Storytelling: 8 – This book was pretty far out of my comfort zone, but I am always trying (and sometimes failing…) to push myself to read more non-fiction. This book spoke to me for multiple reasons, not least of which being that I’m at a phase in my life where I’m diving into my faith, getting more involved in my church, and figuring out “what the heck it all means”. I admittedly don’t know a whole lot about Buddhism or their take on things, so I figured I’d give this book a shot.
This book features a collection of conversations between His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Llama and the French screenwriter, Jean-Claude Carriere about some of the larger issues affecting our world today. It was kind of a brilliant way to get a lot of interesting tidbits from the Dalai Llama without forcing him to sit down and write out a hundred essays. So not much storytelling going on here, but I will give Carriere points for spicing up this book by sectioning it off wisely and adding in interesting and informative little essays throughout. He chops up the writing nicely to make it easier on the reader (just reading a huge book of dialogue would not be my cup of tea) and I found this to be an easy book to pick up during my lunch break.
Admittedly, I read this at a glacial pace, so I did not speed through it in rapt awe, but that has more to do with my tastes than the caliber of this book. As far as weaving a compelling story, Carriere addresses interesting topics (over-population, education, God, terrorism, the Big Bang, etc.), and he organizes them well while pushing the Dalai Llama to discuss some heavy stuff. I learned a ton about Buddhism (both as a science and as a set of spiritual beliefs) and a fair bit about the Chinese invasion of Tibet and the subsequent exile of the Dalai Llama. I was also surprised to learn how desperately the Dalai Llama thinks overpopulation is the root of many of the world’s issues. The book kept going back to this, and it really made me wonder about our future as a species.
However, and this may seem a very odd complaint, this book could have done with a little bit more humor. It got a little too heavy and prosaic at moments, which is somewhat necessary when you’re addressing the nature of the universe and if a God exists, but I kept getting brief intellectual headaches. I could physically feel my eyes glazing over when Carriere attempted, and somewhat failed, to address a particularly heavy tenet of Buddhism. Again, I’m not so much the ideal audience for this book, but I do believe I’m a pretty great reader and I’m a curious person, so I was a bit disappointed by this approach.
Writing: 8 – I admittedly was a bit apprehensive about a screenwriter doing a book, but then again, this was a brilliant move. Who better than a renowned screenwriter to capture a series of dialogues? This was no ordinary book and the writing was excellent, well-researched, and again, organized brilliantly. There are few things in this world that I love more than great organization. Carriere also added in details about the Dalai Llama’s reactions to certain subjects. For example, when he would pause to reflect or laugh about something, there would be a brief footnote explaining Carriere’s observations. I appreciated this touch.
Carriere is obviously a brilliant writer and this book is fantastically written. I just have to dock a few points for the few moments where it got a little too intellectual hoity-toity for me. It never got preachy, but Carriere kept losing me during the really deep and profound moments. I’ll share the blame and I definitely get a little ADD and disinterested from time to time, but I also have to point to the author a bit for this. I’ve read plenty of heavy non-fiction that has kept me engaged.
Characters: 9 – The Dalai Llama (I suppose I should mention that his name is actually Tenzin Gyatso) and an intellectual French screenwriter…you can’t really find a better duo. I loved the relationship between these two, and I especially enjoyed it when they disagreed a little bit. I feel like I would be terrified to disagree with the Dalai Llama, but Carriere engages and debates with His Holiness a few times, even though for the most part they believe the same things.
I’d love to sit down with both of these men over a cup of tea and ask them my own set of questions, and I would like to be friends with both of them (even though I’d be intimidated out of my mind). I can’t easily rate this book on “characters” because these are indeed real people, but they were a wisely-selected pair and both so extraordinarily intelligent and interesting. I enjoyed their insight, even if I disagreed at times. One point docked for sheer intimidation.
Best part: Hm. I don’t know if any specifically come to mind, but I really enjoyed the little stories sprinkled throughout that Buddhist masters use to elucidate profound ideas to their students. Sometimes these little tales illuminate so much more than a heavy passage can.
Recommend to: My Christian friends. Even if you’re strong in your faith, I think it’s important to explore and understand other religions.
Reminded me of: Meh. I’m gonna say this is n/a.
How I would murder the main character: I’d really rather not kill him, so maybe I’d just force Carriere to write the script for a Will Ferrell movie.
Sexy parts: This book strongly asserts that people need to stop procreating, especially in Third World countries, so in a way it is anti-sex. Or at least pro-birth control. Our Earth has got way too many crazy humans on it, and it's only going to get worse.
To sum it up: A clever and thought-provoking collection of conversations.
Overall: 8
