2.5 stars. I loved Demick's book on North Korea, Nothing to Envy, and found Logavina Street also very engaging and interesting, but this was such a struggle. I had picked it up a few times over the years before finally deciding I needed to finish it. And I did, but I won't recommend it to any library patrons.

An eye-opening look at a the cultural tensions and geopolitics of Tibet today. A must have for high school and public libraries.

I really wanted to love this one. There were many sections that were off putting to me. I wonder how much input she actually honestly used from the people who lived in the town. I find it hard to read books by people who carry a lot of privilege who go to and write about marginalized people experiences. it doesn't sit right.

I loved Nothing to Envy but this book was a complete disappointment. I found the writing to be distracting and choppy and the style off-putting. The author tried to relate the situations using actual people's stories but they often distracted too much from the ultimate goal. Also, it was difficult to keep all of the families/individuals straight with all of the back and forth and it distracted further from the story.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book and provide an honest review.

Barbara Demick masterfully stitches together research, personal experience, and oral histories to provide insight and context to the history of the struggles Tibetans have faced for generations under Chinese rule. Focusing on the the most Eastern lands of the Tibetan plateau, specifically town of Ngaba and surrounding areas, Demick writes with compassion of the powerlessness of the Tibetans against the Chinese, and the lengths the Tibetans will go to to relieve themselves of the suffering and suppression of their religion and freedom. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is already a fan of Barbara Demick, or is interested in learning more about the history and recent conditions in Tibet.

I loved Barbara Demick's Nothing to Envy - about the daily lives of the people of North Korea - so I was looking forward to this, but I somehow found it quite a slow read. I'm not even sure why. Perhaps because the issues are more familiar to me than in North Korea, or perhaps because it focuses more specifically on the politics rather than the daily lives of the Tibetan people. It does follow specific individuals and show their relationship to the country and to the Chinese, but I found it hard to keep their different characters and the chronology of their stories in my head.

It's impressive in its research and detail and would be brilliant for anyone studying the politics or recent history of the region, but (even as someone with a politics degree) it doesn't work so well as a narrative for the general reader as Nothing to Envy.

This is basically an ethnography of Ngaba, a town in Tibet, presented through the eyes of a handful of it residents. It is written by an American journalist, a woman, who spent a lot of time in China. You learn a lot about modern Tibetan history and culture, and about Chinese administration and its policies toward Tibetans.

The book is very articulate without being academic. It's an easy read, if you're able to keep track of the various characters, since their stories are disjointed and jump around (none of the viewpoint characters know one another).

It's a sad read, however, because of the author's sympathetic tone towards Tibet, and the description of how its culture is being destroyed by the Chinese authorities. The Long March (which caused mass starvation in Tibet), the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution all took heavy tolls on Tibet. So are recent protests, self-immolations by monks, and the resulting government crackdowns. At the end, she looks at whether material improvements should be considered a fair trade for independence. She also affirms the view that all of China's expansion efforts in the Himalayas are really about control of water -- not just northward for large swaths of China, but also southward for all of SE Asia.

The title refers to starving Red Army soldiers raiding Buddha statuettes from Tibetan monasteries during the Long March. The statues were made from dough. So the soldiers boiled them down and ate them. It's a fit metaphor for the sacking of Tibet.

Here's a quote I found interesting. "China is becoming what political scientist Stein Ringen has termed the 'perfect dictatorship.' The government's control already is so complete, their surveillance of online communications so thorough, the closed-circuit cameras so ubiquitous, the biometric tracking of the population so advanced, that they maintain order almost seamlessly. China's new approach is less barbaric than the methods used by other regimes to control dissent -- for example, the gassing of civilian populations by Syria's Bashar Assad -- but is no less stifling."

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance review copy.

When Demick, who was the Chief of the Beijing news bureau for the Los Angeles Times came to the Tibetan plateau in 2008, she knew this area would become the subject of her next book. Employing the non-fiction narrative style, Demick brings the reader not only history, but to the lives of the people As before, Demick choose a microcosm of a complicated issue to reflect the whole of the situation. Here she chose a small town, Ngawa City, located in the Sichuan region of China to tell of the conflict between China and Tibet. By using the actual voices of the people she brings authenticity and well as immediacy to the narrative.
In a recent interview with Politics and Prose (July 29, 2020) she commented on the difficulties when language can form barriers to understanding. Demick used interpreters, as Tibetan is a difficult language to learn. She was aware that a Chinese translator might also be under pressure from the government thus translations might be misleading. Accordingly she did conduct interviews in Chinese.

