PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Peter Matthiessen is a naturalist, explorer and writer. His works of fiction include At Play in the Fields of the Lord, Far Tortuga and the acclaimed 'Watson Trilogy'. His explorations have resulted in many fine works of non-fiction, among them Birds of Heaven, The Cloud Forest and The Tree where Man was Born. In November 2008, at age 81, he received his second National Book Award for Shadow Country, an 890-page revision of a trilogy of novels he released in the 1990s.
The story of Matthiessen's trek in Nepal with the zoo-ologist George Schaller in search of the elusive snow leopard. Matthiessen brings to his narrative the sensibilities of the novelist, exploring the nature of faith and love. His journey is a spiritual odyssey and the leopard inevitably becomes a metaphor for revelation. But the joy of this book is his radiant descriptions of the physical world, of the stunning mountain landscapes of Inner Dolpo in northwest Nepal. Matthiessen wrestles with the mysteries of Tibetan Buddhism and with his grief at the recent death of his wife, but it is the mountains themselves who are the centrepiece of his narrative, and this beautiful book, as Paul Theroux has said, is worthy of them. (Kirkus UK)
