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Summary: The Skull Mantra by Elliot pattison
Review: I thought this was a great read, full of twists and surprises. His rendering of the Tibetan landscape was vivid and made for a fun read. I also appreciate his description of all the grey areas between the occupying army, the Tibetans and the outside world.
Although I am always appreciative of artistic license I was a little shocked at his complete misrepresentation of Buddhism. The Karma Kagyu school is the branch of Vajrayana Buddhism one would find among the Khampas of the East. I can tell you that it contains no dualistic views as are portrayed in the book. No gods, inner or outer, no soul, no demons, no seperation, no concept of sin. There is no need for faith if the ultimate nature of reality can be directly experienced and understood as non dualistic in its totality. The religion portrayed is sort of a mystical Christianity with a Tibetan face. I just hope readers
don't think this is what Buddhism is.
The current head of the Kagyus is the 17th Karmapa.
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Summary: An excellent read that illustrates Tibet's plight
Review: I thought this was quite a good detective story with many interesting twists. Generally speaking I felt it was a very good story and was very well told. The main characters are well drawn and have a level of complexity (i.e., the Chinese soldiers are not monolithically and uniformly evil) that made them seem quite realistic. Although the plot did seem to meander at times, I didn't mind all that much as the pauses tended to focus on some interesting aspect of Tibetan culture. As far as the criticisms I've read concerning how the book depicts Tibetan Buddhism, all I can say is that there are many, many varieties of Tibetan Buddhism - some of which are extremely esoteric derivatives of standard Buddhist doctrine. So it may not be as far off as some think. The thing I appreciated the most about this book is that it tells a story that focuses the reader's attention on the illegal and brutal Chinese occupation of Tibet and subsequent destruction of much of Tibetan culture. The entire plot takes place against this appalling backdrop, which unfortunately is not fictional. If this book helps to heighten readers' awareness of the Chinese government's ongoing atrocities against the Tibetan people, then it will have served a purpose far greater than simply having told a good story.
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Summary: Great Journey for the Reader and the Characters
Review: I was wandering around a secondhand bookstore struggling to find something interesting to read. Somehow I just picked up the Skull Mantra and as sometimes happens a random book can be a treat. And this certainly was. The thing that sticks in my mind was the chance to be taken on a journey somewhere completely new and unfamiliar to me. I found this story to be a great education and also very entertaining. Tibet, Buddhism and the Chinese regime are indeed interesting subjects and all invoking different and personal emotions. The characters seemed so real and although a few times I did get a little lost (probably my fault, not the authors) it all came together and I was not quite ready for it to end. I am off now to get the next book...
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Summary: Intelligent and compassionate, miles above the rest
Review: Like the Himalayan mountains that tower over the Tibetan valleys of "The Skull Mantra", this novel is miles above the rest of the crime fiction that crowd bookstores. Pattison's tale of the struggles of a group of Tibetan monks imprisoned in a communist Chinese labor camp is filled with wisdom, compassion and a moral order that is so often lacking in contemporary crime ficiton. There is so much that is fascinating in this novel: the convoluted, and ironically highly bureaucratic, politics of communist China; the dichotomy of a superstitious ancient Tibetan religion that coexists with the simplicity of a more modern Buddhism; the inner turmoil that many of the characters struggle with as they attempt to reconcile where their allegiance lies - with Tibet or China? So many American writers feel that to achieve a grittier sense of "reality" that their books need to spill blood by the gallon and that the characters need to be soulless decandent wastrels. Pattison gives us characters who want forgiveness for their violence and actually exhibit shame. But, I guess this may be in part due to the Asian culture that Pattison so excellently captures on the page. American culture is so unwilling to embrace shame, remorse and forgivenesss and I rarely find it in the mystery novels that are published these days.
Rating:
Summary: Intelligent and compassionate, miles above the rest
Review: Like the Himalayan mountains that tower over the Tibetan valleys of "The Skull Mantra", this novel is miles above the rest of the crime fiction that crowd bookstores. Pattison's tale of the struggles of a group of Tibetan monks imprisoned in a communist Chinese labor camp is filled with wisdom, compassion and a moral order that is so often lacking in contemporary crime ficiton. There is so much that is fascinating in this novel: the convoluted, and ironically highly bureaucratic, politics of communist China; the dichotomy of a superstitious ancient Tibetan religion that coexists with the simplicity of a more modern Buddhism; the inner turmoil that many of the characters struggle with as they attempt to reconcile where their allegiance lies - with Tibet or China? So many American writers feel that to achieve a grittier sense of "reality" that their books need to spill blood by the gallon and that the characters need to be soulless decandent wastrels. Pattison gives us characters who want forgiveness for their violence and actually exhibit shame. But, I guess this may be in part due to the Asian culture that Pattison so excellently captures on the page. American culture is so unwilling to embrace shame, remorse and forgivenesss and I rarely find it in the mystery novels that are published these days.
