Fire Under the Snow: Testimony of a Tibetan Prisoner

By Palden Gyatso

Book Overview

Palden Gyatso was born in a Tibetan village in 1933 and became an ordained Buddhist monk at 18 -- just as Tibet was in the midst of political upheaval. When Communist China invaded Tibet in 1950, it... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1860465099
• ISBN13: 9781860465093
• Release Date: February 2003
• Publisher: Vintage Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.47 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.7" x 5.1"

Customer Reviews

About as powerful book as you will ever read

This book is a testimony to the endurance of the human spirit, able to overcome the most nefarious system perhaps the world has ever known. The fact that Palden Gyatso is able to relay his story to you and me is nothing short of a miracle after what he had to endure for years inside China's prison system undergoing "reformation." The stories of torture, starvation and freezing nights will stay with you forever and make you question how strong your own beliefs are and whether you could do what Palden Gyatso did. I do not wish to reveal too much, but will say that calling the story compelling is a vast understatement. This book is as important now as ever. China has the 2008 Olympic games and yet these brutalities continue to occur. Not to mention the fact that China is now relocating Chinese into the Tibetan region, threatening forever one of the world's great cultures through dilution of the society and culture. Buy this book and see both the horrors of mankind and also his greatness in what he can overcome. If you like this book, I would also recommend Ama Adhe's book from a woman's perspective in the same system. We often hear the word hero, but rarely is it so appropriate as it is in describing these amazing individuals.

About as powerful book as you will ever find.....

This book is a testimony to the endurance of the human spirit, able to overcome the most nefarious system perhaps the world has ever known. The fact that Palden Gyatso is able to relay his story to you and me is nothing short of a miracle after what he had to endure for years inside China's prison system undergoing "reformation." The stories of torture, starvation and freezing nights will stay with you forever and make you question how strong your own beliefs are and whether you could do what Palden Gyatso did. I do not wish to reveal too much, but will say that calling the story compelling is a vast understatement. This book is as important now as ever. China has the 2008 Olympic games and yet these brutalities continue to occur. Not to mention the fact that China is now relocating Chinese into the Tibetan region, threatening forever one of the world's great cultures through dilution of the society and culture. Buy this book and see both the horrors of mankind and also his greatness in what he can overcome. If you like this book, I would also recommend Ama Adhe's book from a woman's perspective in the same system. We often hear the word hero, but rarely is it so appropriate as it is in describing these amazing individuals.

Amazing Story

This book is a story about endurance and perseverance, Pladen Gyatso wrote about his 32 years in Chinese prisions, what is also interesting about this book is to try and understand why and how the chinese communist government gradually invaded Tibet until the unleashed a wave of represion and murder. If we go into the mind of the gatekeeper we will find fanatism and brainwashing as a means to control the citizens.This is a good book, maybe not excelent but still worth your money, I especially liked that the author went into life in Tibet before the chinese invation, his family and society in general, also the meaning of the Dalai Lama to them.

Inspiring, Heartrending, Educational, Historical

Having been blessed to have read this book and having met Palden-la, I can only say that he has something inside of him that is truly exceptional. He is one of the most compassionate, courageous, forgiving, strong, funny, and seriously dedicated human beings I have ever known. The book is amazing and I read it in one night. The first few chapters are written in a way that carries the reader into pre-invasion Tibet as well as Palden-la's family...it is breathtaking. As his story unfolds, it very clearly shows how ridiculous China's claims are, from their so-called "liberation" of Tibet, to their denials of torture practices, both physical and mental, to their claim that Tibet is part of China. Sadness, nausea, and shock swept through me as I read this book, coupled by a respect and awe for Palden-la's resilience and resistance.The re-education sessions and interrogations are enough to leave one speechless, such is the horror that goes on in Tibet's Chinese prisons--even today. One can see the serious string of grievous errors carried out by the communist regime over time in Tibet--errors which they are terrified of admitting to now and will not risk loss of face at any price. Palden-la's book is A MUST READ FOR ANYONE AND EVERYONE. And, for anyone who is interested in Tibet's Independence Struggle and China's Communist regime, it is essential.