Xinran

In a book representing the letter “X” in a series of 26 collectible editions, the story retells the life of a Chinese woman who spent 30 years searching the mountains of Tibet for her husband, a military doctor who was missing in action.

Sky Burial

An Epic Love Story of Tibet

Sarah Sammis

I have two reasons for reading Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet by Xinran. The first is completely shallow: I wanted an X author for my archive list. The second one stems back to 1997 to an online friendship I had with a blogger (although she called her site an ezine). She was very pro Tibet freedom and was my main source of information about Tibet for the seven or so years I knew her.

Sky Burial is a roman à clef. Some places catalog it as nonfiction and some as fiction. My library catalogs it as fiction and since I read their copy, I will do the same.

The book begins in a fashion that normally sends me running for this hills: with the narrator setting up to tell the fabulous story of this amazing character she met as a result of her work as a journalist. It's the same narrational technique employed in Heart of Darkness but Xinran makes it work far better than Conrad. Here the narrator steps aside and story isn't told as a series of extended quotations. It's the literary equivalent of a fade to flashback in a film.
So the actual main character then is Shu Wen, a doctor who enlists in the army in hopes of finding her missing, presumed dead husband. She is sent to Tibet and ends up lost there. Thus begins her strange and eye opening life in Tibet.

Thematically the book is the inverse of Heart of Darkness. Wen's journey into Tibet helps her grow as a person. When she returns to her home she finds her homeland changed for the worse, whereas Kurtz and the man who goes after him are both scared by their journey up the Congo.

Xinran's extraordinary second book takes the reader right to the hidden heart of one of the world's most mysterious and inaccessible countries. In March 1958, a Chinese woman learns that her husband, an idealistic army doctor, has died whilst serving in Tibet. Determined to know what has happened to him, she sets off courageously to join his regiment.

Chelsea Kang

An epic tale of unshakable faith and love.

Sian Wadey

I had a great deal of trouble finding an author beginning with the letter X and after reading some great reviews I settled on Sky Burial by Xinran. The story is about a Chinese woman who goes searching for her husband who joined the army and went to Tibet in the height of their conflicts. My knowledge of Chinese and Tibetan history is absolutely pants so I went into this book with no knowledge of any of it. In fact, it was the bit that I cared least about, but Shu Wen's story was magical, sad, interesting and suprising. Being introduced into this culture is fascinating and makes me want to visit Tibet and China. Wen's relationship with the Tibetan family she encounters is enlightening and is a true show of human compassion. But the most important thing in this story is Wen's relationship with her long lost husband Kejun. The lengths she goes to find him are indescribable, astonishing and are a mark of true love. The reason why I didn't give this five stars was because I struggled to understand all of the politics and the end I felt was a little disappointing and left some things open. I understand this is a true story and the author has tried to contact Shu Wen again, so maybe there will be more of her story in the future.

Kathy Rodger 

In 2002 Xinran’sGood Women of Chinabecame an international bestseller, revealing startling new truths about Chinese life to the West. Now she returns with an epic story of love, friendship, courage and sacrifice set in Chinese-occupied Tibet. Based on a true story, Xinran’s extraordinary second book takes the reader right to the hidden heart of one of the world’s most mysterious and inaccessible countries. In March 1958, Shu Wen learns that her husband, an idealistic army doctor, has died while serving in Tibet. Determined to find out what happened to him, she courageously sets off to join his regiment. But to her horror, instead of finding a Tibetan people happily welcoming their Chinese “liberators” as she expected, she walks into a bloody conflict, with the Chinese subject to terrifying attacks from Tibetan guerrillas. It seems that her husband may have died as a result of this clash of cultures, this disastrous misunderstanding. But before she can know his fate, she is taken hostage and embarks on a life-changing journey through the Tibetan countryside — a journey that will last twenty years and lead her to a deep appreciation of Tibet in all its beauty and brutality. Sadly, when she finally discovers the truth about her husband, she must carry her knowledge back to a China that, in her absence, has experienced the Cultural Revolution and changed beyond recognition. . . From the Hardcover edition.

Vanessa Rae

iia w

An epic true-life story, a strange grail quest which tells of love, friendship, courage and sacrifice, set amidst the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

Sky Burial

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