The Back Country

Gary Snyder attained fame and notoriety as a participant in the famous Six Gallery reading in San Francisco in 1955. His fame was embellished further by his role as the model for the protagonist in Jack Kerouac's novel "The Dharma Bums". His first two books -- Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems and Myths and Texts -- solidified his position as one of the country's most interesting younger poets. But the Back Country was Snyder's masterpiece, and remains so today in a career full of high points. Written during a transition period between the author's mountain lookout jobs, stints in Japan, returns to America, marriage, divorce, journeys to India, and the cultural backdrop of the 1960s, this book is structured on these faults lines. We begin with "Far West", poems about the Sierras and Snyder's mountain jobs; we then move to "Far East", poems about Japan; "Kali" takes us to India, and represents a descent into the underworlds of Buddhist-themed suffering; and "Back" brings us back the America. The poems are taut and elliptical, with haiku-like precision. The book is a reflection of travel and the whirl of global, cultural interconnection that characterized much of the Sixties. At the time it was published, in 1968, there was simply no poetry like this in America, and Snyder deservedly became one of the nation's most celebrated poets -- a position he has maintained for almost fifty years now. There are too many good poems here to single out. If you are interested in reading one of the dozen seminal books of post-WWII American poetry, this is it. Indispensable.

The Section V collects the translation of eighteen poems by Miyazawa Kenji. Although several translations in English are available, Snyder's translation especially Spring and the Ashura captures the tone and flow of the original poem with natural ease. As it is only a partial production, one wonders whether it was was Snyder's whim to translate some poems he encountered and liked while his time in Japan or he actually planned to complete the translation (Spring and the Ashura comes in several sections published at different times) and it didn't materialize. Had he completed the translation of Spring and Ashura in its entirety, it would have been a beautiful read.

This is the classic Gary Snyder. Includes A Berry Feast, which is itself a classic Snyder poem. It is interesting to read his later writing after reading this, and to follow his transitions through life. He is a marvelous poet, a lover of life and of the physical world, in which he understands his place. He is zen exuberance at its best.

Love Gary Snyder. I saw him recite his poetry in Nevada City in the early 70s. It was am amazing experience. A very intimate setting on the deck of house with just a few people in attendance. Not sure how I ended up going but that was the 70s.

Great book. Thanks

I had to read many of the poems in this volume while taking a college course in Beat Literature, but in this reviewer's opinion the careful, Eastern-oriented poetry by Snyder has a mystical quality sorely lacking in poetry by writers like Kerouac, Corso, Ferlinghetti and even Ginsberg. Snyder captures the mountains of the pacific northwest, human relationships, campfires, and the mysteries of the far east in a careful and understated style. He sometimes makes use of the ancient Japanese style of haiku, and in all of his poems he seems to have rich, abundant ideas which he is able to convey in relatively few words. I have come back to this volume repeatedly over the years, and it always reveals a new secret and joy each time. Think of Snow Falling on Cedars in poetry form.

This collection of poetry changed my life, I was deeply engaged with each installment!

As far as the material is concerned this is a great book to start with for the author, how I'd love to visit his retreat just to hear the stories of people who stayed at the propertyAs for the seller, the book came to Canada one day after my order of Thomas Paine writings came from the US Amazon quick delivery, ass described and packaged well