Horses Like Lightning: a story of passage through the Himalayas
Horses Like Lightning: a story of passage through the Himalayas
$33.95
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ISBN / SKU
9780861715176
Format
Paperback
Pages
304
Dimensions
225 x 150
Category/ies
Description
A tender account—by turns cultural exploration and memoir of a young woman's firsthand experience of change and continuity in one of the worlds most remote regions, through the lens of the horse and "horse culture."
At just 19, Sienna Craig made her first venture deep into Mustang, an ethnically Tibetan area of Nepal, in the rainshadow of the Himalayas. As an equestrian and a buddhing anthropologist, she sought not only to understand what it was like to rely on horses to navigate through the windswept valleys and plains of High Asia, but also to grasp how horses lent meaning to the lives of the Mustangi people. Through living and working with local Tibetan doctors, veterinarians, and other horse experts, as well as the deep friendships she formed, Sienna began to understand the region's history, and the way life in Mustang was being transformed in the face of temendous social, political, and economic shifts. She learned much about herself and her life's course through her year in Mustang — a place that came to feel, for all its foreignness, like home.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SIENNA CRAIG was born in Santa Barbara, California in 1973. She is the author of a children's book, Clear Sky, Red Earth: A Himalayan Story and A Sacred Geography: Sonnets of the Himalaya and Tibet. She earned her Ph.D. in anthropology from Cornell University and is currently an assistant professor at Dartmouth College. She lives in Vermont with her husband Ken and her daughter Aida.
PRAISE
"Many scholars have opened Himalayan cultures up to us with authority and learning, but few have traveled with the open heart and transparent sincerity of Sienna Craig. Horses Like Lightning is a singular dance of innocence and experience."
—Pico Iyer, author of Sun After Dark: Flights Into the Foreign
"Craig's story of her journeys, both international and internal, make for compelling reading, whether you're a horse-lover, an armchair traveler, a fellow adventurer, or simply someone curious about what happens in the places where cultures meet and the concept of what it means to be home transforms."
—Santa Barbara Independent
"Part travelogue, part memoir, part cultural history of a remote region of Nepal, Sienna Craig's travels by horseback and veterinary work in Mustang is a densely threaded compendium. Rich and rewarding."
—Gretel Ehrlich, author of The Solace of Open Spaces
"Horses Like Lightening is transporting- in the literally sense. Sienna Craig takes us on a journey of discovery deep into the upper reaches of the Himalaya . Her lens is a young American student delving anthropologically into the horse culture of Mustang. Through her sensitive eyes and sharp clarity a more complex picture is wrought. The poetry of her prose engages us in 'thick description', leaving us not only immersed in the elements of this raw geography but intimately encountering the characters she has met along her journey, revealing the horse as a deeper metaphor for passage through time and space. A must read for Himalaya-philes, horse lovers, and those who simply love a magnificently rendered tale. Horses Like Lightning is a story of a young woman's fearless passage through raw Himalayan terrain, life passages on horses through time, and passages of the heart, discovering herself on the back of a horse."
—Carroll Dunham, author of Hidden Himalayas and Tibet: Reflections from the Wheel of Life
"Sienna Craig has a rare combination of gifts: she's an insightful anthropologist, and writes beautifully. Although I've been fortunate enough to visit this part of the world, Dr. Craig illuminates its stark terrain and singular people (not to mention their horses) in a way that makes me feel I'm seeing it for the first time. But Horses Like Lightning is more than informative; it's a terrific read. The narrative is funny, moving, and sometimes painfully honest — because this is a portrait not just of Nepal's northern frontier, but of Dr. Craig herself. It's a genuine pleasure to travel with this insightful scholar as she finds her balance in an alien culture and landscape. One quickly gains an appreciation for how the rapid pace of globalization is impacting individual lives in this former Himalayan kingdom — a process by no means transparent to trekkers, or other short-term visitors. Horses Like Lightning is a wonderful book. For anyone planning a visit to the Himalaya, it's indispensable."
—Jeff Greenwald, author of Shopping for Buddha's
Part ethnographic memoir, part travelogue, part poetry, Horses Like Lightning is a book like none other. Sienna Craig bares her soul on these lush, windswept pages as she explores Himalayan horse cultures, relationships across cultural divides, and the search for one's place in the world. A fabulous introduction to anthropological research and a superb book for teaching, Horses Like Lightning is a powerful, deeply human, and exquisitely written book. Make yourself a cup of chai, curl up in a cozy chair, and let Craig take you on a journey through the Nepali Himalayas."
