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Rating: 
Summary: This should be classified as fiction
Review: I made a BIG mistake getting this book. I've never read such a load of garbage about Tibet in my life. I doubt if the guy has ever even been there. It is full of pseudo-esoteric mysticism of the worst kind and gives no valuavle information on what Tibet was like before the Chinese occupation. It is an insult to Tibet and the intelligence of anyone interested in Tibetan history and the plight of the Tibetan people today. Avoid like the plague and put the money towards buying something more worthwhile and informative on the subject. I had it one star because there was no way of indicating how bad this book really is. Amazon should come up for a symbol that denotes 'crap', or some other negative colloquialism.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't bother with this
Review: I made a BIG mistake getting this book. I've never read such a load of garbage about Tibet in my life. I doubt if the guy has ever even been there. It is full of pseudo-esoteric mysticism of the worst kind and gives no valuavle information on what Tibet was like before the Chinese occupation. It is an insult to Tibet and the intelligence of anyone interested in Tibetan history and the plight of the Tibetan people today. Avoid like the plague and put the money towards buying something more worthwhile and informative on the subject. I had it one star because there was no way of indicating how bad this book really is. Amazon should come up for a symbol that denotes 'crap', or some other negative colloquialism.
Rating: 
Summary: An unusual book for its time
Review: Obviously after reading the negative reviews, this book is not for everone. It does not try to be all things to all people, just one man's spiritual journey through Tibet. His experiences with enlightened "Hermits" as well as the phoney pretenders (majority) is well documented. The companion book "Darkness Over Tibet" even portrays the dark side of spiritual persuits. In some respects, the author's experience is somewhat similar to the Carlos Castenada books.Having done extensive reading in the new age and spiritual/channelled material of today, this is a refreshing first person narrative even though it was written in the 1930s. Unfortunately, a lot of the modern written stuff is full of mumbo jumbo [junk] and and outright disinformation. I found this book worthwhile as the author goes through many trials and tribulations in discerning the truth from the lies and fiction of the pretenders who throw just enough truth to hook people and then divert and distort the rest for the purpose of control. The same thing occurs today as it does then. Not all things are "love and light", yet he prevails in his arduous journeys as a spiritual seeker of truth.
Rating:
Summary: This should be classified as fiction
Review: This book purports to be a true account of the author's adventures in Tibet in the 1930's.Foreigners were not allowed into Tibet, so the author claims he disguised himself as a Tibetan and learnt the rudiments of the language.However, his story is full of holes and just doesn't add up.Tibet is very remote and one man alone would not find it easy to enter.In fact, he gives no details of how he entered the country.The more I read, the more suspicious I became of the truth of this book.The author had blue eyes and always adverted them when he met people.This would raise suspicion.He was German, and going by his picture in the book he looks nothing like a Tibetan.He says he stained his face each day to make it darker, but this would have made him look like some comic actor.It just doesn't add up.He must have stuck out like a sore thumb.He propounds his own religious ideas instead of giving an accurate picture of Tibetan religion.This book cannot be taken seriously.
Rating:
Summary: Absolute Garbage
Review: To begin, its obvious Mr. Illion never went to Tibet. To begin, there are *no* descriptions of specific places in Tibet. In fact, I think actual 'named' locations in Tibet are mentioned once or twice at most. Most of the descriptions of 'Tibet' are overly generic, and could probably have been culled from National Geographic articles. In addition, Mr. Illion has massive contempt for the Tibetan people, calling them 'gullible', 'stupid', 'unwashed' and so on throughout the book. He also harbors quite a grudge against the Lamas of Tibet, an interesting opinion in light of today's adoration with Tibetian Buddhism. I won't even go into his cover stories of losing his camera & staining his skin... its so much garbage it shouldn't even be dignified with an explanation. Here's what I think is really going on in this book. Mr. Illion was probably a 'mystic' back in Germany, making money on speeches & teaching other Germans. This book was most likely used to give him some credibility as a real mystic (he claims to meet Tibet's 'Enlightened Masters'), and bring in more money from his audiences. The book is garbage, and contains no information on Tibet pre Chinese invasion. All you will get out of this is 1930s New Age claptrap.. avoid it.
Rating: 
Summary: Is This a Real Thing or Fiction?
Review: Well, after reading the book, I have the feeling that it is just another make-believe story; the author really stayed in Tibet?? A better bet would be to read "A Journey to Lhasa" by Alexander David-Neel (ISBN: 080705903X). There's even a website devoted to her works... Other books by her concerning Tibet are also interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Is This a Real Thing or Fiction?
Review: Well, after reading the book, I have the feeling that it is just another make-believe story; the author really stayed in Tibet?? A better bet would be to read "A Journey to Lhasa" by Alexander David-Neel (ISBN: 080705903X). There's even a website devoted to her works... Other books by her concerning Tibet are also interesting.
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