22 - Wednesday, January 10, 1990 - North Shore News

Kathmandu book rises above the rest

a

t is as if the gods uprooted a mountain. The
Kathmandu valley is a vast green space scooped
from ac-lossal sculpture garden of jagged whites

and grays. Here the snow-capped peaks of the Nepal
Himalaya plunge from 29,000 to 4,400 feet, forming 200
square miles of lush land, a palette of brilliant greens and
golds overlapping in gentle terraces, a rich tapestry of
croplands threaded with rivers and patched with clusters of
brown-thatched houses. The sun glints from gilded copper
on tiered pagoda roofs. Giant carved figures, the Buddhist
stupas of Swayambhu and Bodnath, gaze with serene lotus
eyes from the eastern and western edges.”

The evocative and poetically
descriptive passage is the opening
paragraph of a new book that ex-
plores a very old topic: the fabled
Himalayan city of Kathmandu.

Kathmandu — City On The
Edge of The World (Abbeville
Press; 197 pp.; $49.95) is a rarity in
the ranks of coffee table titles. Not
only does it contain photographs
of uncommon clarity and insight
but the text itself rivals the stunn-
ing images with which Kathmandu
is 50 abundantly supplied.

In fact, photographer Thomas
Kelly and writer Patricia Roberts
have created something that is, in
all respects but that of association,
a book-length National
Geographic exploration of what is
arguably the world’s most intrigu-

ing city.
Facts on ethnic groups, religions,
economy, government, — history,

agriculture, social issues, architec-
ture, geographical situation, family
structures and much more are
skilfully woven into a text that is as
entertaining as it is informative.
Given the nature of the subject
this is no mean feat as Kathmandu
is a seemingly chaotic blend not
only of style and peoples but of
centuries. Long a vital urban cen-
tre situated at the confluence of
major trading routes, Kathmandu
has evolved into an amalgam. of

SEASON OPENER

Billy Bishop

PRESENTATION HOUSE Theatre
opens its new season with john
Gray's musical hit Billy Bishop
Goes to War,

The high-flying musical, directed
by David Wilson, offers an in-
sightful look into the life and times
of Canada’s famous World War
One flying ace, Billy Bishop.

The cast includes focal Mark
Hopkins as Bishop and Lawrence
Kagan, who will be making his
professional debut at Presentation
House. Billy Bishop opens Jan. 18.
From Mar. 15 to 31, Presentation

J

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a? 25%

our planet’s human facets as the
following aptly demonstrates:
“Here is a mosaic of Hinduism,
Buddhism, tantrism and animism
and countless additional traditions.
Kathmandu’s people are an ethnic
mix representing four major castes
and 36 sub-castes and speaking a
commensurate number of dialects.”
Kathmandu is a city where time
appears to have bent back on itself
nol once but a score of times.
the

bear

Temples and shrines

MIKE 2"
STEELE 4X,

book review

wind-worn patina of — milennia
while serving as the backdrop for
vendors hawking bliejeans:
chickens. goats and) pigs scurry
between the wheels of Japanese
Juxury cars and “Ata roadside, a
stone slab oo. carved in. ancient
script, ComMeMorates some event
of distant centuries, while the red
sign) emblazaned across a shop
wall invites the passerby to ENJOY
COCA COLA.”

Yet Kathmandu’s ability to har.

goes to NV

ttouse presents Clarence Darrow,
a provocative one-man show
depicting the courtroom battles of
the famous American lawyer.

The season is capped off with
the Owl and The Pussycat, the
classic adult story about two
mismatched people who fall in
love. Written by Bill Manhoff, the
play runs from Apr. 5 to 21.

For more information about the
Triple Play package (for all three
shows, tickets are $25 adults and
$17 for students and seniors),
phone Presentation House at
986-1351.

Moniously accommodate seem-
ingly irreconcilable religious
beliefs, races and traditions may
be taxed beyond endurance by
the end of the final decade of the
20th century.

No. stranger to paradox,
Kathmandu long-enjoyed a role in
legend and myth that tar exceeded
its status in reality. Its population
30 years ago was a mere 300,000,
but its ‘discovery’ by the West in
the 1960s and the introduction of
international flights in the 1970s
have rapidly tripled the number of
inhabitants; by the year 2000
Kathmandu may be struggling to
cope with twice again as many: a
staggering 2,000,000 citizens.

This unique place that once in-
spired a bedazzled Rudyard Kipl-
ing to describe it in verse as where
“the wildest dreams of Kew are
but the facts of Kathmandu” may
be about to vanish into the very

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fables it once occupied.
Kathmandu — City On The Edge
of The World could well be one of
the most eloquent elegies of all
time.

aee

Far less eloquent but still
noteworthy is Elaine Brook's Land
of The Snow Lion — An Adven-
ture in Tibet, an autobiographical
account of this Englishwoman’s
three-month travel through the
Chinese-controlled mountain
stronghold.

Inciuded on the roster of a Brit-
ish climbing expedition in the
mid-1980s solely as a source of
badly needed funds, Brooks even-
tually set out on her own for an
unsanctioned trek through what
was at the time a country forbid-
den to all but a handful of out-
siders.

Brook’s poignant description of

TWO WEEKS ONL)

the destruction visited on the
Tibetan people and culture (the
Chinese levelled all but nine of the
more than 3,000 religious struc-
tures of this Buddhist bastion) is as
heartrending as her encounters
with Tibetan hospitality are heart-
warming, but such details form a
relatively minor part of the book.

Far too much time is spent
describing Brook’s bickering with
the poorly organized and other-
wise all-male British team before
she finally embarked on her
primary quest: a solo journey into
Tibetan society.

Despite this failing, her story
provides a valuable glimpse into
the lives of an extraordinary peo-
ple who have suffered decades of
Chinese barbarism and still
manage to retain at least a portion
of their cultural identity.

Land of The Snow Lion... (Ran-
dom House; 238 pp.; paperback)

25% and more

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