Blogging The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen

The library had the book, but with a plain gray cover.

The Snow Leopard (1978) tells of Peter Matthiessen's journey into the Himalayas in hopes of spotting the elusive leopard as part a spiritual quest. I began reading it because there's a character in my novel in progress, Panthera, who is panthera uncia (snow leopard).

The Snow Leopard immediately delighted me. It's rich with language, culture, and meaning. Matthiessen's metaphor of snow leopard as spiritual truth resonated with me. I had a similar feeling when I was in South Africa, also hoping to spot a leopard, desiring what was, in the present, unattainable and feeling the tension between wanting to make the most of my experience, here now, and longing to be home.

My first experience of reading The Snow Leopard was frustrating, however. It didn't lend itself well to being read on the countertop when getting ready for work or a few pages at a time before bed. I kept missing parts. Since it wasn't available on Kindle, I couldn't highlight anything or look up words as I went along which I'm now accustomed to being able to do at whim. I'd feel stalled in the book wondering — Would Matthiessen would make it home for Thanksgiving? Would a snow leopard, or perhaps a yeti, appear? — while at the same time feeling I was reading the book too quickly.

The Snow Leopard is organized as a series of journal entries. Around October 15, in the book's Himalayas, I had to remind myself that it was only September here in Washington. That's when I got this idea: start The Snow Leopard over on the first journal entry day, Sept. 28, and blog it day by day until the end on Dec. 1. Has anyone done this or tried reading the book in this way?

During this same time period, I have a goal to finish the first draft of Panthera so that I can hand it off to my first readers. Perhaps I don't need the complication of another project, but I feel called to do it and the projects are complimentary. Panthera, a utopian fantasy, is an elusive quest of its own.

I'll blog The Snow Leopard in my usual Sensorium format, recording the senses that stand out to me, but from the book in addition to my own surroundings (which I'll put as a separate at home entry below). I'll also include a few extras: a favorite word and quote as well as an update on my Panthera progress. This project suits the theme of The Snow Leopard: Ideally, we do not have to climb distant mountains; we can find the divine in the day-to-day beauty and toil of our everyday lives.