Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Penguin Books (2014), 240 pages
Description
In 1958, notified that her husband, a doctor in the Chinese army has been killed in action in Tibet, Shu Wen joins the army, determined to go to Tibet to uncover the truth, only to find herself alone in Tibet, embarking on a thirty-year nomadic odyssey in a novel based on a true story.
User reviews
LibraryThing member akeela
Sky Burial by Xinran, translated from the Chinese by Julia Lovell and Esther Tyldesley. Xinran is a successful Chinese journalist and radio presenter who once met the fascinating Chinese woman, Shu Wen, and spent two days with her listening to her life story. Xinran was so utterly taken by the
It is about a medical doctor whose husband of less than 100 days had been called to military duty in Tibet. Very soon after, he is declared dead, but his body is never found. Unable to find peace of mind, Shu Wen leaves China and goes to Tibet in search of her husband. She sets out in 1958, and comes face-to-face with a strange and challenging world.
The book is an enlightening introduction to the rich distinctive culture and people of Tibet. Though my copy is labeled a memoir, the story is clearly fictionalized, because Xinran could not have gleaned all the facts presented, in only two days.
Essentially it is the incredible story of one woman's love for her husband, and the lengths she went to to find him. She had to navigate grueling terrain, amongst a people with a different language and a totally disparate way of living to hers.
In the long search that spans very many years she comes to understand the profound and quiet way of life of the Tibetan people, and adopts their manner of prayer and even their dress code. This was a quick, worthwhile read.
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story she'd heard, that she proceeded to write this book to share the story with the world.It is about a medical doctor whose husband of less than 100 days had been called to military duty in Tibet. Very soon after, he is declared dead, but his body is never found. Unable to find peace of mind, Shu Wen leaves China and goes to Tibet in search of her husband. She sets out in 1958, and comes face-to-face with a strange and challenging world.
The book is an enlightening introduction to the rich distinctive culture and people of Tibet. Though my copy is labeled a memoir, the story is clearly fictionalized, because Xinran could not have gleaned all the facts presented, in only two days.
Essentially it is the incredible story of one woman's love for her husband, and the lengths she went to to find him. She had to navigate grueling terrain, amongst a people with a different language and a totally disparate way of living to hers.
In the long search that spans very many years she comes to understand the profound and quiet way of life of the Tibetan people, and adopts their manner of prayer and even their dress code. This was a quick, worthwhile read.
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LibraryThing member Carmenere
If you ever had any doubt about the physical and mental strength of women or wondered about the depths of their love, look no further than Sky Burial by Xinran. Dr. Shu Wen was married to her husband Kejun for only 3 weeks when he was called to serve as a medic in the Chinese army in 1958. Within a
I found Sky Burial to be a captivating read although much of the story involves Wen’s life as a houseguest of a Tibetan family and less time searching for her husband. The story not only includes interesting information concerning the lives of Tibetan nomads, customs and traditions but also questions what is really worth life’s struggles, be it transitory or eternal.
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few weeks she was notified that her husband was dead, no other information was made available to her. Is Wen satisfied with that meager message? Absolutely not! Determined to find her husband alive or the reason for his death, she enlists in the army as well. She is placed in Kejun’s former unit and is shipped off to the hinterlands of Tibet. As she struggles to keep herself alive, she comes to the aid of Zhuoma, a Tibetan of noble birth, who has been separated from the man whom she loves. Together, they search for the men who will make them whole again and if it takes thirty years to do so, then so be it.I found Sky Burial to be a captivating read although much of the story involves Wen’s life as a houseguest of a Tibetan family and less time searching for her husband. The story not only includes interesting information concerning the lives of Tibetan nomads, customs and traditions but also questions what is really worth life’s struggles, be it transitory or eternal.
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LibraryThing member mkboylan
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
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.
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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.
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LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
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
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.
Shortly after her
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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.
