Customer Reviews (3)

Succinct Snyder
Gary Snyder is a poet whose body of work spans his entire life.In "Myths and Texts" Snyder shows the upward slope of his evolution as a poet.His voice is distinct and drives the form of his words.His cadence is practically one with the surrounding nature of the mythologies he constantly creates and re-creates.The imagery is easy to visualize due to Snyder's connection with nature.

The real significance ofMYTHS & TEXTS.
MYTHS & TEXTS provides a drama play of the mind temple which is posed at a point of watershed where human evolutional trends of literary, spiritual. religious, cultural, anthropological, and philosophical questsconverge in word of poetry and represented in condensed forms.It alsoopens the access to the postmodern world of open space that we eitherknowingly or unknowingly are posed in. Where the vista is cosmic, mind isnever lost but most expanded though inwardly. Sailing along, you'll findthat not only the mountain but the Universe is your mind.

(P.S.: Athorough study and thesis was written but unpublished.)

The real significance ofMYTHS & TEXTS.
MYTHS & TEXTS provides a drama play of the mind temple which is posed at a point of watershed where human evolutional trends of literary, spiritual. religious, cultural, anthropological, and philosophical questsare converged and depicted in condensed forms.It also opens the access tothe postmodern world of open space that we either knowingly or unknowinglyare posed in. Where the vistas is cosmic, the mind is never lost but mostexpanded inwardly. Sailing along, you'll find that not only the mountainbut the the Universe is the mind.

(P.S.: A thorough study and thesis waswritten but unpublished.It can be reached through contact.) ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (4)

A scholar's book
I am not sure why this book saw the light of day.It is mostly about minor money matters, travel plans and gossip.It belongs in the archive where biographers and literary scholars could use it in writing more comprehensive narratives or literary critiques of both men.Such scholars are used to plowing through trivial details to find the gems which fit into a larger picture more interesting to the reading public.
I got several things out of the book: a few juicy tidbits of gossip; an occasional glimpse of where I was and what I was doing when the two were similarly or differently engaged and a rare insight into the men but not their poetry.It was a window on my past particularly in the 60's and early 70's.I was a grad student then outside agitator in Berkeley CORE and the Free Speech movement when the two were in and out of the area.I remember Allen, just back from Asia in the early 60s, speaking with I. F. Stone at the Longshoremen's hall about the coming conflict in Vietnam.Allen appeared very holy although he and Stone were similarly New York Citybred.Then in '65 or '66 marching with Allen and Peter in an NYC protest.One or the other of them was playing a harmonium and in Hindu robes.
From the book I tried to figure out how "political" each man was and how much and what kind of spiritual practice they did.It was a bit hard to follow.At first it seemed that Allen won in both categories but then later I was not at all sure.I didn't know that Gary studied with Aitkin Roshi, one of my favorites.That I liked learning but still it would have been easier to have a biographer sum its implications up for me.Also it is impressive how much jet setting they did and how many different celebrities they knew.Again, it was hard to tell how difficult their financial lives were trying to make a living as poets but also impressive how easy it was for them to get anything they wrote in print which may be why this volume appeared.
I look forward to Gary's memoir which he is reported to be writing.I have to check on an Allen bio.

Charlie Fisher,author of Dismantling Discontent: Buddha's Way Through Darwin's World

Gary Snyder is NOT a Beat writer!
Allen Ginsberg along with Kerouac, Burroughs and Corso were the icons of the Beat movement but others like Gary Snyder jumped on the Beat bandwagon as soon as they saw quick fame and $$$. Read Snyder's poetry and see that his poetry is nothing but safe, bourgeois and academic. Beats by definition were anti-establishment and progressive. Gary Snyder is neither. Through 8 years of the last adminstration's horrors, he never spoke up. Never took a political stand. And now he's calling himself the last standing Beat writer! Sorry, but I think not.

Captivating
If you've paid attention to cultural events over the past 50 years then you've heard of these two poetic, literary, and, yes, Beat, stars. Kerouac gets the top billing, but without Snyder and Ginsberg guiding him and that heralded movement, it simply wouldn't've happened. And here we get insights into this special relationship. Trials, tribulations, travels, favors asked, jokes played ... it's all here. This very insightful and informative collection is a must read for anyone who is (or was) a free spirit, a poet, a believer.

