The Snow Leopard: Peter Matthiessen

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The story is about a mystical snow leopard who eventually chooses a successor - a little girl - who at the end becomes a snow leopard and a magical protector as well. This was a donation to my Little Free Library Shed. It was also a winner of the 1979 National Book Award. I was attracted to the book cover, and the idea of it, that made me want to explore reading it. Subchapter 16.3: Hunting of Prey Species: A Review of Lessons, Successes, and Pitfalls – Experiences from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan Although the story is light and entertaining yet when it is a story christened Snow Leopard Adventure just an off-hand mention of the animal might leave the reader asking for more. The author can be lauded for having an excellent story line and a gift for a superb dabbing in description. Kind of comical, too, right? That some mate, any mate, might find that noise inviting? But we found it pretty transformative, as we did find the whales, and we saw, too, many many other species of animals and birds we dutifully recorded along the way.

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. At age 46, in 1973, Peter Matthiessen walked, with biologist George Schaller, from Kathmandu to the Crystal Mountain in Tibet and beyond. Matthiessen was a novice at this kind of extreme expedition, as who among us wouldn't be, yet turned in 10- and 12- hour days walking up and down icy, fragile, whip-thin mountain trails. Food was meagre. Boots caused blisters. Winds blew cold. Grief over personal matters was impossible to shake. In the September of 1973 Peter Matthiessen, a New Yorker, novelist, naturalist, wilderness writer and a student of Buddhism, teamed up with field biologist George Schaller to trek more than 400 kilometers over five weeks to go to a particularly remote and little known area in the North West of Nepal – the Crystal Mountain in the Inner Dolpo region, beyond Shey Gompa (not to be confused with the Shey monastery of Ladakh). I came to this book through Without Ever Reaching the Summit: A Journey which purports to follow in Matthiessen’s footsteps. My review for it quotes the author saying how little has changed in the 40+ years since the original journey but I realise now how untrue that statement is. An internet search finds a whole host of trekking companies offering guided walks through this region, following the trail of ‘The Snow Leopard’ in many cases. Where Matthiessen and George Schaller camped in often squalid conditions are now found hotels and tea houses catering for travellers. I even found videos on YouTube of mountain bikers travelling the route. It’s not surprising as there are few parts of the world that haven’t changed since the early 1970s. Whether these changes are for the better in every respect is another matter. Subchapter 16.2: Argali Sheep (Ovis ammon) and Siberian Ibex (Capra sibirica) Trophy Hunting in Mongolia

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While there are detailed accounts of the everyday highs and lows of a difficult trek done with basic equipment in delayed monsoon, he intersperses it with lyrical description of nature and the indigenous people of the area, his reflections on life in general, Buddhist philosophies, the memories of the recent death of his wife. He manages to move almost seamlessly in and out of subjects as varied as the effects of psychedelic drugs on the mind and the flight of a bearded vulture. Down in the valley the soldiers came, in search of gold and slaves. They came with fire and fear, and the villagers fled. 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. When you are ready, the Buddhists say, the teacher will appear. In the way he watched me, in the way he smiled, he was awaiting me; had I been ready, he might have led me far enough along the path, to see the snow leopard”

First, what a beautiful cover. The artwork is stunning! I'm very partial to water colours being used as a medium for illustrations. The hues are soft and warm and in most cases compliment beautiful heart-felt stories.When I watch blue sheep, I must watch blue sheep, not be thinking about sex, danger, or the present, for this present – even while I think of it – is gone. He comments on the degradation of the environment that he sees - trees felled for firewood causing soil erosion for instance and I wondered if he had read the 1972 " Limits to Growth" or CIA reports based upon it, or if his vision of the Nepali countryside was coloured by his mourning face - but of course it needn't be either or, it could be both. His is a refreshingly bleak vision this is not a land ripe for adventurous tourists, but one moving ever closer to environmental catastrophe. But the point of this book is to neither romanticize nor demonize PM (or myself). I think we mostly do come to admire PM, at times, but that is decidedly not the point in his writing, overall. His goal is is to be honest, and clear. He is trying to empty his soul of all self-destructive desires and needs. But he has a son that needs him, you say, and you’d have a point. PM is not always an easy guy to get along with or like. He sometimes seems, regarding his hired sherpas, a tad ethnocentric, as even more so does his friend GS, if not downright racist on the rare occasion. But PM is not trying to whitewash his story. He is trying to be truthful about himself, and he is, about his marriage, for sure. I believe this is one reason some reviewers like the book less, that he is grumpy and cool and removed even by his own accounts, but this is one reason I admired his self reflection here. It feels honest; it feels real.

In the previous book, the history of the reincarnated lama, Tsering, is revealed, who is being chased by a group of gangsters led by the relentless Akira Singh. Akira Singh, an international smuggler of animal goods, has been outwitted twice by the schoolboy duo of Vikram and Aditya, and is hot on their heels. Tsering is of a huge value to the smuggler. Like the mountain journey itself, the passages move up and down with the landscape, changing with the weather and the reader’s mind, finding footholds in different areas of interest, holding true in sparkling moments of transcendence that balance more mundane points in other spots. There are wonderful observations of locals, both human and animal, and the inner struggles of a spiritual man who rises and falls in his attempts at betterment. Written as daily journal entries, the accumulation of the details of hardship and progress and doubt and beauty and loss began to gather within this reader and alter his perceptions in ways both subtle and profound. In the seeking, PM learns the Buddhist patience of expecting nothing as he seeks. The seeking, the journey, is key. We did see all these creatures, and were happy to find them. Did PM find his snow leopard? Did it matter to him, either way? Read it to find out. Despite a few more forays into the spiritual journey, the expedition and scientific research parts of the book are much more heavily featured in the following chapters. Matthiessen has no illusions about being a mountaineer, which Schaller, six years his junior, is. He speaks candidly about his fears of tumbling down the icy slopes and makes no bones about the fact that he was often scared about losing his life.Matthiessen’s book is part travelogue, part naturalist observations, and part coming to terms with loss. About a year after the death of his wife, Matthiessen travels along with a friend in search of a snow leopard, really in the search of big blue sheep. It’s much hiking and camping, and eating. In the autumn of 1973, the naturalist and writer Peter Matthiessen and the zoologist George Schaller set out on a gruelling trek into the Himalayas. They were headed toward the Dolpo region of the Tibetan plateau. Schaller wanted to study Himalayan blue sheep; Matthiessen hoped to see a snow leopard—a large, majestic cat with fur the color of smoke. Snow leopards, which belong to the genus Panthera, inhabit some of the highest mountain ranges in the world, and their camouflage is so perfectly tuned that they appear ethereal, as though made from storm clouds. Two of them feature on the Tibetan flag of independence, representing harmony between the temporal and spiritual planes. This is one of the most intelligent, beautifully written books I’ve read. I enjoyed every moment of Matthiessen’s physical, emotional, and spiritual journey through Nepal and Tibet. His descriptions of the landscape, the villages, his relationships with the people he meets and travels with, the wildlife he sees, his quest for spiritual enlightenment, and his deep sorrow at his wife’s death the previous year, all are written in the most inspiring and honest language. The account follows a diary format, and in places he mentions writing a diary, but presumably the text we read is at least somewhat polished and refined - I would be surprised if many people write endnotes to their diary entries particularly when snuggling into their sleeping bag after a long day walking at high attitude.