The Snow Leopard: Peter Matthiessen

Reviews

Yuvan Aves

Like 'awakening'. But for Matthiessen, who recently lost his wife to cancer, it is an embarking in search of meaning.

Amazon Customer

It is a lot more than that and in the world of Himalayan literature this book is now seen as a classic that has withstood the test of time over almost forty years. Schaller had, making him the second western scientist to ever see it in 25 years.

Sudipto Roy

There was an urgency of sorts in the inward journey to Dolpo. Reading the book one gets the feeling that much as he was trying to discover himself and the inner truth of life through this journey, in the end it becomes a spiritual journey where nature and religion conjugate freely. Only serious scholars of Buddhism can comment on the authenticity of all that Matthiessen says about the various forms of Buddhism.

Starting from Pokhara they walked through Dhorpatan to cross Jang La and past the beautiful Phoksundo Lake (also known as Emerald Lake) over Kang La to Shey monastery. There is a lyrical quality about his prose, particularly when he describes the natural environment or life in the remote, high altitude villages through which he travels. For that is the way Tibetan Buddhism is all about.

So near, imminent and so elusive. Isn't that wonderful?

Many of them actually fall victim to snow blindness which hampers the team’s progress. More often than not, Matthiessen adopts the stream of consciousness style of writing where he puts words to his train of thoughts only and does not follow a linear narrative.

He describes the mountain people and their difficult life with a certain empathy that is often missing in the accounts of Western travelers of that era. " The prose is raw and adornedly authentic. Matthiessen’s compassion and empathy for the locals is often in stark contrast to his and particularly Schaller’s contempt for the porters of the team and their frequent betrayals. ""No!