Customer Reviews

Turtle Island (New Directions Books)

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4 star:		(2)
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Turtle Island is probably Gary Snyder's best known book - an award winning book. The "museum piece" teaser in the review summary refers to the short essay at the end of the book arguing cogently for a reduction in population, a more communal life style, etc. - a piece well written in its time but one that has portions which need rewriting in light of the increased opportunities for recycling etc. The poetry, however, does stand the test of time. Snyder's poetry reflects the directness of Zen poetry - his nature is real nature not nature conjured up for imagery or "concreteness". His knowledge of mythological symbols - including Turtle Island - is deep; his is not a superficial borrowing. Gary Snyder would be on my short list of "most know" poets and Turtle Island is a good place start becoming familiar with his work.

Even three decades after its publication which won for Gary Snyder the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, this text of poems and essays remains a classic of 20th-century American poetry and environmental literature. I look forward to teaching it again in a college classroom later this winter and introducing a new generation of students to the power of Snyder's poetry and ideas.

This is Snyder at his best, and yet most versatile...the poems have become small classics in the world of contemporary poetry. I can recite several of these poems and quote their story to others. Snyder has that persistence that makes us all thankful. The poems are right and true, chop wood and carry water, and be awake to the life around you.

One of our foremost poets, Gary Snyder is a real 'mountain poet' in that Japanese sense. He actually spent about 9 years in a zen monastory in Japan. This book was his first major work, and put him on the map. For those who love poetry, especially Ecology inspired works, it doesnt get any better than Snyder, and this work is one of his best early efforts.

...And a message for you.

I've never reviewed a book of poetry before. Short of "Roses are red...", or "There once was a man from Nantucket...", I'm not sure I could recognize good poetry from bad. And other than a bit of exposure to Emerson, Poe, and Jeffers, I haven't been everywhere that poetry can take you. But this stuff seemed pretty good. It was full of playful imagery, flowed well, and it wasn't so experimental that I got completely lost.

In summary, consider it a pinnacle of 70's hip-thought. If you read "Sleeping where I fall", you'll realize that not a few people wanted to be where Snyder's head was at. I'm not sure how many made it though - too much baggage. I'm not all with Snyder's way of thinking either. But I appreciate his choice of medium, and his attempt to get past expressing the unexpressable.