Rating: 
Summary: Do not give up on this book...
Review: I must admit, I found it very hard to get into this book, mostly because I was starting it with a poor attitude. I didn't like the idea of someone deliberately going to Tibet to become "enlightened" and kept telling myself that I shouldn't be learning about zen buddhism through an american author,...HOWEVER, once I realized that the author wasn't as pretentious as he originally seemed and that he realized the problems with searching for the enlightened experinece, I found it to be a very thought provoking novel. In the end, I came away with a new look at what it means to live in the moment, and that is that you can only do it for short moments in your life, and that it only comes once you stop trying to find it.
Rating:
Summary: A Life-Changer
Review: I read this book for the first time probably 10 years ago, and to this day it remains a seminal lesson in my mind and heart. Matthiessen's inner journey rivals the hardships of the outer, and it shows. The self-recriminations and examinations are universal...something every thinking person experiences. Matthiessen simply expresses it better than just about any writer on Earth.
Rating:
Summary: He takes you there with him
Review: I read this book many years ago and have bought more for my friends to read. I have two or three of copies laying around most of the time - just incase I find someone who likes to read good books. I haven't done this with any other book. Matthiessen takes you with him on his journey into the realm of the snow leopard. He lets you feel all of his emotions, from the feeling of being alone on the side of a mountain to the happiness and the hurt of his wife remembering his gift to her. I feel as if I went on the adventure with him. The feeling from (maybe) having been seen by the snow leopard let's you know that maybe the point of adventure isn't in finishing with a victory, but the fact that you finished an adventure. You always learn from adventure. It's a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Snow Falls From The Pages
Review: I've had this for twenty years, and it reads better every time. You could be tempted to say that this book could not be written - his story and the landscape he describes are revealed in such high resolution & brilliant clarity. It defies belief, and is truly one of the most stunning works I have read.
Rating:
Summary: will i ruin it for you
Review: if I tell you it has little to do with the snow leopard? It is the quest itself, what it means to quest. "Seek and ye shall find." We're never told what we'll find. To me it is impossible to create a top ten list of books--I love so many--but this is way up there. I plan to read it again and again.
Rating:
Summary: will i ruin it for you
Review: if I tell you it has little to do with the snow leopard? It is the quest itself, what it means to quest. "Seek and ye shall find." We're never told what we'll find. To me it is impossible to create a top ten list of books--I love so many--but this is way up there. I plan to read it again and again.
Rating:
Summary: Still Fresh, Twenty-seven Years Later....
Review: If you have any inclination whatsoever to buy this book, then go ahead & buy it. You will not regret it. I knew nothing about Tibet, Zen, Buddhism, or even leopards before reading it--& I am still not interested in leopards. But this is a beautiful & moving story...Well worth reading & owning.
Rating: 
Summary: This book is not about Snow Leopards
Review: If you hope to find information about snow leopards in this book you are wasting your time. However, if you are in the mood for paradox and descriptions about the parallel lines that are drawn in the author life between his inner quest (enlightenment) and its outer quest (to find the snow leopard in the Mountains of Northern Nepal) is very probable that you will find this book interesting. It is true that the book is written with elegance and style. Nevertheless, I wonder if the author wanted to reflect its tempo the geography of Nepal, since it is full of up and downs. In other words, in the same chapter one paragraph could be bright and full of details, wonderful clever ideas and suddenly without any transition you stumble into the most boring and superfluous descriptions. Therefore, if you are into wildlife studies leave it aside, but if you want to hear the traveling record of a Zen student you might enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: No Simple-minded Animal Story - It's an Adventure
Review: If you're looking for a fifth grade narrative about really neat animals you'd better skip the Snow Leopard. However, if you are ready to take on a great author weaving the physical and the metaphysical together into one of the greatest adventure stories ever written you'll read and always remember this fantastic work of art. It's a tale of exploration that encompasses unbelievable off the map trekking, fascinating research by the greatest living large mammal zoologist, and enlightening insights into the very core of oriental religion. I have never read a book that successfully integrated so much intelligence into one superbly narrated tale. Without exaggeration, it's a classic.
Rating:
Summary: No Simple-minded Animal Story - It's an Adventure
Review: If you're looking for a fifth grade narrative about really neat animals you'd better skip the Snow Leopard. However, if you are ready to take on a great author weaving the physical and the metaphysical together into one of the greatest adventure stories ever written you'll read and always remember this fantastic work of art. It's a tale of exploration that encompasses unbelievable off the map trekking, fascinating research by the greatest living large mammal zoologist, and enlightening insights into the very core of oriental religion. I have never read a book that successfully integrated so much intelligence into one superbly narrated tale. Without exaggeration, it's a classic.
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