When I'm Gone, Look for Me in the East: A Novel
From the acclaimed author of We Ride Upon Sticks comes a luminous novel that moves across a windswept Mongolia, as estranged twin brothers make a journey of duty, conflict, and renewed understanding.
"A dazzling achievement...The rhythms are more like prayer than prose, and the puzzlelike plot yields revelations." —The New York Times
Tasked with finding the reincarnation of a great lama—a spiritual teacher who may have been born anywhere in the vast Mongolian landscape—the young monk Chuluun sets out with his identical twin, Mun, who has rejected the monastic life they once shared. Their relationship will be tested on this journey through their homeland as each possesses the ability to hear the other’s thoughts.
Proving once again that she is a writer of immense range and imagination, Quan Barry carries us across a terrain as unforgiving as it is beautiful and culturally varied, from the western Altai mountains to the eerie starkness of the Gobi Desert to the ancient capital of Chinggis Khaan. As their country stretches before them, questions of faith—along with more earthly matters of love and brotherhood—haunt the twins.
Are our lives our own, or do we belong to something larger? When I’m Gone, Look for Me in the East is a stunningly far-flung examination of our individual struggle to retain our convictions and discover meaning in a fast-changing world, as well as a meditation on accepting what simply is.
"A dazzling achievement...The rhythms are more like prayer than prose, and the puzzlelike plot yields revelations." —The New York Times
Tasked with finding the reincarnation of a great lama—a spiritual teacher who may have been born anywhere in the vast Mongolian landscape—the young monk Chuluun sets out with his identical twin, Mun, who has rejected the monastic life they once shared. Their relationship will be tested on this journey through their homeland as each possesses the ability to hear the other’s thoughts.
Proving once again that she is a writer of immense range and imagination, Quan Barry carries us across a terrain as unforgiving as it is beautiful and culturally varied, from the western Altai mountains to the eerie starkness of the Gobi Desert to the ancient capital of Chinggis Khaan. As their country stretches before them, questions of faith—along with more earthly matters of love and brotherhood—haunt the twins.
Are our lives our own, or do we belong to something larger? When I’m Gone, Look for Me in the East is a stunningly far-flung examination of our individual struggle to retain our convictions and discover meaning in a fast-changing world, as well as a meditation on accepting what simply is.
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Community Reviews
really liked the overall concept of this book and parts of it were quite impactful, but overall felt the pacing was off. hard to tell who was speaking or if we were talking about the past or present at times. i feel bad rating it so low because i do feel this was a good novel, just may not be executed right for my reading tastes. others i imagine will love it
A magical journey, and a perfect antidote to our current stressful times. For me, this book provided a balance of humor, drama, religion and relationship, and sense of purpose. Characters, even minor ones, were well drawn — especially given the vast history and geography of the background. For me, a page turner.
I was somewhat disappointed with this one. There were alot of intriguing elements in it, but they did not come together in a coherent satisfying way - the whole was much less than the sum of the parts. I enjoyed the setting in Mongolia and experiencing some of that world - and appreciated the nuggets of wisdom sprinkled throughout. I really liked the idea of twin monk brothers taking separate paths yet having a psychic connection, but I think the author did not do alot with that great idea. The whole search for the next avatar was kind of a McGuffin....
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