Ebook Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan, by Jamie Zeppa
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Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan, by Jamie Zeppa
Ebook Beyond the Sky and the Earth: A Journey into Bhutan, by Jamie Zeppa
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Amazon.com Review
As a teacher of English literature, Jamie Zeppa would understand how the story of her journey into Bhutan could be fit into the convenient box of "coming-of-age romance," a romance with a landscape, a people, a religion, and a dark, irresistible student. An innocent, young Catholic woman from a Canadian mining town who had "never been anywhere," Zeppa signed up for a two-year stint teaching in a remote corner of the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. Despite the initial shock of material privation and such minor inconveniences as giardia, boils, and leeches, Zeppa felt herself growing into the vast spaces of simplicity that opened up beyond the clutter of modern life. Alongside her burgeoning enchantment, a parallel realization that all was not right in Shangri-La arose, especially after her transfer to a college campus charged with the politics of ethnic division. Still she maintained her center by devouring the library's Buddhist tracts and persevering in an increasingly fruitful meditation practice. When the time came for her to leave, she had undergone a personal transformation and found herself caught between two worlds that were incompatible and mutually incomprehensible. Zeppa's candid, witty account is a spiritual memoir, a travel diary, and, more than anything, a romance that retraces the vicissitudes of ineluctable passion. --Brian Bruya
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From Publishers Weekly
Zeppa's story is nearly an inversion of the ancient Buddhist tale of Siddhartha (in which a prince ventures from the paradise of his father's palace only to find the suffering and decay that he never knew existed) in that the author, at the age of 22, abruptly leaves a stale life in Canada to become a volunteer teacher in the remote and largely undisturbed Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan. Cloaked in the airy mountains between India and China, Bhutan initially frustrates but eventually captivates Zeppa with its rudimentary lifestyle that forces her to question former values and plans for the future. Though the story line would seem to open itself to cloying romanticization, Zeppa's telling of her clumsy attempts to adapt rings with sincerity and inspires sympathy. She thinks to herself upon visiting a local house: "In one shadowy corner, there is a skinny chicken. I blink several times but it does not vanish. Is it a pet? Is it dinner?" Zeppa's lucid descriptions of the craggy terrain and honest respect for the daily struggles of the natives bring the tiny land to life in a way that is reverent but real. Though she tries to avoid what a friend terms "that Shangri-La-Di-Da business" and grapples with the poverty, sexism and political squabbles in Bhutan that bother her, there is little doubt that she sees the place in a largely positive light and is tempted to remain. In the end, Zeppa's is a lively tale of her earnest efforts to reconcile what she has learned with what she has known. (June) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Product details
Hardcover: 393 pages
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover (June 7, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 157322118X
ISBN-13: 978-1573221184
Product Dimensions:
5.8 x 1.1 x 9.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.4 out of 5 stars
143 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#744,403 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
I expected a first hand account of experiences with a unique and isolated culture, not the diary of a self absorbed college girl who just happened to find herself on the other side of the world. I got too little of the former and too much of the latter, with most of the Bhutanese people acting as background extras to Zeppa’s starring role. The author frustratingly contradicts herself repeatedly throughout the book, lecturing the reader about how our western values should not be pushed on the people of Bhutan, while often in the same paragraph doing exactly that as she forces her very Canadian ideals of gender roles on them. In the second half of the book, the cultural study of the people completely dries up in favor of Zeppa’s self justification of highly unethical behaviors.
This book has received plenty of praise from other reviewers and now I can add mine. It was a pleasure from start to finish and one of those books that, while hard to put down, you don't want to end either. Through her wonderful descriptions, honesty and humor, you are transported with the author on her both brave and naive venture into a vastly different culture and terrain than anything she has ever known. She starts out with great trepidation, wondering whether she has made a huge mistake and having no idea if she will have the strength of constitution or character to survive without her accustomed level of personal comforts and safety. It is an experience that allows her personal growth and an unexpected opportunity for reevaluating her values and reforming her path for the future. I bought this book initially to learn something of the culture of Bhutan prior to a trip we are planning, but got SO much more from it - certainly one of the best I have read in a while.
