| Author | Comment | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 SnooKen |
"New" Peter Matthiessen |
Lead | ||
|
Posts: 750 11/23/2008 10:13 |
Despite my hopeful monitoring of bookstore shelves these past years this one slipped in under my antiquated radar. Released in April of this year "Shadow
Country" is a 900+ page rewrite/revision of Matthiessen's Florida trilogy. Haven't yet received my ordered copy but thought I'd put the word
out to those of you who are fans of his work. Below is a link to one review. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/21354
Ken
I'm more successful at keeping my mind open than my mouth shut.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
pcg |
#1 | |||
|
Posts: 1847 11/23/2008 14:53 Admin |
Ken, the book also won a prestigious award sometime this week. I haven't read it yet, but an looking forward to being able to. Matthiessen is one of our
best writers.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
pmag |
#2 | |||
|
Posts: 330 11/24/2008 08:04 |
Matthiessen is, indeed, one of our best. I loved the Watson trillogy and I'll buy the new book but I'm not sure I'll read it. "So many books,
so little time."
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
pcg |
#3 | |||
|
Posts: 1851 11/24/2008 08:58 Admin |
Also "must reads" by PM are "Snow Leopard" & "Nine-Headed Dragon River." These are the two books that turned me into a fan
long ago.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
creakycane |
#4 | |||
|
Posts: 1916 11/24/2008 18:29 |
"Men's Lives" on the baymen of the South Fork LI is my favorite Matthiessen book.....
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
SnooKen |
#5 | |||
|
Posts: 752 11/24/2008 20:04 |
And I'll throw in "At Play in the Fields of the Lord" as another example of his diversity. Heck, even the movie wasn't too bad.
Ken
I'm more successful at keeping my mind open than my mouth shut.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
pmag |
#6 | |||
|
Posts: 331 11/25/2008 15:52 |
Nice to be on the same board with men of fine literary taste
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
eastprong |
#7 | |||
|
Posts: 392 11/26/2008 01:36 |
"The Snow Leopard" won the National Book Award when it was published (1978?). Deeply personal with the clarity of high mountain air and without
overwrought sentimentality, it moved me in ways that books or art seldom do, because it oscillates between nature observations, myth, and philosophy -- a heady
brew.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
ZenCane |
#8 | |||
|
Posts: 97 12/22/2008 17:04 |
Also worth a read if you liked "Snow Leopard" is Stones of Silence" by George Schaller - he was on the same trip, and is the biologist referred
to as "S" all the way the Snow Leopard - he has a new book "A Naturalist and Other Beasts" out now as well. Reading the Snow Leopard and
Stones of Silence back to back gives a nice 2- person perspective on the same trip.
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
Letort |
#9 | |||
|
Posts: 46 02/08/2009 14:38 |
creakycane wrote: Creaky, I agree with you, Men's Lives is my favorite too! |
|||
|
|
||||
|
Short Tip |
#10 | |||
|
Posts: 948 02/09/2009 07:39 Moderator |
Agreed on all the above. I just finished Shadow Country and it is a huge improvement on books 2 and 3 of "The Watson Trilogy". Essentially a rewrite/
edit of Killing Mister Watson, Bone By Bone and Lost Man's River, it removes a lot of the weird anachronisms Matthiessen used and tightens the story line
to make it read as a more coherent narrative. At 892 pages, if you start now you may have it read by spring!
|
|||
|
|
||||
|
pmag |
#11 | |||
|
Posts: 370 02/09/2009 10:29 |
Exactly, Short Tip. I couldn't put it down but I didn't want to finish it, so I read it slowly and savored every word. A jewel!
|
|||
|
|
||||