People of the West tend to romanticize the Tibetan region. The complex truth is ignored while the misleading thoughts of peaceful people not corrupted by western influence is still part of conventional wisdom. Beginning in the 1930's when the Red Army fled Chiang Kai Shek's troops, the two cultures have been in a conflict. Like most of this region in Asia at the beginning of the 20th century, the rural economy was based on fiefdoms. In particular in Tibet, political leadership was shared with the monastic system. The Central government was far away, and most day to day conflicts were decided at the local level. After the communist take over in Beijing, this changed. The attempted rebellion in 1959 brought the Western world into the conflict. Today the Chinese government continues to repress the Tibetan way of life.

Demick tells the story of the resistance through the eyes of many from a princess who saw her way of life eliminated by the Red Army, to a young monk radicalized at the Kirti monastery. The inclusion of artists, scholars and merchants along with the other interview subjects gives more objective view to the people of this region. Knowing the back story, it is easier to understand why this region was one of the centers for the self-immolation protests in the last decade. This reader can easily understand why Demick has won so many awards, both for her non fiction books and for her journalism. She is now devoting her full time to non fiction writing. I look forward to reading her for many years to come .

Very highly recommended.

Full disclosure: I received this ARC from netgalley.com and Random House in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for this opportunity.

An eye-opening read on a part of the world that few have visited and few have the opportunity to get a deeper glimpse into. This book fulfills a need and should be in every library.

EAT THE BUDDHA is a fascinating, empathetic, realistic and detailed journey through Tibetan history and culture that revolves around one town in particular and the people who populate it. Their individual stories, rich in sensory details, brought another perspective to the story of China's occupation of this ancient land.

Recommended for anyone interested in Sino-Tibetan history, language and culture.

(Note: many thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the gifted book.)

After reading Barbara Demick's book "Nothing to Envy," I'm fairly certain that I would read anything she writes going forward, no matter the topic. The writing style of both "Nothing to Envy" and "Eat the Buddha" (narrative nonfiction) is easy to get wrapped up in as well as impeccably researched. Her books could easily be 500+ pages, so I appreciate that the editing is tight as well.

I'm embarrassed to say I knew hardly anything about Tibet other than what is common knowledge, so I appreciated this lesson on history and current events. Obviously, the oppression of Tibet is heartbreaking and important to learn about. As with "Nothing to Envy," the personal interviews in "Eat the Buddha" give the book dimension and poignancy.

The title got me into the book, and the interesting history lesson kept me going. Focusing on a group of Tibetans who live in Sichuan, an area where many Tibetans have set themselves on fire protesting China’s rule. Demick sets out to find out why 156 Buddhists have set themselves on fire, even swallowing gasoline to make sure they burn from the inside. By looking back at the history of the Tibetan uprising and the humiliating way the Chinese stripped these Tibetans of everything, even killing their yaks, Demick has a very pessimistic outlook for the future. It’s a challenging book to read, but well worth it if you are interested in the future of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism.

"Eat the Buddha" by Barbara Demick is a great read. I'll definitely be recommending this one to some of my patrons.

My thanks to NetGalley, Random House and Barbara Demick for an ARC in exchange for an honest book review.
The plight of Tibet is never more evident or well represented than in Barbara Demick’s ‘Eat the Buddha: Life and Death in a Tibetan Town’.
The mysteries and serenity of Buddhism and Tibetan monks always appears idyllic but in these pages we witness Tibetans from and around the town of Ngaba who have been abused, persecuted, stripped of their cultural and religious identity and their freedom by Chinese suppression. Demick’s interviewees share their stories candidly. They are heartbreaking. They are eye-opening and o one can tell them with the detail and heart as Barbara Demick can.
This is a very personal narrative of survival, of honor and of the devotion of the Tibetan people who are faced with unimaginable challenges today as they try to hold onto their spirituality, their culture and their home.
Highly recommended reading.

I had hoped for what the cover copy promised: a detailed account of Ngaba, a small town in Tibet. Unfortunately, this book was repetitive and often vague in detail and information. The writing is a bit clunky as well, and there's a lot of speculative padding regarding people's thoughts and motivations.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for gifting me with an ARC of Eat The Buddha by Barbara Demick. In exchange I offer my unbiased review.

Very few journalists have both the reverence and skills to write such a detailed but engaging historical narrative of the Tibetan People and their struggles for freedom & independence. Barbara Demick treks to the town of Ngaba, secluded on the Easter plateau of Tibet and introduces the readers to several long time locals. Through theair personal struggles we get a glimpse of the world very few foreigners are able to explore on their own. It’s a fascinating journey into a peaceful people’s traditions, culture, festivals and challenges as China has usurped all their dignity and uniqueness.
I knew very little about this region of the world and was enraptured by the meticulous material Barbara Demick provided. This was both eye opening and heartbreaking. Whether you’re a history buff, or just a casual nonfiction reader Eat The Buddha will not disappoint.

