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The Snow Leopard (Penguin Classics) | 
 enlarge | Author: Peter Matthiessen
Creator: Pico Iyer
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  68 reviews
Sales Rank: 8640
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5 x 0.8
ISBN: 0143105515
Dewey Decimal Number: 915.496
EAN: 9780143105510
ASIN: 0143105515
Publication Date: September 30, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: B20081130225628T
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Amazon.com Review
In the autumn of 1973, the writer Peter Matthiessen set out in the company of zoologist George Schaller on a hike that would take them 250 miles into the heart of the Himalayan region of Dolpo, "the last enclave of pure Tibetan culture on earth." Their voyage was in quest of one of the world's most elusive big cats, the snow leopard of high Asia, a creature so rarely spotted as to be nearly mythical; Schaller was one of only two Westerners known to have seen a snow leopard in the wild since 1950. Published in 1978, The Snow Leopard is rightly regarded as a classic of modern nature writing. Guiding his readers through steep-walled canyons and over tall mountains, Matthiessen offers a narrative that is shot through with metaphor and mysticism, and his arduous search for the snow leopard becomes a vehicle for reflections on all manner of matters of life and death. In the process, The Snow Leopard evolves from an already exquisite book of natural history and travel into a grand, Buddhist-tinged parable of our search for meaning. By the end of their expedition, having seen wolves, foxes, rare mountain sheep, and other denizens of the Himalayas, and having seen many signs of the snow leopard but not the cat itself, Schaller muses, "We've seen so much, maybe it's better if there are some things that we don't see." That sentiment, as well as the sense of wonder at the world's beauty that pervades Matthiessen's book, ought to inform any journey into the wild. --Gregory McNamee
Product Description
An unforgettable spiritual journey through the Himalayas now celebrating its thirtieth anniversary
IN 1973, Peter Matthiessen and field biologist George Schaller traveled high into the remote mountains of Nepal to study the Himalayan blue sheep and possibly glimpse the rare and beautiful snow leopard. Matthiessen, a student of Z en Buddhism, was also on a spiritual questto find the Lama of Shey at the ancient shrine on Crystal Mountain. As the climb proceeds, Matthiessen charts his inner path as well as his outer one, with a deepening Buddhist understanding of reality, suffering, impermanence, and beauty.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 63 more reviews...
 A Bit TOO Mindful of the Moment October 23, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I think that I admired "The Snow Leopard" more than I actually enjoyed it.
After the death of his wife, the author, Peter Matthiessen, joined a naturalist trek in Nepal to investigate the mating habits of blue sheep. His diary became the basis of "The Snow Leopard," which won a National Book Award. There's no question that it deserved the award. The autobiographical parts are moving; the descriptions of landscape and animals are meticulous and sometimes lyrical; even the Zen material, though tainted by New Age superstition, is thought-provoking. The reader feels transported into an alien world -- surely the mark of great travel writing.
That said, Matthiessen's painstaking attention to his physical surroundings overwhelms the human story at too many points for "The Snow Leoaprd" to be a really gripping read. Long stretches are devoted to sensory minutiae: snow crunches underfoot, cold falls from the stars, lichens cover rocks, sunlight illuminates a bird's wing, and so forth. These sections cry out to be skimmed. I heeded this cry.
Maybe Matthiessen stayed true to the spirit of Zen by focusing on what he saw and felt at the moment. However, this literary device robs "The Snow Leopard" of any sense of plot or forward movement. Life may not need a narrative, but books do. Much of this one is a snore.
 One of the classics of travelogue literature: The Snow Leopard August 5, 2008
Thoreaux: Where in all the world is the literature that gives expression to Nature?
Here it is, in Peter Matthiessens's National Book Award Winning "The Snow Leopard". Peter Matthiessen is now a living legend, a prophet of ecological thought and a long time American Buddhist, but in 1973, when the book was conceived he still wasn't so famous. At the age of 46 he decided to trek through the Inner Dolpo region of Nepal with his friend and co-explorer G. Schaller (well known for his studies on the Mountain Gorillas) to study the bharal (Himalayan blue sheep) and to try to get a glimpse of the mysterious and rare snow leopard. From September to December the two men traveled with sherpas and porters from Pokhara, around the Annapurna, the Dhaulagiri, through the Jang-La Pass, to Phoksumdo Lake to the Crystal Mountain and the Shey Gompa Monastery and back, studying the wild life and rutting habits of bharal. While G. Schaller was basically interested in animals, Matthiessen in that period a Zen scholar, utilized the travel expedition to expose his thoughts, exercise his meditation abilities, recall his memories of past experiences (drugs, deaths, remorse and expectations) but most of all to paint with lyrical pen and great descriptive talent his surroundings and the people he met.
