- ISBN13: 9780060596552
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
An exemplary travelogue of danger and achievement by the Frenchwoman Madame Alexandra David–Neel of her 1923 expedition to Tibet, the fifth in her series of Asian travels, and her personal recounting of her journey to Lhasa, Tibet's forbidden city.
In order to penetrate Tibet and reach Lhasa, she used her fluency of Tibetan dialects and culture, disguised herself as a beggar with yak hair extensions and inked skin and tackled some of the roughest terrain and climate in the World. With the help of her young companion, Yongden, she willingly suffered the primitive travel conditions, frequent outbreaks of disease, the ever–present danger of border control and the military to reach her goal.
The determination and sheer physical fortitude it took for this woman, delicately reared in Paris and Brussels, is inspiration for men and women alike.
David–Neel is famous for being the first Western woman to have been received by any Dalai Lama and as a passionate scholar and explorer of Asia, hers is one of the most remarkable of all travellersߴales.
Amazon.com Review
In any time, Alexandra David-Neel would have been considered an extraordinary woman, but in the Victorian era, she was truly exceptional. Born in 1868, David-Neel eschewed the dances, dinners, and formal marriages common to women of her era and social standing in order to indulge her fierce independence and insatiable intellectual curiosity. Her interest in comparative religions dated back to early childhood; even as a student in a Catholic convent school, she kept statues of both Christ and the Buddha in her room. She made her first trip to Asia in 1891, then supported herself as a light-opera singer and journalist before marrying a seemingly conventional man, Philip Neel. Fortunately for both Alexandra David-Neel and for posterity, Philip was less stodgy than his position as a well-off engineer might imply; though he did not accompany her, he supported his wife's explorations and even acted as her literary agent when she began to write about the places she visited. Alexandra and Philip remained the closest of friends until his death in 1941.
David-Neel spent years traveling in India and China, but perhaps her most daring adventure was the trip to Tibet's forbidden city of Lhasa. She was 55 years old at the time, fluent in Tibetan and well versed in both Sanskrit and Buddhism. Disguised as a man, she spent four treacherous months on the road before finally becoming the first European woman ever to enter Lhasa. My Journey to Lhasa is David-Neel's own account of her astounding journey, one fraught with hardship and danger. It is both a chronicle of a bygone time and a testimonial to a remarkable human.
Tags: Philip, woman, Western, Brussels, tibetan dialects, Asia
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
When I was reading the reviews of this book, I was struck by the one of the reviews. It was very negative, and the reviewer missed the beauty of this book entirely. I was glad that I had already read it. I read the reviews because I was curious to see if others had enjoyed the book as much as I did. I was buying it again as a present for a friend. The author was a very unusual person, and this book is very much worth the read. She wrote about customs and values honestly as she saw them. She was not a dispassionate viewer, but I also felt that she was not judgemental or superior. When customs of two peoples are as different as some of Tibet and France are, they will shock a person and that person will remark. However, I felt that she loved and respected the people she wrote about, and she did a remarkable job in recounting what she saw. She gave her readers the pleasure of a most unusual journey with her and her young companion through a country that was worth writing about.
Rating: 5 / 5
My Journey to Lhasa is a marvellous, cliff hanging tale of adventure comparable to Lawrence of Arabia’s epic account. David-Neel made her trek to forbidden lhasa in the dead of winter succeeding where much younger, better equipped male explorers failed. Her thrilling yarn is the main highlight of a 101 year adventure packed life.This noted Buddhist scholar wrote 25 books on eastern themes after she made her death defying trip in her mid fifties. Although naysayers have claimed that David-Neel never went to Lhasa, our extensive research for our biography the Secret Lives of Alexandra David-Neel authenticates her travels as well as fleshes out the human aspect of this amazing character who Lawrence Durrell called “the mot astohishing Frenchwoman of our Times.”
Rating: 5 / 5
This is a book which I think of often. Ms. David-Neel had or should I say has quite a strong spirit. I would recommend all of her books to anyone interested in spiritual growth, women’s triumphs or walking accross high Himalayan passes in the dead of winter with the Lama Yongden. I cross high Rocky Mountain passes regularly, but always in the comfort of an 18-wheeler.
Rating: 5 / 5
This is most certainly a worth while book to spend some time with. Reading these early Buddhist-travel journals is a rare pleasure indeed. If you are looking for something similar, and in many ways more enchanting, check out John Blofeld’s book, “The Wheel of Life: The Autobiography of a Western Buddhist.” The time periods are similar with Neel’s, but Blofeld spends most of his time not in Tibet, but in China, exporing back woods monasteries and meeting up with taoists and other mountain ascetics. It’s just wonderful.
Rating: 4 / 5
This story of a solo woman, over 50, travelling in a strange country in the early 1900′s should be read by every woman who is wondering if they dare travel anywhere. Once you read Alexandra’s story of her journey to Lhasa in Tibet, you will never be afraid to travel anywhere in the world. Her incredible courage, her determination and her love of Tibetan people and culture make this one of the best reads in a very long time.
Rating: 5 / 5
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