Beat poets bond
Allen Ginsberg was, of course, the Great Beat(nik) Poet who achieved early fame/infamy with "Howl" and thereafter maintained a very public profile.Gary Snyder was the model for Jack Kerouac's Japhy Ryder in "The Dharma Bums" and is an excellent, if lesser known, poet (Snyder won a Pulitzer Prize for "Turtle Island" in the 1970s) and environmental activist.The two met shortly before their participation in the legendary San Francisco 6 Gallery reading in 1955 and maintained a correspondence until near the time of Ginsberg's death in 1997.

The selected letters offer insight into the personalities and lives of two key figures in the 1950s beat literary movement which would form a foundation for the 1960s counter-culture as well as the ecological movement of the present day.Ginsberg roamed the world and made his way into the inner sanctums of pop culture.When you run across references to Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, and even Uma Thurman in the book's index, rest assured their mention comes in a Ginsberg letter.Meanwhile, Snyder spent the last half of the 1950s and much of the 1960s in Japan studying Zen Buddhism.The two, along with their companions, traveled around India in the early 1960s and later organized the San Francisco Be-In.In the 1980s and 1990s academia slowly came around to recognizing the literary accomplishment of the beat movement and both writers found themselves re-cast as honored elder statesmen.Snyder served as a member of the California Arts Council under Governor Jerry Brown and accepted a teaching post at UC Davis.

As Gary Snyder observes in his introduction (he's one of the last of the beat pioneers standing), he prodded Allen into walking more and Allen prodded him into talking more--and he feels the results were beneficial for both.Certainly reading these collected letters is beneficial to those of us who admire the work of both and appreciate the opportunity to learn more about the persons behind the personas. Read this and ponder if our email and cell phone culture will preserve the entertaining interplay of lofty thoughts and low gossip between two noteworthy individuals as this collection of letters has. ... Read more

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In Gary Snyder and the Pacific Rim, Timothy Gray draws upon previously unpublished journals and letters as well as his own close readings of Gary Snyder's well-crafted poetry and prose to track the early career of a maverick intellectual whose writings powered the San Francisco Renaissance of the 1950s and 1960s. Exploring various aspects of cultural geography, Gray asserts that this west coast literary community seized upon the idea of a Pacific Rim regional structure in part to recognize their Orientalist desires and in part to consolidate their opposition to America's cold war ideology, which tended to divide East from West. The geographical consciousness of Snyder's writing was particularly influential, Gray argues, because it gave San Francisco's Beat and hippie cultures a set of physical coordinates by which they could chart their utopian visions of peace and love. Gray's introduction tracks the increased use of “Pacific Rim discourse” by politicians and business leaders following World War II. Ensuing chapters analyze Snyder's countercultural invocation of this regional idea, concentrating on the poet's migratory or “creaturely” sensibility, his gift for literary translation, his physical embodiment of trans-Pacific ideals, his role as tribal spokesperson for Haight-Ashbury hippies, and his burgeoning interest in environmental issues. Throughout, Gray's citations of such writers as Allen Ginsberg, Philip Whalen, and Joanne Kyger shed light on Snyder's communal role, providing an amazingly intimate portrait of the west coast counterculture. An interdisciplinary project that utilizes models of ecology, sociology, and comparative religion to supplement traditional methods of literary biography, Gary Snyder and the Pacific Rim offers a unique perspective on Snyder's life and work. This book will fascinate literary and Asian studies scholars as well as the general reader interested in the Beat movement and multicultural influences on poetry. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Rim and Beyond
Must be tough writing a book about a living figure, particularly a living legend like Gary Snyder, just about the last of the West Coast New American poets from the Beat Generation.(Thank goodness we have McClure and Ferlinghetti in the dugout.)But Gray lets very little of the embarrassment or anxiety that would otherwise underlie a project like his penetrate his book.In that, he's assisted by the apparently open and generous nature of his subject--who's even shown naked on the cover of the book, as if to allegorize a spiritual or aethetic nakedness, vulnerability, or humility, take your pick.But in addition, Gray isn't trying to find out what sort of guy Gary Snyder is.(So that simplifies things.)Instead, Gray's focus is somewhat larger and involves our understanding of the so-called Pacific Rim.

