Rating: 
Summary: Somebody tell me it's real...
Review: Great book, great writing. Such unbelielable ordeals survived by the protagonist, however, I ask, "Fact or fiction?"I'm reminded of the Castenada epics in which Don Juan, lo & behold, turned out to be a pigment of the author's imagination. Despite jacket photos, has anyone ever met this monk? Somebody tell me, "Yes." I *want* to believe..... :)
Rating:
Summary: Humbling and beautiful.
Review: I am very glad to have found this book. Mr. Crane writes with a simplicity that touches the soul. His journey with Tsung Tsai to Inner Mongolia is a beautiful adventure of the body and mind. Tsung Tsai teaches by action, "be patience." Crane is a very complex and interesting man, so the two, monk and poet, make for a funky companionship. However, it works wonderfully. I feel humbled and awed by Tsung Tsai's presence and feel drawn to his wealth of being. This book is about one monk's simple mission to find the bones of his master and make a shrine for him. Along the way, this monk, Tsung Tsai, helps the people of his homeland in spirit and in flesh, dealing out medicines and cures and his knowledge of Ch'an Buddhism. Mr. Crane is a great friend of Tsung Tsai's and accompanies him on his mission. Crane is a fox through and through! He doesn't bow, dislikes the word 'master' and gets sick during meditation. He is a poet that loves simplicity and beauty. Throughout the journey Tsung Tsai is teaching him 'philosophy' and I feel, helps him grow. This book is a simple story about a simple thing. It is Ch'an (Zen) or Tao. It is a page-turner and humbling to read.
Rating:
Summary: Humbling and beautiful.
Review: I am very glad to have found this book. Mr. Crane writes with a simplicity that touches the soul. His journey with Tsung Tsai to Inner Mongolia is a beautiful adventure of the body and mind. Tsung Tsai teaches by action, "be patience." Crane is a very complex and interesting man, so the two, monk and poet, make for a funky companionship. However, it works wonderfully. I feel humbled and awed by Tsung Tsai's presence and feel drawn to his wealth of being. This book is about one monk's simple mission to find the bones of his master and make a shrine for him. Along the way, this monk, Tsung Tsai, helps the people of his homeland in spirit and in flesh, dealing out medicines and cures and his knowledge of Ch'an Buddhism. Mr. Crane is a great friend of Tsung Tsai's and accompanies him on his mission. Crane is a fox through and through! He doesn't bow, dislikes the word 'master' and gets sick during meditation. He is a poet that loves simplicity and beauty. Throughout the journey Tsung Tsai is teaching him 'philosophy' and I feel, helps him grow. This book is a simple story about a simple thing. It is Ch'an (Zen) or Tao. It is a page-turner and humbling to read.
Rating:
Summary: Tsung Tsai captured
Review: I don't know George Crane but I do know Tsung Tsai. He was my doctor for many years when I couldn't afford western medicine. I would call and ask if I could stop by, tell him my ailment, and he would say something like, "you come, you bring bread". That was the only payment he required. When I read Crane's book it was as if I was with Tsung Tsai again - I could hear his voice and see his mannerisms - to this day my husband and myself still speak many Tsung Tsai-isms and it was a joy to 'hear' him again in the book. George Crane has truly captured the real Tsung Tsai.
Rating:
Summary: I DON'T KNOW
Review: I don't know what you will get from this book, but it will be very very Good. Being a student of Chinese history (and Ch'an), I was not so taken by the historic panorama, or the personal sufferings, or the spirtual import of this book, as others were taken. Those stories are undoubtably 'there', but to me it was more a story of two friends, an artistic disclosure how two friends 'be together'. The other reviewers have not misled you. It's hard to put this book down, even for a minute. This story cuts across the reader's ideas of what he thinks he will be interested in reading.
Rating:
Summary: Read it!
Review: I don't understand why this book isn't a best seller; like most of your reviewers, I found it exceptional. If the subject matter appeals to you at all, read it!
Rating: 
Summary: Too Bad The Monk Didn't Write The Book
Review: I found the writer, Crane, dying to interpose his bad poetry, bad jokes and whining, obnoxious self into what could have been a thoughtful story about a monk and his religious beliefs. Too bad!
Rating:
Summary: Too Bad The Monk Didn't Write The Book
Review: I found the writer, Crane, dying to interpose his bad poetry, bad jokes and whining, obnoxious self into what could have been a thoughtful story about a monk and his religious beliefs. Too bad!
Rating:
Summary: Crying Up the Mountain, Laughing All the Way to the Temple
Review: I have a bookshelf next to my bed that has my favorite books of all time on it. There were two. They just got moved over, and "Bones" has taken the throne. This story of a Chan Buddhist Monk walking out of the 19th Century with his neer-do-well San Francisco poet gunslinger and taking on black magic and big mountains, breaks new ground all around, and gives passion a new place. The very clean prose-poetry Crane has created takes you to undiscovered places in language, geography and zen. "Motoring with Mohamed" and "Jaguars Ripped My Flesh", two previous favorites, blush in comparison. If you need a new paradigm, and you relish discovering new language, "Bones" is the best. Strap on your seatbelt and enjoy the ride. You will be delightfully surprised not only where you end up, but how you got there.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful journey
Review: I have that sad feeling now that I finished Bones of the Master, the way you feel when you miss your book and want it to go on forever! I learned a lot about Mongolia, China, Buddhism, history, and human struggle and overcoming ovewhelming odds to go where one must go. You will love it.
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