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LibraryThing member LemurKat
Beautifully written and utterly moving. Xinran's writing brings to life the tale of Shu Wen, a tale that has been translated lyrically so that I can read it. Shu Wen was a young Chinese woman, trained in medicine, whose beloved was sent - three months after their wedding to serve the People's
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Liberation Army in Tibet. He never came home. Receiving word of his death, but little information, Wen took it upon herself to undergo a quest to find out if it were true, if her beloved were truly dead. It was a mission that would take her 30 years and transform her utterly. Entwined with her tale is that of Zhouma, a Tibetan woman undergoing a similar quest of her own. A quest for love lost. Entrancing and compelling - I devoured it in a day. Show Less
LibraryThing member punxsygal
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
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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. Show Less
LibraryThing member majorbabs
A doctor who doesn't believe word that her husband is dead goes searching for him in 1950s Tibet, for 20 years. Wow.
LibraryThing member tronella
Xinran is a writer/radio host/documentary maker who once spent two days talking to a Chinese woman who spent most of her adult life in Tibet, looking for her husband. It's a really interesting read, although clearly somewhat fictionalised.
LibraryThing member autumnesf
I've seen this book recommended several times on our group so I finally picked it up for a read. I was not disappointed. Xinran spoke with a woman from Tibet (who is actually Chinese) and was told her amazing story. Very soon after being married, the woman's husband was sent to Tibet with the Army.
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She was notified of his death with very sketchy details and lots of questions. After joining the Army she heads for Tibet to find her husband who she still believes is alive. What follows is the 20 years search and afterward. A really fast read and a very interesting story. Enjoy! Show Less
LibraryThing member readingaria
Xinran tells the story of Shu Wen, a young woman who goes into Tibet, looking for her husband, after he is sent there by the Chinese army. On her journey, Wen changes in many ways and experiences many things, all in her search for the man she loves.
This was a remarkable story and Xinran did a
I wish there were more to the end, or that there was more of an ending but I understand why Xinran left it as she did.
While there were parts that seemed a bit slow going, that might be because I never had time to just sit and read, always having to cut my reading time in small 10-15 minute segments, which would make reading any book difficult. In the case of this book, as soon as I actually sat down and devoted myself to it for a bit of time, I devoured it.
This was a remarkable story and Xinran did a
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beautiful job of telling Wen's story. Even more so, these two women bring the reader a gorgeous portrait of Tibet and the Tibetan way of life. Through Wen, the reader sees several elements of Tibetan life. Wen also gives a very interesting look at the Chinese army of the 1950's, under Mao Zedong. I wish there were more to the end, or that there was more of an ending but I understand why Xinran left it as she did.
While there were parts that seemed a bit slow going, that might be because I never had time to just sit and read, always having to cut my reading time in small 10-15 minute segments, which would make reading any book difficult. In the case of this book, as soon as I actually sat down and devoted myself to it for a bit of time, I devoured it.
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LibraryThing member 1morechapter
Wow! What a beautiful sense of place. Sky Burial tells the story of Shu Wen, a woman who desperately seeks answers about her new husband’s death. Given no details by the government, Shu Wen feels she must know the truth of what has happened to him. Seeing no other way to find the answers she
Due to Chinese/Tibetan conflict, she is separated from her unit and eventually spends over 30 years in Tibet, learning the language and the culture. Very different from the Chinese, the Tibetans are a deeply religious, nomadic people. Their family life seems strange to Shu Wen also. The family that takes her is a wife with two husbands (brothers — who also do the sewing!). Finally, after three decades, the family is able to help her in her quest for answers about her husband.
What makes this all the more interesting is that this book is based on an actual woman that Xinran met and spoke to about these experiences. My only downgrade to the book is that after reaching the end, it felt a little unfinished. I felt that I wanted to know more about what happened to Shu Wen. Xinran did as well, and in the afterword she writes her a letter desiring contact, but I don’t believe the author ever heard from her again.
Recommended.