Where'd this concept come from?It is a cartographer's dream, that people are tracing with one finger the shoreline of an entire ocean from continent to continent, then watching the lands cross pollinate themselves over the water, like migrant birds bringing seeds of marrocain to Easter Island.Gray deplores recent attempts to delimit the concept of the Rim to 80s and 90s business propaganda--open markets, cheap foreign labor; the godfathers of this concept then would be Nixon and Kissinger and their drive to open China to western business in the 1970s.Gray urges us to look further back, to two earlier initiatives, if we would understand the murky geopolitics of the Pacific Rim and what it means to our nation's soul and ambition.One such initiative came in the wake of the Pacific-Panama Exposition, the San Francisco World's Fair of 1939, which widened the scope of SF cultural interests while of course glamorizing or exoticizing Asian imput.The other was the influence of Ernest Fenellosa, distorted and amplified through the propagation of his faith by his disciple Ezra Pound.Into this vortex Gary Snyder stands as a third way, with his Buddhist inflected texts including RIPRAP, RIVERS AND MOUNTAINS, and THE BACK COUNTRY.

The paradox is that, no matter how far Snyder would travel, he always came back home, though the place of "home" changed radically evbery time he hit it.The local and the global, as separate entities pounding against each other like rocks at the beach, gave his work an energy that exactly answered a need.

Recent New Yorker profile on Gary Snyder renewed interest in the venerable Beat era shaman, but Patrick Gray goes the New Yorker one better by actually presenting an account of substance and style.Book focuses on a particular period of Snyder's writing, and perhaps there we see Gray's judgment that perhaps the neglected work isn't as interesting or provocative as the best of it.But if you had a critic without opinions, you'd really be up one of those legendary Snyderesque creeks, and where's the paddle?Warmly recommended.

... Read more

Product Description
This is a collection of discovery, of insight, and of vision. These poems see the roots of community in the family, and the roots of culture and government in the community. "In making the handle of an axe by cutting wood with an axe the model is indeed near at hand." In exploring this axiom of Lu Ji’s, Gary Snyder continues:I am an axeAnd my son a handle, soonTo be shaping again, modelAnd tool, craft of culture,How we go on.Formally, the 71 poems in Axe Handles range from lyrics to riddles to narratives. The collection is divided into three parts, called "Loops," "Little Songs for Gaia," and "Nets," each containing poems of disciplined clarity. Gary Snyder knows well the great power of silence in a poem, silence that allows the mind space enough to discover the magic of song.Amazon.com Review
The title poem of this collection may be Snyder's strongestpoem of the 1980s, and this is high praise. Incorporating Snyder'sfamiliar and welcome themes of nature, family and eastern philosophy,it is a passage into a world of insights, small epiphanies, therhythms of nature and culture, speech and sky, revealing themselvesbetween these lines. Do yourself a favor and take a look at AxeHandles. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

I Love His Poetry
Gary Snyder was actually the first poet I ever loved. In Axe Handles, we see him at his best: beautifully terse lines which ring true with a kind of serene clarity, complex and intuitive connections between everyday aspects of work, the land, animals, loved ones, the clarity of dreams, particular spaces at particular times (he'll often cite the location and the date from which the poem gets its inspiration) - all of it fitting together somehow, so that you go away with a wholesome feeling of the rustic and down to earth. I enjoy the way he mentally creates his world, and the markers he sets up to feel and experience the passage of time. If you are an urban dweller like me, you will soon realize the marked contrast between your world and Snyder's: his is situated alongside actual places, roads, trees, and is embodied by actual faces, stories, and hands on living. Read enough Snyder, and you will be pleasantly uprooted from your busy, day to day routine, and soon find yourself with fresh eyes in verdant land of symbols, seasons, person to person to land encounters with very little abstraction - it will be a sudden and long overdue breath of fresh air.

