Narrative
Fayard, September 2002
Presentation
It is the battle of David against Goliath, a small people in love with spirituality and threatened with extermination by the materialistic power of China, Tibet holds a very special place on the world stage: its media importance in the West is without common measure, with its demographic or economic weight. This interest of Westerners for the land of snows, does not date from today. For centuries, intellectuals, missionaries, travelers, novelists, adventurers, have been passionate about Tibet, and have tried most often in vain or at the risk of their lives, to penetrate it. From the failures of these expeditions will be born a powerful myth: that of Tibet as the last sacred land of humanity. From Father Huc to Hergé, including James Hilton, this myth of Tibet would grow during the 20th century, taking on a tragic tone with the brutal invasion by China in 1950. Living today in the diaspora, Tibetan lamas spread their spiritual wisdom to millions of Westerners in search of spirituality, but also deeply marked by the myth.
For the first time, this book tells a double story: that of the real Tibet, a true feudal society, marked by a unique religious culture, and that of the mythical Tibet as it is dreamed and fantasized. By untangling the tangled threads of reality and imagination, it allows us to understand the deep roots of the passion for this country and shows the true face of a people all the more endearing because they are described with their courage, but also with their contradictions, their dark sides and their doubts. A work worthy of its subject: The Roof of the World.