*Thank you Netgalley and Random House for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
Babara Demick weaves together this multi layered story through the use of thoroughly researched historical data and the personal stories of several residents of Ngaba - located at the Eastern edge of the Tiebtan plateau. This story is gripping, heartbreaking and at times utterly enraging. It is not "easy" to read the story of a group of people who have been persecuted, abused, stripped of their religion and cultural identity. To know these atrocities began before I was alive and continue to this day, while the world turns their backs is heart wrenching. To read this book though is to also learn and experience the beauty and enduring strength of the Tiebtan people, their culture and their history. #freetibet isn't just a trendy hashtag - it holds the hopes of an entire people. Read this book, you owe it to yourself and to the people of Tibet to know more - to do more.

“For centuries, Tibet was known as a hermit kingdom. Its charms were hidden by the natural barrier of the Himalayas to its west and by a reclusive theocratic government ruled by a succession of Dalai Lamas...Nowadays it is not the Tibetans shutting the door, but a paranoid Chinese Communist Party. China has ruled Tibet since 1950, and is a most unwelcoming gatekeeper.”

When the Communists fled farther west into China (The Long March) to escape the Chinese Civil War, they were lacking of food, and by sheer coincidence found Buddha statues made of flour that tasted sweet, then started consuming them whenever they found any, hence the title ‘Eat the Buddha’.

'Eat The Buddha' chronicles the lives and struggles of Tibetans who lived under the ruling of China since 1950, when Mao proclaimed the People Republic of China. This book is the result of thorough research, and the various interviews Demick conducted with Tibetans from a small town called Aba at the eastern edge of the Tibetan plateau, for over 3 years.

We start from the year 1958 and end with the present, where some of the interviewees are currently residing in Dharamsala, India, now home of some exiles like Gonpo and Delek, but numbers have recently dropped when some of them have moved back to China, hoping to lead an ‘easier’ life than the one they had in India.

The book opens to the story of Gonpo, the last princess of mei Kingdom, when her palace was being seized and her entire family was being forced out of their home. In the following chapters, we get to meet other Tibetans like Delek, now a ‘self-styled historian’ whose original research was focused on the events of the 20th century, Dongtuk, a kid born out of wedlock and whose half-brother self-immolated, and Tsegyam, an aspiring poet, who at 19 became a vice principal.

This was such an amazing historical non-fiction that vividly painted the livelihoods of people struggling to find their footing in a country they call home, which keeps robbing them of their identities, freedom and independence, again and again. It’s about they stood their ground, fought back, rebelled to the extent of self-immolation as a protest, a call for the freedom of their people and to bring their Dalai Lama back home.

On top of that, the author also showed us the Tibetans' lives, cultures and beliefs that made them known for their peace and non-violent nature. We’ll read of their Monlam festival (The Great Prayer Festival); Losar, the Tibetan New Year; their sky burials (an ecological practice of returning a body to nature without digging the land polluting water, or chopping down trees for cremation); their food like tsampa (made of barley or wheat flour) which is their staple, momos and khapse - treats they serve on special occasions like their New Year; their famous butter lamps for their prayers and meditations; their nomadic life and how some are adapting to a more modernized life, and their education at the monasteries where they also held their Tibetan monastic debates in their own style (lots of body gestures and clapping).

This was such an eye-opening read for me, it’s heartbreaking to know and see what the Tibetans have to go through and their struggles seem endless, so much so that the Dalai Lama one day asked Elie Wiesel during one of his visits to India,

“You wrote about the Jewish people losing a homeland two thousand years ago and how you’re still here. Mine has just lost its homeland, and I know it’s going to be a very long road into exile,” “How did you survive?”

It’s a question that many, without a doubt, would want an answer to.

Definitely going to be one of my top non-fiction reads this year!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

I really enjoyed this, and it was my introduction to the Tibetan cause. It's very fluid and readable and extremely well-sourced. I mostly admire the dedication to her work and appreciation of the nuances of culture that Barbara Demick demonstrates.

3 1/2 stars rounded up. I really enjoyed reading Demick's book about North Korea and looked forward to this book as well. In "Eat the Buddha," we get a good look at Tibet and their rocky relationship with China. We get a deep appreciation of one specific village up in the mountains of China. Ngaba starts as a nomadic population and over time their way of life is upended as the Red Army marches in and changes their life. I did not fully recognize just how "Big Brother" China had become. It's terrifying and saddening to see how much this peaceful people are abused.

This book is a lot more fact-heavy than the North Korea one. It's either that, or since I lived in South Korea I could relate more to the other. At times I lost track of who all the people were. I definitely felt anxious for all these Tibetans and wished a more peaceful life for them. Definitely eye-opening and I'm not sorry I read this one.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for an ARC for my honest opinion.