Life's cycles: shaped by the axe, patterns at hand...
The cycles of life, and the cycles within our lives and those which can be experienced and observed in the world around us link the poetry in Gary Snyder's Axe Handles.Attracted by the settings of Snyder's California poems, I've been further drawn to the images and experiences described in them. "Getting in the Wood," "Working on the '58 Willy's Pickup," "Look Back," the selections in "Little Songs for Gaia" take me to locations I've experienced physically.Intellectually what attracts me is the sense of cycles perceived by the reader, and the awareness of cycles by poem's persona. "Axe Handles", the title poem, describes such a cycle: the passing of knowledge from father to son, generation to generation. While my personal experiences with the poet's philosophical framework is not as immediate as my experience with the physical settings, I am becoming more aware of philosophies other than those in the framework in which I was raised. Even with this level of ignorance of the neophyte, I experience the thrill of growing awareness when I recognize the wholeness of life experience described in the poem. The poet makes me want to understand more - a gift to me through his words. Not much of a quest so far, but I've found Snyder's memoir of his travels through India, more of his poetry, and the courage to speak with others about Buddhism and other philosophies different from my own; a modest beginning, yet a stretch for me. ... Read more

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Product Description
Modern American poets translate classical Chinese poetry.

The New Directions Anthology of Classical Chinese Poetry is a rich compendium of translations like no other. It is the first to look at Chinese poetry through its enormous influence on American poetry, starting with Ezra Pound's Cathay (1915), and including translations by three other major US poets (William Carlos Williams, Kenneth Rexroth, Gary Snyder) and an important poet-translator-scholar (David Hinton), all of whom have long been associated with New Directions. Moreover, it is the first general anthology ever to consider the process of translation by presenting different versions of the same poem by various translators, as well as examples of the translators rewriting themselves. The collection, at once playful and instructive, serves as an excellent introduction to the art and tradition of Chinese poetry, gathering some 250 poems by nearly 40 poets, from the anonymous early poetry through the great masters of the T'ang and Sung dynasties. The anthology also includes previously uncollected translations by Pound, a selection of essays on Chinese poetry by all five translators, some never published before in book form, and biographical notes that are a collage of poems and comments by both the American translators and the Chinese poets themselves. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Chanting the Splendid Achievements of Forebears
This is a superb anthology several times over. First and foremost, it brings together in one book several centuries of the finest classical poetry from China, starting at the beginning with selections from "The Book of Odes" and drawing a finish line at the end of the Sung Dynasty in 1279. Pretty much all the major poets from the T'ang and Sung are represented here along with earlier masters like T'ao Ch'ien and many interesting lesser-known figures throughout. And in line with New Directions' general attitude that poems should sound like poems, the translations here all flow musically and ring harmoniously in the mind's ear.

Still, there are many other excellent anthologies of Chinese poetry as well. What really distinguishes this one is that all five of the translators are accomplished American poets in their own right. Here we find the eccentric, wildly inaccurate and yet sometimes intuitively ingenious renderings by Ezra Pound, the tersely colloquial if likewise linguistically careless versions by William Carlos Williams, the sensitive and quietly subtle though pretty much reliable verses by Kenneth Rexroth, the deeply spiritual explorations of nature with a counter-cultural edge by Gary Snyder, and finally the translations of David Hinton which alchemically combine poetic sensibility and academic acumen in a proper balance. All in one anthology.

Much more than a mere continuum of accuracy (from less to more) is to be found here, though. Looking only through the somewhat eccentric gaze of these five poet-translators also makes this book something of a history of American literature's long engagement and fascination with the Chinese poetic tradition and, more specifically, of that tradition's influence and impact on modern American poetry itself--a payoff supplemented by the editor's fine introduction discussing this phenomenon in some detail as well as rare, hard-to-find essays by the poets themselves on the subject. Taking this unusual tack also makes this book a study in the undeniably haphazard art of translation itself, for the editor frequently includes different translations of the same poem--seeing how Ezra Pound and Gary Snyder both interpreted and rendered the same original into very different English versions is pretty instructive and enlightening. In one case we are evenshown how Kenneth Rexroth translated the same poems quite differently over time, once in 1956 and again in 1970. Personally I found this to be a fascinating highlight really distinctive if not utterly unique to this anthology.