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seeks, she joins the military (as a doctor) so she can be stationed in Tibet, where the death is reported to have taken place.Due to Chinese/Tibetan conflict, she is separated from her unit and eventually spends over 30 years in Tibet, learning the language and the culture. Very different from the Chinese, the Tibetans are a deeply religious, nomadic people. Their family life seems strange to Shu Wen also. The family that takes her is a wife with two husbands (brothers — who also do the sewing!). Finally, after three decades, the family is able to help her in her quest for answers about her husband.
What makes this all the more interesting is that this book is based on an actual woman that Xinran met and spoke to about these experiences. My only downgrade to the book is that after reaching the end, it felt a little unfinished. I felt that I wanted to know more about what happened to Shu Wen. Xinran did as well, and in the afterword she writes her a letter desiring contact, but I don’t believe the author ever heard from her again.
Recommended.
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LibraryThing member Monica71
The love Wen has for her husband keeps her in Tibet, living a very different life that she could have ever imagined. The things that Wen endures and the patience with which she endures them are amazing. This is a beautiful story and a quick read.
LibraryThing member cestovatela
Just 100 days after their marriage, Shu Wen's husband is reported killed in action in Tibet. Unwilling to let her husband go, Shu Wen enlists in the army, talks her way into a unit bound for Tibet and begins what will become a 20-year search for the man she loves. Xinran tells Shu Wen's story in
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spare prose with just the right amount of detail. What emerges is a haunting story of love, faith, release and life on the edge of the world. Everyone should read this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member Sinetrig
Xinran wrote a poignantly compelling story of the love and commitment of a young Chinese bride, Wen Shu whose husband, Kejun, a surgeon, volunteers to join the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army in Tibet in the late 1950's. Shortly after he leaves, the Military informs her that her husband died in
Wen Shu doesn't really know what to believe about her husband, and goes to Tibet to search for him.. What was meant to be a relatively short trip spans into 30 years, most of them living and traveling with a nomadic Tibetan family which had befriended her. Through a series of serendipitous encounters she eventually finds out what happened to her husband. By this time she is in her 50's and decides to return to China to seek out her family.
When she arrives in China, the entire landscape has been changed as a result of industrialization and commercialism, and she has difficulty finding her family's home. She realizes that where her family had once lived was now developed into high rises.
The ending is heart-rending as she realizes that her home is no longer in the China that she left, and the 30 years in Tibet as a nomad did not necessarily make that a "new" home either. She is, unexpectedly, confronted with an imponderable situation.
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Tibet, but did not offer any details. Wen Shu doesn't really know what to believe about her husband, and goes to Tibet to search for him.. What was meant to be a relatively short trip spans into 30 years, most of them living and traveling with a nomadic Tibetan family which had befriended her. Through a series of serendipitous encounters she eventually finds out what happened to her husband. By this time she is in her 50's and decides to return to China to seek out her family.
When she arrives in China, the entire landscape has been changed as a result of industrialization and commercialism, and she has difficulty finding her family's home. She realizes that where her family had once lived was now developed into high rises.
The ending is heart-rending as she realizes that her home is no longer in the China that she left, and the 30 years in Tibet as a nomad did not necessarily make that a "new" home either. She is, unexpectedly, confronted with an imponderable situation.
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LibraryThing member CynWetzel
Definitely a pro-China slant, but an enjoyable story and view into nomadic Tibetan life. Still, disappointing.
LibraryThing member isabelx
Before she took off her Tibetan robe, she removed her possessions from it like a magician producing birds out of hat, From two inside pockets came books and money, and from pouches inside the sleeve some little sheep leather pouches. From her right boot came a knife, from her left some papers. She
I watched in amazement: her robe was her luggage. It turned out to be her bed as well. She spread the robe on the bed as a mattress, placed the silk belt over the books and papers to make a pillow and then turned the sleeves of her robe inside out. She stuffed all her possessions into the inside-out sleeved, with the exception of the knife. Finally, she lay down on her robe, pulled the two sides around her and covered her legs with the two big empty bags. Both her body and her possessions were perfectly protected.
