Sky Burial - eBook

Sky Burial by Xinran is a profoundly spiritual book, telling the story of one woman's journey through the country of Tibet, searching for her missing husband and how she does eventually find some of the answers she was looking for as well as an inner peace and acceptance. . Shortly after her doctor husband left with the Chinese Army for Tibet, Shu Wen received notice that he had been killed, although no details were given. Unable to come to terms with this and determined to find the truth behind her husband's death, she, a doctor herself, joined a militia unit and travelled into Tibet. This was the beginning of a thirty year journey through that country ever searching for news of her lost love. During her sojourn she is befriended by some amazing and caring people who assist her in ways both spiritual and physical. In this hauntingly beautiful story, Xinran describes the silence and emptiness that surrounds Shu Wen, as both she and during the same time period, the country of Tibet, embark on a journey to find peace, serenity and survival. This short book is beautifully written and for me, spoke directly to the soul.

In 1994 author Xinran interviewed Shu Wen, a woman who had spent thirty years in Tibet seeking the man to whom she had been married for 100 days before he was reported dead by the Chinese army. This is a fictionalized account of that interview. I was mesmerized by the descriptions of the harsh landscape of Tibet and the strength of the people living there. The people seem to accept with grace the lives they are given and truly practice the mindfulness of the Buddhist religion. It was a beautiful tale.

As a child, Xinran had heard stories of a soldier that had been fed to the vultures in what is known in Tibet as a Sky Burial. Several decades later, Xinran, by then a journalist and writer, met the wife of that soldier. Sky Burial is the amazing story that was told to Xinran by the widow, known as Shu Wen. It is the story of her love for her husband and the search for the truth surrounding his death. It is also the amazing story of realisation, friendship, bewilderment and the journey of China and Tibet during the 1950s. For me, this was a breath taking read. It was selected by my local reading group and I devoured the book in one sitting. A fabulous book and definitely a favourite. At the end of the book is an open letter from the author to Shu Wen, who left the area before Xinran had chance to talk to her again. Did Xinran ever make contact with Shu Wen? We have no way of knowing and I am itching to know!

In 1994 author Xinran interviewed Shu Wen, a woman who had spent thirty years in Tibet seeking the man to whom she had been married for 100 days before he was reported dead by the Chinese army. This is a fictionalized account of that interview. I was mesmerized by the descriptions of the harsh landscape of Tibet and the strength of the people living there. The people seem to accept with grace the lives they are given and truly practice the mindfulness of the Buddhist religion. It was a beautiful tale.

I just happened across this book and was captivated by the title and beautiful cover. It is a simple one day read, and pure pleasure. The story is of a Chinese woman physician who is in the military along with her physician husband. When she is informed of his death, she travels Tibet looking for him, hoping he is alive and wanting more information. During these twenty or so years of searching, she lives with Tibetans, learns their language, and we learn much about the culture and customs of Tibet along with her. She describes myths that both people have about each other, and their developing understanding of each other through their interaction. Although some reviewers perceive this as a naive description of genocide, I experienced a different part of the story. Certainly horrendous genocide was committed. The story as I read it was more about the interactions of ordinary people and their ordinary lives and relationships between Tibetans and Chinese living in a war driven by politicians. Do you ever feel that way about other countries that your country is at war with? Did you ever wish Bush and Hussein would just go in a room alone and punch it out and leave the rest of us out of it? Working class people generally do not benefit from war, as the upper class does. Unfortunately it is too often, as described in this story, "uneducated, illiterate poor people" who are brainwashed into believing the myths about "the other" that the author points out, or are vulnerable to conscription due to poverty, and blindly follow their leaders into war and death. I hope this book will help us all to see more of the humanity in each other and our enemies alike.