This book is a little dated, and while reading it I was reminded of that great chapter of American writing that ties together Pirsing, Castaneda and many others, but none the less it is fascinating and gratifying because it resonates with a transcendent religious feeling of nature. In "The Snow Leopard" the ecological thought that weaves its way in all Matthiessen's works is still not full blown, but this makes the book even more incisive because the perception of his convictions lends a magic atmosphere to the travelogue. The reader has an intuition of the importance of respect of wildlife independently from modern day recriminations on its destruction.
The philosophical/religious aspect is also very interesting, because we can see the fascination of an intellectual American with Buddhist thought. Peter Matthiessen is very generous of his knowledge an puts all his rich Buddhist experience in the text, explaining history, traditions and customs of the Tibetan culture.
Matthiessen is also a very good interpreter of characters, as is evident from his novels. All the people he empathically describes jump out of the page and come to life. The canny and mysterious Tukten (maybe a guiding figure like Dante's Virgilio or a true Bodhisattva) and the naive and faithful Dawa become our friends as well, but also the many minor encounters like the Lama of Shey pass forever into literary history to be remembered.
Two points of highlight are how the Author manages to convey the pleasure and the fatigue of the physical trip. I could actually feel his boots and the joy of having broken them in, the discomfort of the sun glaring on the snow and the beauty of the birds, flowers and landscapes he describes. The second is the excellence of the prose. Selected paragraphs are poems of beauty and the perfect use of the English language is in itself a reason to rejoice.
This book is also a very personal and introspective diary. It talks about the man and his problems and probably this is the single most touching point of this great nature classic. At a distance of 30 years, people are taking guided trekking tours to Shey Gompa and its protected Natural Park, and much of the mystery has dissolved, however still few have seen the snow leopard, and discussion is still raging on the existence of the Yeti or Bigfoot.
Read and reread this nature classic to capture all its merits. It is landmark of the American perception of Buddhism, ecological thought and one of the best travelogues around.
Interesting and Compelling Book February 25, 2008
The Snow Leopard is slow paced and there is little plot. The book is about a long hike and the author's coming or not coming to terms with his divorce from and the death of his ex-wife. That is really it, but the Snow Leopard took me to a new and better place, one that I can not easily explain. This is one of the best books I have ever read.
Boring December 9, 2007
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
I'm sorry. I tried to enjoy this book because it was recommended to me by my favorite author. I found it great to get me to sleep at night and not so great at inspiring me to seek adventure, spiritual or otherwise. I had no idea what this dope-head was talking about.
a great travel log with a little zen September 17, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Matthiessen is a talented writer who consistently manages to capture the essence of what he sees. He insists that he is a fiction writer, first and foremost, but the honesty and vibrance of his words in nonfiction are phenomenal. As an "travel log"-type book, this is one of the best. His interactions with the sherpas and his colleague, GS, are human and believable. There are extremely personal moments throughout the book, concerning his first wife and kids and missed opportunities with them, since he spent so much time traveling. A section about a bowl makes me sad even now. The discussion of the animals of the region ( not just the leopard) are very detailed and accurate. Particularly, sections that are devoted to Schaller's attempt to distinguish between goats and sheep. While the leopard, itself, adds a magical quality, a more intriguing creature is the yeti. I became a full-time fan when he spoke of it.
Beyond the actual journey is the constant discussion of Zen. The history and facts he gives are deep, at times. There are many footnotes. It is an excellent resource for Zen students and it's interesting to see how it fits into his life. Zazen in his tent, for instance. Zen isn't something to be learned, but this book and Cave of Tigers are two that every aspiring student of zen should read.
He talks about his wilder days and where he finds himself going at the time (metaphysically speaking, of course.) I picked up this book because I had seen the film At Play in the Fields of the Lord. It is like nothing I have ever read. I still randomly reread passages to experience it again. This is a book that changes how people feel.
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