So whether your primary interest is in Classical Chinese poetry or Modernist American poetry, this anthology is a modern classic in and of itself. And if you happen to be intrigued by how these two traditions interacted and entangled themselves in one of the great cultural interactions of human history, this is an indispensable book for your collection.

Making It New
The rediscovery of Greek and Roman literature kickstarted the Renaissance in Europe. In a similar way, though on a somewhat smaller scale, the conveniently Imagist makeover of Chinese poetry by Ezra Pound and Amy Lowell undoubtedly had a seismic and far-reaching effect on later 20th century American poetry. In his learned Introduction to this outstanding and indispensable Anthology, Weinberger traces the many subsequent debts owed by a galaxy of fine American poets to that seminal work of re-invention. Such impressively talented scholar-translators as Burton Watson, J. P Seaton, Jonathan Chaves and several others receive an honourable mention, though their work is well anthologised elsewhere, and Weinberger's brief seems to have been only to include full-time poets: with the possible exception of Hinton, that is. (However, Sam Hamill's, Arthur Sze's and David Young's names have inexplicably been left out: all three of them marvellous contemporary re-interpreters of the classical Chinese tradition, and all three fine poets in their own right.)

Weinberger concentrates in particular on five exemplary writers: Ezra Pound himself, William Carlos Williams, Kenneth Rexroth, Gary Snyder, and David Hinton. They are certainly all major figures, and it's useful to have them grouped together in this way (particular since the last of them diverges in such interesting ways from the Imagist 'Less is More' tradition: though he certainly 'makes it new' in accordance with that central dictum, which is even quoted in the original Chinese characters both on the cover and on the titlepage).

I thought I already knew quite a lot about American translators from classical Chinese---a whole shelf of mine already groans under their weight---but the William Carlos Williams renderings were entirely new to me, and so were some of the later Pound translations.

For this reader it's hard to contain his excitement at such a beautifully produced edition (only spoiled by a spine-label that's somehow been glued on upside down), and I recommend anyone interested in either recent American poetry or in the classical Chinese tradition to go out and buy it straight away. It will admirably complement Minford and Lau's recent historical anthology of all translations (both European and American, and both scholarly and 'creative'), which of course covers a much broader range, but which is similarly ground-breaking and enthralling to read. ... Read more

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This book is a comparative study of the ninth-century Chinese poet and recluse Han Shan (Cold Mountain) and Gary Snyder, an American poet and environmental activist. Joan Tan explains how Chan Buddhism has the potential to be recognized as an important voice in contemporary ecopoetry. Mountain-seeing Chan/Zen theory and the nature - Chan mirror are employed as aesthetic criteria to explicate the dual discourses - spiritual and aesthetic - which exist in Han Shan and Snyder's poetry and life work. Snyder's goal of establishing one ecosystem for all communities encouraged him to adopt Han Shan as an ideal (albeit Chinese mythical) model and Chan Buddhism as a global subculture representing environmental values. This book investigates how Snyder interweaves Chinese cultural sources in an eclectic way to impose a sense of place, a sense of mission and a sense of energy in his ecopoetry. His unique ideogrammatic method - riprapping - developed as a result of his literary indebtedness to the Oriental tradition, makes for a forceful statement on contemporary ecology.Through Snyder's successful translation, Han Shan has been revived as an immortal Beat Poet (Jack Kerouac features prominently in the chapters), while Cold Mountain has emerged as synonymous with enlightenment. Snyder himself has become an exemplary representative of an American Han Shan. The poetic line extending from Han Shan through to Chan/Zen to contemporary ecology is considered here as a continuum - a continuum profoundly enhanced by Snyder's remarkable achievement of eco-wholeness - the original goal of Han Shan in his ecopoetry. This title is complemented with full Chinese character text and Glossary. ... Read more

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Gary Snyder has been a major cultural force in America for five decades. Future readers will come to see this book as one of the central texts on wilderness and the interaction of nature and culture. The nine essays in The Practice of the Wild reveal why Snyder has gone on to become one of America's cultural leaders, comprehending things about our world before they were ever discussed in public. With thoughts ranging from political and spiritual matters to those regarding the environment and the art of becoming native to this continent, this collection of essays, first published in 1990, reflect the mature centerpiece of the author's work and thought. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Disappointing
In spite of my passion for this conserving wild places I couldn't finish this book. I didn't feel like I learned much or was exposed to new perspectives. The strident style of the author's prose made it feel like I was being machine gunned by his opinions. Further, I look for writing on this subject to have some sense of poetry and to be less self absorbed. I was disappointed.