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Summary: A wonderful first novel
Review: Pattison paints an achingly beautiful portrait of modern-day Tibet and creates deeply felt characters the reader can believe in and feel for. It takes a good writer to show the evolution of a character, and Pattison manages to do so with more than one. The story traces a murder investigation involving a political prisoner and his keepers, with an interesting twist on the investigator. Although the ending was a bit pat, I won't spoil it by explaining why I felt it perversely cheated fate. Nonetheless, any writer would be proud to call this his first novel. I will be interested to see how he follows it up.
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Summary: Entertained and Educated
Review: Skull Mantra by Eliot Pattison is a clever, intricate mystery. Thoroughly enjoyable, this offering has so much more substance than the sometimes pulpy, obvious mystery genre. I learned so much at the same time and found myself researching factoids about Tibet just to satisfy my own curiosity. With the fascinating and believable character of Shan, this is a movie waiting to happen. Someone call Richard Gere...
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Summary: Nothing is what it seems
Review: The mountain of critical praise for "The Skull Mantra" should be enough to motivate any serious reader to buy the book. My recommendation comes from a far more personal place. I read it at a time of crisis in my life. Pattison's exposition of Tibetan Buddhism opened my mind and spirit to profound concepts, to new ways of comprehending existence. The book is complex and is not light reading. It requires work to sort out all the bits and pieces and make sense of them all. For those searching for spiritual understanding -- as well as a wonderfully intricate mystery novel -- "The Skull Mantra" is a must read.
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Summary: Works On Several Levels
Review: THE SKULL MANTRA is an impressive first fictional effort by Eliot Pattison. Perhaps the most impressive thing about it is how well it works in a variety of ways. It's a good mystery. It's populated with characters who are believable and who grow as a result of their experiences in the story. It also paints a vivid picture of life in modern Tibet, showing how the Tibetan people have tried to preserve their cultural identity in the face of Chinese domination and brutality. Finally, there are the Chinese themselves, brutalized by their own cruelty and always vulnerable to the political manuevering inherent a system run on the basis of personal whim rather than law. The mystery is an engaging one, triggered by the bizarre find of a headless corpse under a pile of stones near the worksite of the People's 404th Brigade. The 404th is a forced-labor gang made up mostly of Tibetan monks, but also including former Beijing prosecutor Shan Tao Yung. The case takes a more bizarre twist when the local commandant, Colonel Tan, picks Shan to conduct the investigation because the local prosecutor is away on vacation. Then the body turns out to be that of the supposedly vacationing prosecutor. Colonel Tan wants the case resolved quickly, and a local monk is soon implicated, but Shan isn't satisfied. Beyond the engaging mystery, this book has a lot to say about the evils of Chinese rule in Tibet. I would be one of the last people to argue against the need for relatively backward societies to come to grips with the modern world as we enter the 21st century, but modernization doesn't begin to justify the attempt to forcefully eradicate a foreign culture at whatever human cost that pursued by China in Tibet. The leadership of China, both past and present, have much to answer for. THE SKULL MANTRA is an excellent book. It's not the greatest mystery I've ever read, but it is pretty good in that department. Beyond that, however, it has the power to both entertain AND enlighten. That's a powerful combination. I recommend this book highly. It's an experience most readers won't quickly forget. I only hope Pattison's next book is as good.
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Summary: Greg Iles called it Incandescent
Review: The Skull Mantra is an incandescent thriller, a compelling, lyrical journey through the harsh, beautiful world of Tibet. Pattison has made his mark the first time out. Greg Iles, Author of The Quiet Game and 24 Hours I am adding this quote because I think readers who like Iles' books will also like Eliot Pattison's. The next book in this series of novels set in Asia, titled Water Touching Stone which will be out in June is even more powerful and supsenseful. Hard to imagine Pattison could top this-- but he does! Watch for this book that explores other cultures in this part of the world in the context of a great mystery novel.
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