After earning her master's degree in English literature from York University, Toronto/Sault Ste. Marie native, Jamie Zeppa, became lost with her life's course. Yearning for adventure, she impulsively leaves her country, fiancé, and a potential doctorate education to teach English for two years in Bhutan; an isolated Himalayan kingdom, often referred to as the world's last Shangri-La; a country that has repelled globalization, undergoing little change in centuries."I want to go home. I tell Sasha I am coming down with something, and lie in bed and wish for things: a Cosmopolitan magazine, a bagel and cream cheese, a grocery store, the Eaton Centre two days before Christmas."Due to the polarization between the industrialized society of Canada and the rural way-of-life in Bhutan, Zeppa struggled tremendously with her process of acculturation. People no longer spoke English, Buddhism became the dominant religion, urban infrastructure was practically non-existent, and all the simple pleasures of Canadian life were gone. Misery consumed her as the risk of disease and sickness was brought into focus: a house infested with rats and bugs, questionable meat at the local markets, and hospitals that were miles away. However, with the help and kindness of the Bhutanese people, her fears would progressively dissipate and Bhutan would become her serenity."I remember my arrival in Bhutan and how miserable I was, and all the other teachers who seemed inexplicably content. They were right all along, I think. This is the most remarkable place, after all."Fundamentally, "Beyond the Sky and the Earth" is a love story. It is a memoir that recollects Zeppa's romance with a landscape, a people, a culture, and a man. Intricately written with compassion, Zeppa's book fashions us- the reader- into her persona, and systematically render us into her affection for a place. We will be carried along with her, as she journeys through joy and heartbreak; empathize with her as she flows from triumphs to struggles and righteousness to shame. And by the end of it all, we all will be humbled by it."They [her young students] curl up under a blanket, and I stand in the doorway, watching their small faces relax into sleep. I must squeeze my eyes tightly to stop the tears. If I feel this sad leaving Pema Gatshel after five months, I cannot imagine how I will feel leaving Bhutan after two years."What's also extraordinary about "Beyond the Sky and the Earth" is Zeppa's imaginative style of description. Unlike the conventional lackluster scenery narratives of most contemporary travel literatures, Zeppa's depictions are artistic and breathe life into the mysticism and beauty of a landscape forgotten by time."All around, the mountains rise and rise, pale gold and brown in the February light. At one end of the valley, beyond a wall of black, broken peaks, one white summit shimmer; at the other end, the mountains grow tamer, softly rounded and turning smoky blue in the distance."The only flaw- if it's even considered a flaw- with "Beyond the Sky and the Earth" is the book's potential to manufacture subjective non-literary criticisms. There are certain scenarios in the story in which the author comes off rather hypocritical. Some readers may also be distressed by Zeppa's heightened libido towards her male [college] students. But nevertheless, "Beyond the Sky and the Earth" is a well-written, concise, and honest piece of literature that is full of heart. It is a philosophical, anthropological, geographical, sociological lesson all bundled together inside the boundaries of an entertaining travel memoir. It is an experience and a pleasure to read- and similar to the country of Bhutan itself, this book is a hidden beauty. I highly recommend it.
This is a memoir in the very turest sense of the word. As with many menoirs, this one is a mixture of honesty, sometimes too much honesty, some striking gaps, some self-deception, and some 'meretricious adornment'.I bought the book on recommendation from a friend and also read some of the (positive and negative reviews before delving in). What is good in this book (the very personal view of Bhutan in the 90s by a young naif from Canada--who appears to have had limited exposure even to the complexities of her own country's multiple cultures) is indeed quite good. What is bad (the retelling of her romance with and eventual marriage to one of her students) is not as bad as I had been led to believe by the negative reviews.To my mind, the book is as much about how exposure to another culture helps someone grow up (you could easily plug in a number of other countries/situations) as it is a narrative about life in this rather unique, far away country. For those who know Bhutan through a visit of their own, there is much to recognize and remember. For those who do not, this is an interesting (if somewhat dated) introduction to a country that is full of complexities and contradictions. It is a shame that while Zeppa is quite willing to describe pretty intimate details of her romance and her own family's (most notably her grandfather's) and friends' reaction and eventual acceptance, she is virtually silent on how she was received by her Bhutanese inlaws. One gets a sense that life continues to be complicated, but you kind of feel left hungry at the table.
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