Excellent work that will stand the test of time
I use the essays in The Practice of the Wild in some of the classes I teach. Gary Snyder has a profound sense of place, the wilds, and keen heartfelt vision for the possibilities of our human place in the nature of things. His writings inspires us to deepen our own relationship to self, community, and place... especially in the terrain of the wilds. Like his essays in Turtle Island these essays will stand the test of time.

a not-too-cohesive assemblage of 9 essays on wildness
From the git-go, I've got to tell you: this is a difficult, challenging book. Not because of the thought or content, but because of the loose and sometimes pedantic writing style. Gary Snyder the poet is a different critter than Gary Snyder the essayist. The syntax is awkward - Snyder asks that you jump across the chasms of comprehension with him. So, you make the disconcerting leap, and your comprehension is left hanging, with nothing to really hang on to.

Gary Snyder is in the role of prophet, as he talks about a "culture of wilderness". But he never elucidates on this - I have not a clue what he means by this term, since he doesn't elaborate on this notion. He talks about a return to the "commons" of historical times - and there is a cogent discussion of this in the essay "The Place, the Regions, and the Commons". "Good, Wild, Sacred" and "Ancient Forests of the Far West" are the other two essays that are fairly lucid.

Yet, I've got to say, the other six essays are pedantic and almost incoherent. It is very hard to follow the discursive twists and turns in this writing. Is Snyder trying to impress his fellow professors at UC Davis with his acumen? We have to be lectured at on the etymologies of many words to the point where the narrative momentum gets slack.

The thoughts and content seem legitimate; but the writing style is certainly not. His observations are valid; but with non-sequiturs abounding, with generalizations of human history and philosophy tucked into tangents running off to the horizon, the poor reader is left in the quicksands of incomprehension.

In all fairness, you might consider taking a pass on this one. I rarely review a 3 star book, prefering to stay on the positive side of things. This one is one of those rarities.

Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts

The Cloud Reckoner

dream a bear's nostrils and wake up at home
to find our way back from complete devastation will require that we listen to those who have known the way home a long time - gary snyder introduces us to that knowledge in these essays - this book will be read as long as there are people who read books as we know them - may that be a very long time.

An OUTSTANDING book
Few books about nature excite me; most leave me bored.Snyder's mastery of language and depth of thought create a riveting exploration.I have recommended this book to many people, and all who have read it treasure it. ... Read more

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The Beat Movement, which first rose to attention in 1955, has often been viewed by critics as an urban phenomenon--the product of a postwar youth culture with roots in the cities of New York and San Francisco. This study examines another side of the Beat Movement: its strong desire for a reconnection with nature. Although each took a different path in attaining this goal, the writers considered here--Gary Snyder, Jack Kerouac, Lew Welch, and Michael McClure--sought a new and closer connection to the natural world. These four writers, along with many of their counterparts in the Beat era, provided a crucial spark that helped to ignite the environmental movement of the 1970s and provided the foundation for the development of the current "Deep Ecology" worldview. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The Greening of the Beats
The author sheds light on a side of the beat culture
which has been ignored by the mass media for far too
long. Many a word has been written about the Beat's
frontal attack upon the sleepy surburban world of
America circa late 1950s, but few have bottered to
examine their spiritual awareness as related to Mother
Earth. They were fresh voices who found spiritual
rebirth through nature and were in the forefront of
those questioning the prevalent doctrine of consummerism.
I would heartily recommend this well written book.

Must read
Wow- what a book.This book sheds new light on a topic I feel has already been covered.Phillips' personal interviews are fantastic.I would love to have Phillips for a professor, wait- I do.Phillips is the man, and so is his book.If you are reading this Dr. Phillips can I have a 4.0?You know who I am!

