A grown man reads through a diary of his father’s travels in China and Tibet, written long ago and kept locked away for many years in a red box. S°s grew up in Prague in the 1950s, where his father Vladimir worked as a filmmaker. Ordered by the Communist authorities to make a documentary of a road construction in China, Vladimir becomes separated from his film crew and lost in Tibet. His diary describes his wanderings in that strange and magical place: to find his way home, Vladimir hikes through endless mountain ranges, is given shelter by Buddhist monks, and eventually meets the Dalai Lama himself. Beautiful illustrations of Tibetan-style art, illuminated reproductions of Vladimir’s diary, and richly colored landscapes, all by the author, combine with the haunting story of a young boy’s longing for his absent father to create an enchanting and delightful piece of work.