When one of Xinran's listeners tells her about meeting a woman who has just come back to China after three decades living with nomads in Tibet, Xinran goes to meet the woman, and spends two days listening to her incredible life-story before she disappears again.
In 1958, hospital doctor Shu Wen is newly-married to an idealistic army doctor, who is sent to Tibet with the army of liberation. After less than 100 days of marriage, she receives news of his death and unable to accept that he is dead, she joins the army herself in order to travel to Tibet and look for him. She is shocked to find that the Tibetans consider the Chinese to be invading rather than liberating them, and has only been in Tibet for a few days when her she separates from her comrades and heads off into the wilderness with a Tibetan noblewoman called Zhouma. They end up living with a nomadic family, and it is decades later before Shu Wen, now a buddhist and fluent in Tibetan, can take up the quest for her husband again.
This is a very quiet book, full of solitude and patience, and Shu Wen meets with much kindness from both Tibetans and Chinese.
Highly recommended.
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reached inside the waist of her robe and brought out two large empty leather bags. Then she removed her long silk belt, attached to which were other little leather bags and tools.I watched in amazement: her robe was her luggage. It turned out to be her bed as well. She spread the robe on the bed as a mattress, placed the silk belt over the books and papers to make a pillow and then turned the sleeves of her robe inside out. She stuffed all her possessions into the inside-out sleeved, with the exception of the knife. Finally, she lay down on her robe, pulled the two sides around her and covered her legs with the two big empty bags. Both her body and her possessions were perfectly protected.
When one of Xinran's listeners tells her about meeting a woman who has just come back to China after three decades living with nomads in Tibet, Xinran goes to meet the woman, and spends two days listening to her incredible life-story before she disappears again.
In 1958, hospital doctor Shu Wen is newly-married to an idealistic army doctor, who is sent to Tibet with the army of liberation. After less than 100 days of marriage, she receives news of his death and unable to accept that he is dead, she joins the army herself in order to travel to Tibet and look for him. She is shocked to find that the Tibetans consider the Chinese to be invading rather than liberating them, and has only been in Tibet for a few days when her she separates from her comrades and heads off into the wilderness with a Tibetan noblewoman called Zhouma. They end up living with a nomadic family, and it is decades later before Shu Wen, now a buddhist and fluent in Tibetan, can take up the quest for her husband again.
This is a very quiet book, full of solitude and patience, and Shu Wen meets with much kindness from both Tibetans and Chinese.
Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member plyon
Determined to find out what happened to her husband, Shu Wen joins his regiment, is taken hostage, and embarks on a life-changing journey through the Tibetan countryside--a journey that will last 20 years and lead her to a deep appreciation of Tibet in all its beauty and brutality.
LibraryThing member sleepydumpling
A beautiful story, one that had me enthralled right from the first page.
LibraryThing member AnglersRest
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
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!
Sky Burial is the amazing story that was told to Xinran by the widow, known as
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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!
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LibraryThing member Feign
An epic love story, roaming panoramic landscapes, told in simple, understated language: Wen, a young Chinese woman doctor, spends 30 years wandering Tibet in search of her missing husband, based on an apparently true story discovered by the author. No soaring lyrical metaphors manipulate the
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reader's emotions; yet in this short novel you truly get to understand the true heart and beauty of Wen, through straightforward thoughts, actions and revelations. The book contains quite a bit of almost-anthropological descriptions of Tibetan nomadic life, but these are interesting and never overbearing. Show Less
LibraryThing member punxsygal
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
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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. Show Less
LibraryThing member Dreesie
In 1958 Shu Wen was married, and her husband was being sent to Tibet with the army. Fewer than 6 months later she got notice he was killed--with no further info.
She decided to go to Tibet and find the information that was not available to her in China. As a doctor, the easiest way to do this was to
And then she spent the next 30 years in Tibet, living a Tibetan nomad way of life. It took 30 years to find the info she was searching for. She missed and knew nothing of the famine, the cultural revolution, or the modern cities being built in place of the cities she knew.