The Beats Reconsidered--Finally
Finally, a scholar has dug through the pop culture mud of the Beats to bedrock below: They weren't just citified tea-heads as Life magazine in the Fifties (and too many academics since) would have us believe.Thesewriters were deeply tuned into the natural world and drew upon it forinspiration and some of their best writing--even the seemingly most urbanof the lot--Kerouac. Case and point: Kerouac's"greening" in"Dharma Bums."Phillips' discussion of this novel is especiallyastute; and it sent me digging for my old copy.Similarly, Phillips'treatment of the Beats and Buddhism (Snyder in particular) is alsorefreshingly clear and original--not an easy thing to do. Phillips'research, including interviews with McClure, Welch and Snyder, is thoroughand convincing.Moreover, his prose is sharp and unencumbered with trendyjargon. I predict Beat scholars will reconsider certain assumptions uponreading this book--and Beat fans will find this to be a unique andexcellent addition to the ever-growing Beat canon. ... Read more

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A stunning performance of Snyder's works from Turtle Island and Axe Handles. ... Read more

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Introduction to MultiSIM, 1e, is a workbook that combines fundamental theory of dc and ac electronics with practical circuit analysis and simulation with MultiSIM. Featuring MultiSIM v. 9 and 10, it organizes material into forty manageable sections that offer a modular and flexible approach. Each section includes introductions, pre-labs, design verifications, application exercises, trouble shooting exercises and summaries that reinforce main concepts. Throughout the workbook basic electronics topics are introduced and reinforced using a practical MultiSIM tutorial. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Book
This book was useful in the completion of LABS in both my AC and DC analysis courses. Although printing was a little cheap so erasing and answers could easily take off print on the page so be careful. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Reread
Great book. Be prepared to read more than once. Its short but satisfying. Highly recommend.

A Rucksack Revolution!
This is my favorite book in the world. Period. Why? I suppose the attraction is Snyder's diamond cutter clarity and surface simplicity, coupled with his rhythmic West Coast venacular - this work woke me from my own "dogmatic slumber" and set me on a lifetime of travel.

Snyder may have been a Beat, but I would argue, only vicariously - that is, while some of the other "Beats" became verbose and morbidly self-absorbed, Snyder on the other hand conitnued to live according to his own quirky, West Coast intuitive understanding of the universe (learned from mountain peaks and bear droppings) beyond the modern materialistic social matrix that many of us find ourselves being gobbled up by. Here, Snyder offers us an alternative, or a reminder, that there are other ways to live, not just according to rigid social taboos; as such, he continues to influence many young people, even until today.

More importantly, perhaps, is that while many writers dabbled in Zen, Snyder LIVED it, moving to Kyoto in 1956 to study Rinzai Zen, and remaining in Japan on and off until to 1968.

The work that most moves me is "Tanker Notes." These stark prose/poetry journal entries were obviously written by someone who PRACTICES what they preach, with a keen, Zen-like attention to the task at hand, whether cleaning a ship valve or conversing with a drunken crew mate. In this sense, Snyder is a true boddhisattva, a real Dharma Bum, and what I like most about Snyder his is earthy honesty. He is not afraid to "go off course" so to speak, like (say) a drunken stupor or sampling the local nightlife in some exortic port - he wants to EXPERIENCE the world.

I cannot recommend this book enough. It you don't "get it," don't fret - it is not for everyone...but I think the fact that he travelled, studied, and returned to teach about environmental studies at UC Davis shows that Snyder, though at times blissfully playful and at peace in the universe, has a serious side as well.

Buy it today!

Wonderful !!
An outstanding collection of daily entries on hiking and climbing expeditions, where Kerouac, Whalen and others go up Mt. Crater, on Buddhist and Hindu ideas, on his trip to India with Orlovsky and Ginsberg and near the end of this journal; some essays on the new emerging psychedelic subculture - the 1967 Human Be-In, the subculture which existed throughout antiquity of the Gnosis, mystics, community and tribe. The idea of a matrilineal society, tribal, indigenous and I can so much relate to this type of open consciousness, the opening of the doors of perception in nature and mother earth and loving each other in emptiness - concept free- moments of the mind. I was also moved by his experience in an Ashram on a Japanese Island.

It's the year 2006 and its all new material for me. It seems I personally know Snyder when reading this. Much of the beats bring you right with them. I see what moved John Suiter in his "Poets Peaks," as I am hiking up New Jersey and New York Mountains I can feel much of these words.

