Couldn't escape the snare of this book that I had to disrupt Long Walk to Freedom (sorry Nelson!) for it.
really enjoyed the book, especially at the beginning, when Harrer broke out of POW camp and started on his journey to Tibet from India. I remembered feeling my heart racing when he and Aufschnaiter(my god, the name!) ran into the Kampas (ruthless bandits of Tibet) and thankfully, outwitted them unharmed. Without a permit, Aufschnaiter and Harrer often had to travel in ungodly hours to avoid attention and lie through their teeth to get from one city to another- their ultimate destination was Lhasa. I was truly amazed at how they could survive trekking through merciless terrain and weather, and at high altitude without proper equipment and clothing and with minimal food. When they got to Lhasa, the story fell into a lull, without much excitement but it was still entertaining enough to keep me going. Harrer eventually became a mentor to the young and curious Dalai lama who was eager to know more about the world outside of Tibet. After reading the book, I searched for the award winning movie and was duly disappointed. I didn't finish the film.
4/5
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