to the designs for world domination by the Japanese, Russians, Chinese, British and Americans in the 1930's.) It takes almost half the book to even get close to Tibet and although once that happens the description of the territory piques interest as does the description of the travails crossing high mountain peaks. The ending (as Tom reaches the monastery) is sort of a mish-mash as the various parties clash and it's still not that clear what the point of it all is.
This ranks somewhere between other books concerning Tibet I have read: the enjoyable Rose of Tibet by Lionel Davidson (3.5 stars), the execrable Ayesha, The Return of She by H. Rider Haggard (1 star) and the excellent Lost Horizon by James Hilton (5 stars)(although the introduction mentions that Mundy didn't think Hilton's view of Tibet was very accurate.)
The story itself tends to be confusing and although the writing is pleasant, the journey to Tibet is a torturous one for the reader. So much extraneous dialogue bogs down this supposed tale of adventure. The cast of characters, many of whom have their own secret agenda, sometimes helping, sometimes hindering American agent Tom in his efforts to reach Tibet (and most of the time I wondered what his actual motivation for going there was. It seems Tibet is crucial to the designs for world domination by the Japanese, Russians, Chinese, British and Americans in the 1930's.) It takes almost half the book to even get close to Tibet and although once that happens the description of the territory piques interest as does the description of the travails crossing high mountain peaks. The ending (as Tom reaches the monastery) is sort of a mish-mash as the various parties clash and it's still not that clear what the point of it all is.
This ranks somewhere between other books concerning Tibet I have read: the enjoyable Rose of Tibet by Lionel Davidson (3.5 stars), the execrable Ayesha, The Return of She by H. Rider Haggard (1 star) and the excellent Lost Horizon by James Hilton (5 stars)(although the introduction mentions that Mundy didn't think Hilton's view of Tibet was very accurate.)
