In this extraordinary retelling by award-winning ethnic Tibetan writer Alai, The Song of King Gesar is brilliantly brought to life. It is one of the world's great epics, as significant for Tibetans as the Odyssey and Iliad for the ancient Greeks, and as the Ramayana and Mahabarata in India. Passed down in song from one generation to the next, it continues to be a living part of the Tibetan culture, and is sung by Tibetan bards even today.
Set partly in ancient Tibetan society, where evil spirits mingle with the lives of humans, and partly in modern-day Tibet, The Song of King Gesar tells of two lives inextricably entwined. Gesar, the youngest and bravest of the gods, has been sent down to the human world to defeat the demons that plague the lives of ordinary people and threaten to enslave them. Jigmed is a young shepherd, who is visited by dreams of Gesar, of gods and of ancient battles while he sleeps.
So begins an epic journey for both the shepherd and the king. The wilful child of the gods will become Gesar, the warrior-king of Ling, and will unite the nation of Tibet under his reign. And Jigmed will learn to see his troubled country with new eyes, and, as the storyteller chosen by the gods, must face his own destiny.
Autorentext
Alai was born in 1959 in Sichuan Province, of Rgyalrong Tibetan descent. As well as critically acclaimed collections of poetry, short stories and essays, he has written a number of novels, including the internationally bestselling Red Poppies: A Novel of Tibet, which was shortlisted for the 2002 Kiriyama Prize.
Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin are award-winning translators who have rendered the works of many of China's and Taiwan's finest writers into English. They live happily in Boulder, Colorado, USA.
Zusammenfassung
The first English translation of Tibet's founding myth, written by the renowned Chinese poet, novelist, and winner of China's Mao Dun Prize.The Song of King Gesar is one of the world's great epics, as significant for Tibetans as the Odyssey and Iliad were for the ancient Greeks. Passed down in song from one generation to the next, it is sung by Tibetan bards even today. Set partly in ancient Tibet, where evil spirits mingle with the lives of humans, and partly in the modern day, the tale tells of two lives inextricably entwined.Gesar, the youngest and bravest of the gods, has been sent down to the human world as an infant king to defeat the demons that plague the lives of ordinary people. Jigmed is a young shepherd who is visited by dreams of Gesar, of gods, and of ancient battles while he sleeps. So begins an epic journey for both the shepherd and the king. Gesar grows from a willful child of the gods into the warrior-king of Ling, and will unite the nation of Tibet under his reign. Jigmed will learn to see his troubled country with new eyes and, as the storyteller chosen by the gods, must face his own destiny.