FINISHED reading Stones of the Dalai Lama, ina
Chinese restaurant, of all places, eating my way through

§ a mound of chow mein.

Despite my fears about the
book’s title causing insurrection
among the Chinese diners, they
merely chewed in indifference.

This was in great contrast to. the
events of the book, which in part
describe the continuing conflict
between the Chinese government
and the Tibetan people.

Author Ken Mitchell is obviously
intimate with the tenets of Bud-
dhism and the struggle of the
Tibetans to preserve their culture.

His book, however, is a strange
vehicle to convey those ideas.

..2What makes it-strange-is one.
character in particular — Vern.

. First let me outline the plot for
you.

Bob Harlow is, in the words of
the Dalai Lama, a victim of his
own Karma.

After returning from a sabbatical
in China, his luck goes amok.

Accidents start to happen to his
family. There are murmurings of
sexual harassment threatening his

’ job as a professor of sociology at
University of Mary.
.,. Finally he traces his streak of
“bad luck to two mani stones, sou-
“ venirs from a trip to Tibet.
He and his wife Yvonne
. .pocketed the sacred funeral
. markers on a trip to Tibet's Place
of the Dead, a sacred mountaintop
site where sky burials are perforrn-
Harlow realizes the seriousness”

" of his culturally ignorant crime and ,

determines.to return the stones,
risking his tenure, family and tife in
the process.

Strangely enough, Bob opts ta

a take his mechanic-friend Vern’

(Yes, Veeeern) on the trip, a man
_who personifies cultural ig-,
norance.

This character gives the whole’.
book a crass ‘‘Ernest Goes to
Tibet’’ quality.

It drags down the dignity of the
story into.sheer camp. -.

Is Mitchell trying to be symbolic
and show the lowest possible form
-of human life, unenlightened and
unenlighten-able?.

Hf ever there was & character that o

Barbara Black
BOOK REVIEW

cried out for transformation (or an
early demise), Vern is it.

I started resenting his
boorishness so much | was hoping
the author would trash him on
some treacherous Tibetan moun-
tain pass.

As Bob meets mounting
obstacles barring his entry into
Tibet, Vern shows no compassion
for his friend’s predicament.

He is only concerned about
missing the World Series.

Somehow this just wasn’t funny.

The story picks up momentum
as Bob finally reaches the almost
unattainable Place of the Dead,
but Mitchell’s choice of having
Vern narrate his-own-goddam-.

- passages-in-his-own-goddam-style

ruins the epiphany, which is rather
implausible and certainly rates as
Buddhist blasphemy if there is
such thing.

Unfortunately, Bob's poetic ex-
perience, quite beautifully written,
gets drowned out by Vern’s bar-
room presence.

The story is desecrated.

One's lasting impression is of the
ignorant, racist, sexist, low-life
mechanic utterly unchanged after
visiting one of the most spiritual
places on the face of the earth.

But then, cockroaches are resil-
ient, too.

Road to Heaven, Encounters with
Chinese Hermits, by Bill Porter,
Mercury House, 220 pp., paper
‘In direct contrast to Mitchell's
novel is the very serious Road to
Heaven. Although the author
sometimes errs on the side of dry
fact-giving (the myriad of Chinese
names can be confusing), the aim

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of the book emerges as dignified
and worthy, like the religious
seekers it describes.

Porter travels to some of the
highest and most remote mountain
ranges in China to talk with her-
mits who choose to live their lives
in austerity.

Well-versed in Buddhist, Confu-
cian and Taoist texts, Porter asks
them about their religious pursuits,
the effects of the Cultural Revolu-
tion on religion and temple life.

During the Cultural Revolution
many temples, shrines and
religious texts were destroyed.

While the Chinese government
views the temples as potential
tourists traps, the monk and nuns
living inside struggle to rebuild
their spiritual heritage.

Among Porter's interview sub-
jects are an 85-year-old monk who
has been living in a cave for 50
years and a spritely 88-year-old
teacher who teaches him a mantra
she describes as a shoricut to
enlightenment.

Some of the temples he visits
can only be reached by treacher-

_ous paths cut into the mountain

walls.

On the way to one remote cave,
where Porter hoped to talk with
Master Su, Porter and his friend
climb finger and toe-holds up a
70-degree slope.

Other trails seem to defy the
ability of mortals.

in between accounts of his trips,
Porter provides background on the
development of Taoism and the
hermit tradition in China.

His Road to Heaven is a sen-
sitively-written tribute to those
who cultivate tranquility.

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. NOTICE To MOTORISTS -
PORTEAU BLUFFS ROCK SCALING:

PROJECT

SEA-TO-SKY HIGHWAY 99 —

The Ministry of Transportation and Highways advises that there will be 20 minute delays
and two and a half hour closures on the Sea-to-Sky Highway 99 at Porteau Bluffs, 25 km’

north of Horseshoe Bay, from Tuesday, September 7 to Friday, September 24, 1993,

The :

delays and closures are needed for rock scaling work and will be in effect as follows:

20 MINUTE DELAYS
Monday to Thursday
9:00 AM - 1:20 PM
7:30 PM - 9:00 Pi
Friday
9:00 AM - 12:30 Pa

2 & 1/2 HOUR CLOSURES
Monday to Thursday
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3:30 AM - 5:30 AM (2 hour closure)

1:30 PM - 4:00 PM
9:30 PM - 12:00 AM
Friday
12:30 AM - 3:00 AM

3:30 AN - 5:30 AM (2 hour closure)

Note: There will be no scheduled closures or delays for rock scaling work on Friday
afternoons, statutory holidays or weekends.

For further information, please contact the 24-hour road report at 525-4997 (Greater
Vancovuer); 938-4997 (Whistler); 858-4997 (Abbotsford); 371-4997 (Kamloops); 860-
4997 (Kelowna); 490-4997 (Penticton); 558-4997 (Vernon); 380-4997 (Victoria); *4997
(BC Cellular & Cantel). In all other communities, please call 1-800-663-4997.

Province of
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Ministry of Transportation
and Highways