When I'm Gone, Look for Me in the East

A Novel

By: Quan Barry

Narrated by: David Lee Huynh

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 Book Like No Other

What a truly remarkable work of literature.
Mystical, poignant, unusual.
One man’s quest— or is it two? Powerful descriptions of the Mongolian landscape, culture, religion and history — ancient and modern.

Did I understand exactly what was happening, or even who all the characters were? No, not even close. Usually that would annoy me. I was often confused, like “ when did that happen.?”Yet I was simply pulled along by the tide of this novel that reads at times like a biography or coming of age. and I suspect we were not meant to understand everything .

As a practicing Buddhist I loved the interweaving of Buddhist thought as the main character struggles with it. The pithy and occasionally funny chapter titles (e.g. “ We are All on Facebook”.) Splendid narration.

Yeah. This novel has moved me and affected my own spiritual practice. I found it grounding.

One of few books I would listen to again — or read.

Beautiful and enlightening

Incredibly poetic, well researched, flowed like water, and fed my soul. Inspired to learn more about Buddhism..

Great story

Wonderful story. Interest by the listener in Mongolia and Tibetan Buddhism would be useful, and in any event this is a good intro to both. I’d love to know what happens to the tulkus. The narrator is excellent, Some of the Buddhist vocabulary has a quite different pronunciation than I’ve ever heard, but that won’t bother anyone (except me).

East Meets West in History, Poetry and Spirituality

What a truly remarkable book that that rises to poetry while simultaneously telling a story of a journey, the history and environment of Mongolia, and above all the practice of Buddhism. The best book I’ve read during the years of Covid confinement. A must read for all who savor great writing, historical fiction, and a spiritual journey.