This is a much revered book which I was looking forward to reading. It’s not a climbing book, though the long trek two man expedition contains its fair share of ardours that you’s expect to find at Himalayan altitudes. And actually, of course, the expedition is one of many men, the porters and Sherpas too. I would mention only that the attitude to the latter sometimes left me with a bad taste. With Matthiessen was zoologist George Schaller, and the prime purpose was to study the Himalayan bharal, or blue sheep. The author was drawn by the hope of seeing a snow leopard, and because of his immersion in Zen Buddhism. His wife had died a year before, and he reminisces and reflects on this, and also on the older children he had left behind (at school or college), and the youngest, Alex, aged eight who he left to be looked after by the family of friends of his. These reflections form one strand of the book.tAnother, as mentioned, is the detailed account of the journey, its hardships, relationships. A third strand, which I do recommend is information and descriptions of animals from snow leopards to Yeti, also of botanical matters. Similarly, anyone interested in it will find useful information about Tibetan/Himalayan Buddhism. And, of course, there is the travelogue which passes through villages, towns and meetings with ‘interesting people’.tHad I read the book thirty years ago I would rave about it. But to be honest I am somewhat disappointed and weary of it. At one stage I wish that the book had lost at least a third of its weight, that he hadn’t bothered when, after all, “Frustration at the paltriness of words drives me to write, but there is more of Shey in a single sheep hair… than in all these notes; to strive for permanence in what I think I have perceived is to miss the point.”tMatthiessen is a gifted writer, but I became irritated that he has a flatness of style that is equalled only by the negative psychologigcal states he constantly bemoans. He’s had, he tells us, quite a spiritual journey which involved hallucinogenic drugs as well as Zen training. I felt sometimes more that I was wading through darkness (‘Pitched past pitch of grief/….O the mind has mountains; cliffs of fall/ Frightful, sheer, no-man-fathomed’, G.M. Hopkins in bleaker mode) than among the pure white at-oneness up in the spiritual roof of the world (“Snow, mountains, more than sea or sky, serve as a mirror to one’s own true being, utterly still, utterly clear, a void, an Emptiness without life or sound that carries in Itself all life, all sound.”: this is a typical bit of Matthiessen prose, and the book is full of it.) Matthiessen certainly ‘knows’ his Buddhism and will fill you in throughout your journey with gaps in your education about the Way. The trouble is, and I acknowledge that it may be my trouble, my reading of it, the moments of spiritual insight come across less as awed and more as awful: turgid, formulaic, highly conceptualised, derirative, stock responsive, ultimately sentimental. There is no lightness of touch in his ‘Zen’. It cloys and tastes bad.t‘Expect nothing,’ he reflects on the words of his Zen teacher, as he struggles to ‘live in the moment’, after a certain failure of goal. And on his way back to the twentieth century he moans that, “ I have neglected my children and done myself harm, and there is no way back…. I will perform the motions of parenthood, my work, with friendships, my Zen practice, but all hopes, acts and travels have been blighted. I look forward to nothing.” Rationalising this, he is able as anybody could who had a mind to, that this is the meaning of it all, after all. Soon, less than a day later, he is proclaiming how wonderful his life is. tThere is an underlying gloom to Matthiessen’s persona. I hope that he went on in life to discover the centrality of compassion to Buddhism and was able to overcome his attachments and revulsions, and his mood swings. tYet, I have no doubt that for many this is or will be a wonderful book. Despite my misgivings, which I have admitted may be very peculiar, I nevertheless commend it. I just think some readers may need to skim and leave him to it when he gets moody.