I only regret that I was not with Snyder and the beats, that I have not been in certain areas of the East, that I was not with the later tribal communities; such communities that were far removed from today's one-sided Manichean society. The difference is in the level of consciousness; one aware of role playing identities, the other lost in subjectivity.

"A lot of it is simply being aware of the clouds and wind."

Another side of Snyder
From the outset, I have to say that I like Gary Snyder a lot. Less pretentious than Ferlenghetti and more perceptive than Ginsberg, his poems are like modern haiku, brilliant observations and juxtapositions thatsomehow manage to express what most artists simply cannot.

_Earth HouseHome_ is a collection of Snyder's prose, which happily enjoys the samedistinction. It's an eclectic mix, with journal excerpts that read morelike rough notes for poetry; book reviews that illuminate their subjectsfrom unexpected angles; an account of day-to-day life at a Zen temple inKyoto; and more, concluding with my favourite section, an almost Joyceanaccount of Snyder's views on society and culture.

Get this, any way youcan. You won't regret it. Also recommended for those just discoveringSynder: _No Nature_, a 'collected works' of sorts. ... Read more

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A collection of poems that marks Gary Snyder's golden years which would culminate with the Pulitzer Prize winning Turtle Island. ... Read more

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Inspired by the ancient Chinese proverb, "There’s nothing you can own that can’t be left out in the rain," this collection charts the journeys of the poet from 1947 to 1985. This book is unique among Gary Snyder’s numerable works, and the poems contained here are as broad in style as the compilation is in timeframe. With a new introduction by the author, Left Out in the Rain captures the evolution of the poet and the man.

Readers will travel with Snyder from the American West to the Far East. From Berkeley to Kyoto, his imagery provides insight into the natural world as well as the human experience. With the span of a few words, Snyder can reveal a universe and then two pages later deftly handle a villanelle. Sensual, sardonic, meditative, epigrammatic, formalist—whatever the tone or structure, these poems all bear the indelible stamp of a master. Always evocative, they remind us why Snyder is one of our most heralded and beloved contemporary poets. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

wonderful bundle of poems
i first read some of the poems in a bookstore waiting for my grandfather one day.slowly i flipped through the pages, reading several poems to get a feel for the book, which is quite different from Gary Snyder's other works, but in a good way (as he describes in his forward).his other works, each of them, seem to have more of a common theme or idea to them, where as in this book it is a compilation of poems from 1947-1985.these poems range from the Pacific Northwest Coast, to New York City, to Kyoto, to love.All of his poems hold true to Mr. Snyder's broad style, so if you enjoy his poems i am sure you will enjoy this compilation.

Highly recommended for poetry enthusiasts
Left Out in the Rain is a free-verse poetry collection by Gary Snyder, winner of the Pulitzer Prize among other awards. In his twenties, he labored as a forester and logger; one of his experienced co-workers told him, "If you're gonna work these woods, don't want nothing that can't be left out in the rain." That phrase became the title and binding theme of Left Out In The Rain, which examines human experiences in relation to the environment that encompasses them. The diversity of the often brief verses makes each one linger in the mind as bright flicker of momentary insight, in this compilation highly recommended for poetry enthusiasts. The Taste: I don't know where it went / Or recall how it worked / What one did / What the steps were / Was it hands? / Or the words and the tune? / All that's left / Is a flavor / That stays
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Customer Reviews (3)

Wonderful
Stunning photos and thoughtful writings make this book refreshing and unique.Opening the Mountain has a beautiful zen-like quality that takes the reader on an unforgettable journey.This is a fantastic book to own and would also be a great gift for a loved one!

Circulating Mount Tam
An evocative book, one to spend time with. Comprised of photos of the walk, some of which are achingly beautiful, poems, essays and sutras, it pulls you in at many levels, leaves you inspired to take this walk yourself, or perhaps to create one like it.

A wow of a book!
This book is funny and serious, spiritual and secular, historical and in the now, and just a plain great read. The fotos alone are worth the price, but the whole experience made me feel as if I had just circumambulated Mt Tam myself. ... Read more

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