Xinran met this woman and interviewed her, but after writing her book was unable to find her again. So this is a novelized biography, not a true biography. She had one source who could not fact check or proofread.
She decided to go to Tibet and find the information that was not available to her in China. As a doctor, the easiest way to do this was to
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join the army, so she did. And then she spent the next 30 years in Tibet, living a Tibetan nomad way of life. It took 30 years to find the info she was searching for. She missed and knew nothing of the famine, the cultural revolution, or the modern cities being built in place of the cities she knew.
Xinran met this woman and interviewed her, but after writing her book was unable to find her again. So this is a novelized biography, not a true biography. She had one source who could not fact check or proofread.
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LibraryThing member catzkc
A beautiful story, very well told. The story takes us into the conflicts between the Chinese and Tibetan people, and then into the heart of the Tibetan culture. Sad, beautiful, unforgetable.
LibraryThing member RealLifeReading
This is probably one of the most heartbreaking stories I have ever read. It is a remarkable, fascinating read, a love story of Tibet and its people.
Shu Wen was a doctor. So was her husband Kejun. They had been married for just a few months when Kejun is sent to Tibet as a Chinese army doctor. Not
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long after, Wen is notified of his death. There is no information provided about his death, official or otherwise. She decides to sign up with the army to go to Tibet and find out what happened to him. With the shortage of army doctors in Tibet in the 1950s, the military takes her on.Traveling with her army unit, Wen saves the life of a Tibetan woman named Zhuoma. The heir of a privileged family, Zhuoma speaks Chinese, having studied in Beijing. She and Wen become friendly (she has lost a loved one too) but become separated from the rest of the company when some Tibetans attack the convoy.
The two women find a nomad family residing in the lowlands who help the injured Wen, and the two women decide to stay with them until summer, to learn how to survive outdoors and for the family to build their supplies to spare them provisions and horses.
The details of the family’s self-sufficient daily life are fascinating. Gela, his brother Ge’er and his son Om were responsible for matters outside the home such as pasturing and butchering their herds, tanning hides, mending their tools and tent. Gela’s wife Saierbao and two daughters did the milking, made butter, cooked, collected water, made rope, and made the dung cakes that were the heat, light and fuel source.
Wen spends 30 years isolated in Tibet. But she never loses sight of her goal and eventually finds out what happened to Kejun and returns to China.
Xinran tells Shu Wen’s story simply. Although she says in the beginning that this is the story of a woman she meets in Suzhou, who tells her this tale over two days and then disappears, it has been classified as a work of fiction, so I’m not quite sure whether to call this fiction or non-fiction. Still whatever genre it fits into, this is a beautiful story, and an unforgettable one that will stay with you long after you finish the book.
Originally posted on my blog Olduvai Reads
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LibraryThing member ThoughtsofJoyLibrary
Shu Wen and her husband of four months, Kejun, were both in the medical profession. Kejun felt it would be honorable to join the Chinese army as a surgeon and help to unite China and Tibet. Soon after, Shu Wen received notice that Kejun was killed, but with no details. She decided to join the army
I wanted to like this more, but I think an almost "very good" read is still a worthy rating. Learning about the Tibetan's culture was fascinating, but too much political talk would begin to lose me. Also years would go by, but I didn't know how many, so I would lose my sense of time. Other than that, it was a compelling love story in the depths of Tibet with a cast of interesting people. (3.75/5)
Originally posted on: "Thoughts of Joy..."
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herself to search for the man she pledged her life to. During Wen's relentless pursuit of finding the truth about her husband, she learned the nomad Tibetan lifestyle during a span of 30 years.I wanted to like this more, but I think an almost "very good" read is still a worthy rating. Learning about the Tibetan's culture was fascinating, but too much political talk would begin to lose me. Also years would go by, but I didn't know how many, so I would lose my sense of time. Other than that, it was a compelling love story in the depths of Tibet with a cast of interesting people. (3.75/5)
Originally posted on: "Thoughts of Joy..."
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Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2004
Physical description
240 p.; 7.78 inches
ISBN
9780143125259