Traversing the mountainsides in the relative warmth of the huddle of human bodies in a closed vehicle, I heard the wind whipping outside. The valleys were green after the onset of the rains and the water in the river had a shade of turquoise to it. Far away on the mountainsides appearing and re appearing in the mist were the herds of Yak. There were dwellings of men scattered among the valleys and it always surprised and excited me to know of humans who lived amidst so much silence. On the slick black boulders by the wayside, Ravens perched in the mist. Eyes cocked at our passing. This was the image that flitted through my mind last night before sleep took me after a feverish pace I took to finish this book. There is a radiance of solitude that is contained in these pages which the author calls pangs of loss as perceived by poets. The mountains and the sea always amaze me with the range of emotions that they stir in me : vastness, the arid simplicity & the spartan lifestyle of those around it appeal to me. Peter Mathiessen breathes life into an expedition into interior Nepal following a field biologist for reasons too personal and incomprehensible even to himself. The first and most astounding part of this book that made me fell in love with it is the nature that surrounds the author and his companions. All around them are the brush strokes in vivid colors of snow capped peaks and deserts of snow. There comes the forests of pine and the surging waterfalls and the occasional sleepy hamlet in the woods or by the mountain paths. These have been some of the most beautifully written descriptions of the mountains that I have ever come across and I simply devoured the words. The second angle is oriented towards the culture and nature of Buddhism and of how it has transformed the lives of people. Being a student of Zen Buddhism, the author looks at his past and introspects on the basis of the principles of this ancient religion to come to peace with himself.There are journeys of a specific nature : at a point during your return you realize that the journey meant and offered you more than what the destination ever did. This is about one such journey.A couple of favorites : Just at darkness, the clouds lift : at 12,500 feet, the campsite is surrounded by bright glaciers. The five peaks of Dhaulagiri shine in the black firmament, and over all this whiteness rings a silver moon, the full moon of October, when the lotus blooms. &The dread of transience perhaps explains our greed for the few gobbets of raw experience in modern life, why violence is libidinous, why lust devours us, why soldiers choose not to forget their days of horror : we cling to such extreme moments in which we seem to die, yet are reborn.
What do You think about The Snow Leopard (1987)?
"Crezco en estas montañas como el musgo. Estoy hechizado. Los cegadores picos nevados y el aire sonoro, el ruido de la Tierra y los cielos en silencio, las aves sepultureras, los animales míticos, los estandartes, los grandes cuernos y las antiguas piedras labradas, los tártaros toscamente tallados, con sus trenzas y sus botas de fabricación casera, el hielo plateado en el Río Negro, el Kang, la Montaña de Cristal. También estoy enamorado de los milagros corrientes: el murmullo de mis amigos al llegar la noche, los fuegos de enebro humeante en hornos de barro, los alimentos toscos e insípidos, las privaciones y la sencillez, la satisfacción de no hacer más que una cosa en cada momento: cuando cojo la taza azul de estaño, eso es todo lo que hago. No hemos tenido noticias de lo que pasa en el mundo desde finales de septiembre, seguiremos sin tenerlas hasta diciembre y, poco a poco, la mente se me ha ido aclarando y el viento y el sol me pasan por la cabeza como si fuese una campana. Aunque aquí hablamos poco, nunca estoy solo; he vuelto a mí mismo"
—Nuria Castaño monllor
This is a beautifully written book of Matthiessen's journey to the roof of the world in Nepal. He is travelling with George Schaller, primarily to look for and study the wild blue sheep of the region. Whilst they are on there, they are hoping to spot a snow leopard, a rare almost mythical creature, that Schaller has glimpsed very occasionally.Matthiessen is a Zen Buddhist, and this for him is as much a spiritually journey as a physical one, and he uses the metaphorical journey to look back at events in his life, including the death of his wife. It is tough moving over these landscapes because of the cold and the altitude, and he details his pain and suffering, as well as hi elation of being in a landscape he loves.Matthiessen's description of the landscape and the interaction with the natives is very evocative and immersive. I thought that the title was a bit of misnomer as they are trying to find the snow leopard, and though they do find evidence of them, they never see one.
—Paul
Just a beautiful book.Part personal memoir, part natural expedition, part cultural immersion. He takes the reader on his exploration and discoveries in Buddhism, mindfulness, sense of the moment. I can definitely see why people are so attracted to the Buddhist path.He writes with beautiful emotion, I experienced his joy when he thought of his children, his sorrows when he thought of his second wife, his frustration with his struggles along the path of Buddhism.The snow leopard takes on a mythical and a metaphorical status as the animal becomes analogous to his journey towards mindfulness: fleeting signs and indications but no direct sighting.He writes with wonderful clarity about his emotions and his experiences in the moment, whether he is trekking, sitting watching blue sheep, chatting with his guides. He describes (what he considers) his personal failings, such as his distrust of strangers; his lessons (when the strangers later help him in some way); and his moments of clarity (when he realizes these lessons).Also, he brings you along with his sense of moving from one world to another along each step his journey as he leaves the reminders of modern society (radios, motos, etc...) to the older lifestyle at the shey. Then he brings you back and describes being overwhelmed by the idea of returning to the modern after being away and in various meditative states.His relationship with his porters, especially Tukten, well, I was sad to say goodbye to them too.
—Matt
