The Snow Leopard: Peter Matthiessen

Product Information

Theroux, Paul (2011). The Tao of Travel: Enlightenments from Lives on the Road. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p.144. ISBN 978-0547549194 . Retrieved 21 June 2014. Tl;dr - A great winter book with stunning illustrations and a rather mythical, mystical bent to it. I'm not giving it five stars because I am not clear on some things. Where are the girl's parents? Were they killed by the invaders? Does anyone notice the girl is missing? Does the girl miss her family when she is taken away by the snow leopard and taught how to be a mystical protector? Too much is up in the air for me to be completely satisfied with this book. A masterpiece of travel and nature writing that gloriously transcends both genres. This is one of the best books I've ever read in the English language. Yes, that's right. I'm including a quote at the end of this review so you can see what I'm talking about. When you get to that quote, try reading it aloud. The beauty of those words spoken will break your heart.

Snow Leopards: Biodiversity of the World: Conservation from Genes to Landscapes is the only comprehensive work on the biology, behavior, and conservation status of the snow leopard, a species that has long been one of the least studied, and hence poorly understood, of the large cats. Down in the valley the soldiers came, in search of gold and slaves. They came with fire and fear, and the villagers fled. Snow leopards are extremely reclusive which has made it very difficult to accurately determine the average lifespan for the species in the wild. In captivity snow leopards have lived to 21 years of age. ( Wharton and Freeman, 1988) One Indian snow leopard, protected and observed in a national park, is reported to have consumed five blue sheep, nine Tibetan woolly hares, 25 marmots, five domestic goats, one domestic sheep, and 15 birds in a single year. Threats to survival Rieger, I. 1984. Tail functions in ounces, Uncia uncia. Intl. Ped. Book of Snow Leopards, 4: 85-97.

Diet and hunting

Discussion and recommendations: Strategic planning requirements for conservation of the snow leopard Freeman, H. 1983. Behavior in adult pairs of captive snow leopards Panthera uncia. Zoo Biology, 2: 1-22.

A few things about the trek had undeniably changed. When Matthiessen senior made the journey, there was a genuine sense of extreme remoteness. The author had cropped his long hair short to his skull as he set out and began to walk barefoot like the Sherpas when they left paved roads. As a reader, you feel exactly how, camping in his wet cotton and wool clothes at minus 20C, he would “quake with cold all night”. Oh boy. I gave up on this book. An alternative title to this book should be: “The Snow Leopard: As elusive in this book as in real life”.Published in 1978, this book is the author’s memoir of his journey to the Himalayas to search for the elusive snow leopard. Accompanied by biologist George Schaller, porters, and Sherpas, he crossed mountains to reach the remote region of Dolpo, Nepal on the Tibetan plateau. Along the way he describes his spiritual quest based on the principles of Zen Buddhism in the wake of his wife’s death from cancer. It contains atmospheric nature and travel writing. It is filled with philosophical musings. It is written in the form of a daily diary from September 28 to December 1, 1973. Matthiessen’s detailed descriptions provide the reader with a sense of the stark beauty of the region, the harsh weather conditions, and the manner in which the people live. I particularly enjoyed their visit to the monastery at Crystal Mountain. It is a book where the journey is more important than the destination. This is a Holy grail story, but as you remember from the story of Parzifal, you don't just have to know what question to ask, you also have to know that you are meant to ask a question. Up in the mountains there are beautiful lyrical passages (perhaps I need to add purple passages to my list of content warnings) describing what he saw. I wondered if these were affected by the thin air or his drugs regime or his desire to experience the profound despite his Buddhist teacher warned him to expect nothing. Ok, I admit after the first chapter I considered not carrying on reading. At this point around a third of the content was religious philosophy - which is not for me. However the third of the book that was the hiking expedition and the third that was about the flora and fauna was great, and I am glad I persisted.