Ts. Oyungerel and
Jeffrey L. Falt “The Green Eyed Lama”
12:30pm Tuesday November 15th, 2016
Williams Hall 844 (EALC discussion room), 255 S. 36th St., Philadelphia
“The year is 1938. The newly-installed Communist
Government of Mongolia, under orders from Moscow, launches a
nation-wide purge. Before it’s over, nearly tenth of the
country’s population is murdered. Sendmaa, a young
herdswoman, falls in love with Baasan, a talented and
handsome lama. Baasan resolves to leave the priesthood and
marry Sendmaa, but her scheming neighbor, persuades Baasan’s
brother, Bold, to “ask a bride” first. Their love triangle
is engulfed by tragedy when Choibalsan, Mongolia’s Stalin,
moves to crush the Buddhist faith. As the country
teeters toward war, Baasan is sentenced to death as a class
enemy. But an improbable ally, a lama turned “KGB” agent,
intervenes in a way that reaches all the way to Franklin
Roosevelt. Still, Baasan must summon every bit of his talent
and ingenuity if he’s to survive the gulag, reunite with
Sendmaa, and help save the Buddhist faith.”
For nearly 10 years the Mongolian version of The Green
Eyed Lama has been on Mongolia’s best seller list, and
has won numerous awards. The book has been recently released
in French and the English version is in the final stages of
editing. The book was authored by former Member of Mongolia’s
Parliament and former Minister of Sports, Culture and Tourism,
Oyungerel
Tsedevdamba and Jeffrey L. Falt. Both authors will
be present to discuss the
history, issues and lessons to be learned from the dark period
of Mongolia’s past in which the book is set in.
This event is free and open to the public. Co-sponsored with the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania |
