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A review by loriluo
We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies by Tsering Yangzom Lama
3.0
"We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies" is an eye-opening look at Tibet in the 1950s, and what happens after the Chinese invasion forces Tibetans to leave their home. Young Lhamo and her family are forced to flee to a refugee camp near Nepal, and the treacherous causes her to lose both of her parents. With her and her younger sister Tenkyi as the remainder of their family, they're forced to rely on the community around them to survive. Decades later, the two are separated across the ocean and wind up living very different lives - but a chance occurrence leads to their reunion and a chance at coming to terms with their past.
I appreciated how this novel highlighted such a painful point in history, and its lasting impact on the Tibetan people. There's an incredible amount of loss and tragedy that occurs even in just the first few chapters of this novel, and leads readers to develop awe and appreciation at Lhamo's and Tenkyi's will to survive - even at such a young age. The later parts of the novel give us a chance to see them as their older and more mature, and coming to terms to living in exile and dealing with the sheer amount of loss they've gone through. There's a number of heavy and weighty topics that are covered in this novel, and are handled with care and compassion by the author.
What I struggled with, however, was the writing style; passages didn't flow well, sentences felt too terse and clipped, and moments of great loss and sorrow didn't have the emotional weight that they could have. I struggled to get through this novel at times given how slow the pacing seemed at times, which I felt detracted from the overall story.
I appreciated how this novel highlighted such a painful point in history, and its lasting impact on the Tibetan people. There's an incredible amount of loss and tragedy that occurs even in just the first few chapters of this novel, and leads readers to develop awe and appreciation at Lhamo's and Tenkyi's will to survive - even at such a young age. The later parts of the novel give us a chance to see them as their older and more mature, and coming to terms to living in exile and dealing with the sheer amount of loss they've gone through. There's a number of heavy and weighty topics that are covered in this novel, and are handled with care and compassion by the author.
What I struggled with, however, was the writing style; passages didn't flow well, sentences felt too terse and clipped, and moments of great loss and sorrow didn't have the emotional weight that they could have. I struggled to get through this novel at times given how slow the pacing seemed at times, which I felt detracted from the overall story.