—Carole McGranahan, University of Colorado
At just 19, Sienna Craig made her first venture deep into Mustang, an ethnically Tibetan area of Nepal, in the rainshadow of the Himalayas. As an equestrian and a buddhing anthropologist, she sought not only to understand what it was like to rely on horses to navigate through the windswept valleys and plains of High Asia, but also to grasp how horses lent meaning to the lives of the Mustangi people. Through living and working with local Tibetan doctors, veterinarians, and other horse experts, as well as the deep friendships she formed, Sienna began to understand the region's history, and the way life in Mustang was being transformed in the face of temendous social, political, and economic shifts. She learned much about herself and her life's course through her year in Mustang — a place that came to feel, for all its foreignness, like home.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SIENNA CRAIG was born in Santa Barbara, California in 1973. She is the author of a children's book, Clear Sky, Red Earth: A Himalayan Story and A Sacred Geography: Sonnets of the Himalaya and Tibet. She earned her Ph.D. in anthropology from Cornell University and is currently an assistant professor at Dartmouth College. She lives in Vermont with her husband Ken and her daughter Aida.
PRAISE
"Many scholars have opened Himalayan cultures up to us with authority and learning, but few have traveled with the open heart and transparent sincerity of Sienna Craig. Horses Like Lightning is a singular dance of innocence and experience."
—Pico Iyer, author of Sun After Dark: Flights Into the Foreign
"Craig's story of her journeys, both international and internal, make for compelling reading, whether you're a horse-lover, an armchair traveler, a fellow adventurer, or simply someone curious about what happens in the places where cultures meet and the concept of what it means to be home transforms."
—Santa Barbara Independent
"Part travelogue, part memoir, part cultural history of a remote region of Nepal, Sienna Craig's travels by horseback and veterinary work in Mustang is a densely threaded compendium. Rich and rewarding."
—Gretel Ehrlich, author of The Solace of Open Spaces
"Horses Like Lightening is transporting- in the literally sense. Sienna Craig takes us on a journey of discovery deep into the upper reaches of the Himalaya . Her lens is a young American student delving anthropologically into the horse culture of Mustang. Through her sensitive eyes and sharp clarity a more complex picture is wrought. The poetry of her prose engages us in 'thick description', leaving us not only immersed in the elements of this raw geography but intimately encountering the characters she has met along her journey, revealing the horse as a deeper metaphor for passage through time and space. A must read for Himalaya-philes, horse lovers, and those who simply love a magnificently rendered tale. Horses Like Lightning is a story of a young woman's fearless passage through raw Himalayan terrain, life passages on horses through time, and passages of the heart, discovering herself on the back of a horse."
—Carroll Dunham, author of Hidden Himalayas and Tibet: Reflections from the Wheel of Life
"Sienna Craig has a rare combination of gifts: she's an insightful anthropologist, and writes beautifully. Although I've been fortunate enough to visit this part of the world, Dr. Craig illuminates its stark terrain and singular people (not to mention their horses) in a way that makes me feel I'm seeing it for the first time. But Horses Like Lightning is more than informative; it's a terrific read. The narrative is funny, moving, and sometimes painfully honest — because this is a portrait not just of Nepal's northern frontier, but of Dr. Craig herself. It's a genuine pleasure to travel with this insightful scholar as she finds her balance in an alien culture and landscape. One quickly gains an appreciation for how the rapid pace of globalization is impacting individual lives in this former Himalayan kingdom — a process by no means transparent to trekkers, or other short-term visitors. Horses Like Lightning is a wonderful book. For anyone planning a visit to the Himalaya, it's indispensable."
—Jeff Greenwald, author of Shopping for Buddha's
Part ethnographic memoir, part travelogue, part poetry, Horses Like Lightning is a book like none other. Sienna Craig bares her soul on these lush, windswept pages as she explores Himalayan horse cultures, relationships across cultural divides, and the search for one's place in the world. A fabulous introduction to anthropological research and a superb book for teaching, Horses Like Lightning is a powerful, deeply human, and exquisitely written book. Make yourself a cup of chai, curl up in a cozy chair, and let Craig take you on a journey through the Nepali Himalayas."
—Carole McGranahan, University of Colorado
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