The Snow Leopard (Penguin Classics)

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The Snow Leopard (Penguin Classics)

Editorial Review

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 quest--to 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.

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

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
• A journey of the spirit
  The author never does find the snow leopard but his journey in the Himalaya helps him to begin to find himself and discover the meaning of life -- through the life and example of the simple folk he encounters, especially his sherpa. The author thinks and writes like a poet. His language and imagery are extraordinary. This is a book not to be missed.
• A Bit TOO Mindful of the Moment
  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... more info
• One of the classics of travelogue literature: The Snow Leopard
  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... more info
• Interesting and Compelling Book
  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.
  

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