Julia Martin (2)

This book is the transcription of three days' conversation between Lopez and Julia Martin, a friend of long standing, at Lopez's home in the remote PNW woods. These are the sorts of conversations that, in another setting, might come across as pompous or pedantic. But here, it's just an older friend trying to convey some of the ideas and perceptions he has accumulated over a lifetime of work. I have highlighted many passages.

The first third of this book is three interviews, Julia Martin talking with Gary Snyder, and the rest of the book is a collection of letters between these two. Julia is a professor in South Africa and has written quite a bit about Snyder, so I learned from this book.

I've been Buddhist for several decades and have read a bit of Snyder over those years. So most of the material here was pretty familiar. But I haven't studied Snyder in detail, so I don't know if this book contains any special show more insights. It has a lot of personal details, for example discussions about funding travel to conferences etc. So there is a lot about academic careers, the ups and downs of universities etc. Since Julia is from South Africa, there is quite a bit about South Africa.

It's an enjoyable book but I can't see it being in the first rank of Snyder scholarship or anything. show less

Series of interviews and letters between a South African scholar and Gary Snyder. The correspondence started when the scholar, as a MA student, sent Snyder a series of questions about his work. This is a great dialogue that helps fill the gaps in Snyder's works.