Seven Years in Tibet started off as a very eager read for me! I really enjoyed the introduction and the explanation as to why Harrer took to the mountains; it wasn’t because they were simply there or he was looking for something that would terrify him into finding the meaning of life, but rather, he tried and had not succeeded at many other sports and therefor, pursued ventures that housed his true passions. It was because of this avenue that he found success in this particular sport and I found that inspiring and relatable because as a senior, I’m slowly starting to grasp that true passions tend to produce the best results and at times, are scary and sometimes ill-received, but are very necessary as it is each individual’s journey.

It seemed that the “spell” the Himalayas and India had cast upon him pushed him throughout the hardships he had faced. It was his desire to return to a free-spirited way of life in India that drove his attempts to escape from prison and also the very idea of making his way back into the Himalayas seemed to make each daring idea worth it. How Harrer described the scenery of the mountains and the villages in Tibet such as the “village of happiness” were very romantic and described as a fairy-tale like village which made me yearn to visit such places and experience the culture, people, and hospitality that the author experienced; granted, I do understand that his circumstances relied heavily on luck or being well received within the right place and the right time.

I had forgotten for a moment that this very mountaineer was the first to scale the North Face of the Eiger and upon remembering that, was even more impressed with such an individual. As if this man could not experience enough within his lifetime, he escaped a prison, experienced a culture and land that was long forbidden from the Western world and he, a Western man was welcomed into this very culture, observed and respected these people, and also built a life within this culture and land! As a Western civilian, I found it very admirable that this man did not view Tibetans and their way of life as barbaric or “less than” his upbringing and ideologies simply because he was of an educated and “civilized” background; instead, he took the time to learn, observe, and eventually develop a respect for not only that culture, but I’m going to assume all cultures that differed from the Western and white societies.

I enjoyed the book particularly because it focused more on the culture, the people, and the experiences surrounding communities that inhabit the valleys and land around the mountains, instead of the mountains and the ascents themselves. It was a nice change of pace because it dealt more with personal interactions with the people and less with the experiences that dealt with scaling a mountain and the challenges of each ascent. I’m not quite sure if it is due to my want to know and understand the people and personal relationships of each voyage or because it is a change of direction but I really did enjoy the depictions of the people and the personal experiences of Harrer within that culture.