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By any measure, Gary Snyder is one of the greatest poets in America in the last century. From his first book of poems to his latest collection of essays, his work and his example, standing between Tu Fu and Thoreau, has been influential all over the world.Riprap, his first book of poems, was published in Japan in 1959 by Origin Press, and it is the 50th anniversary of that groundbreaking book that is celebrated with this new edition. A small press reprint of that book included Snyder's show more translations of Han Shan'sCold Mountain Poems, perhaps the finest translations of that remarkable poet ever made into English. For the 50th anniversary, this completely redesigned edition ofRiprap is accompanied by a CD of Snyder reading all the poems in this collection, with introductions and asides. The recording, made in the poet's home by Jack Loeffler, marks the first time a complete reading has ever been available in a commercial edition. One of the finest collections of poems published in the 20th century, this edition will please those already familiar with this work and excite a new generation of readers with its profound simplicity and spare elegance. show lessTags
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Read this for May 2024 Calfifornia Book Club.
This is Snyder's first published collection (1959), and the first thing I have read from him. IKt is a mix of his own poetry (Riprap), Cold Mountain Poems are translated and by the Chinese poet Han-shan, who lived AD 600s or 700s.
My favorites here are the ones about the Sierra Nevada and outdoor work: Hay for the Horses, Thin Ice, the Piute Creek poems. While reading I wondered where Piute Creek is, as they reminded me of Fresno County around Shaver Lake (particularly the granite). The Afterword explains that he worked in Yosemite along Piute Creek--so not far at all from Shaver. Same granite formation, most likely.
I am curious about Snyder's later work--there is A LOT, and he also won a show more Pulitzer. show less
This is Snyder's first published collection (1959), and the first thing I have read from him. IKt is a mix of his own poetry (Riprap), Cold Mountain Poems are translated and by the Chinese poet Han-shan, who lived AD 600s or 700s.
My favorites here are the ones about the Sierra Nevada and outdoor work: Hay for the Horses, Thin Ice, the Piute Creek poems. While reading I wondered where Piute Creek is, as they reminded me of Fresno County around Shaver Lake (particularly the granite). The Afterword explains that he worked in Yosemite along Piute Creek--so not far at all from Shaver. Same granite formation, most likely.
I am curious about Snyder's later work--there is A LOT, and he also won a show more Pulitzer. show less
This is two chapbooks in one. Riprap, originally published by Origin Press in 1959, are Snyder's own poems. The Cold Mountain section are Snyder's translations of some of the poems of the Tang Chinese poet Han-shan. I liked the Cold Mountain section better than the first. I found Han-shan's poetry more immediate and simpler. Which is not to say there is anything wrong with Snyder's own poetry. I went on from this book to read other Snyder.
it was a pleasure to reread these poems in 2005, Synder's work is a perennial inspiration...
I have the edition that includes the DVD of Snyder reading then and now. I especially appreciated the new note appended to For a Far-Out Friend.
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Author Information
Gary Snyder was born in San Francisco, California on May 8, 1930. He received a B.A. in anthropology at Reed College in 1951. Between working as a logger, a trail-crew member, and a seaman on a Pacific tanker, he was associated with Beat poets such as Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso and studied in a Zen monastery in Japan. He wrote numerous books show more of poetry and prose including Danger on Peaks, Mountains and Rivers Without End, No Nature: New and Selected Poems, The Practice of the Wild, Regarding Wave, and Myths and Texts. He received an American Book Award for Axe Handles and the Pulitzer Prize for poetry for Turtle Island. He has also received an American Academy of Arts and Letters award, the Bollingen Prize, the Bess Hokin Prize, the Levinson Prize from Poetry, the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, and the Shelley Memorial Award. In 2012, he received the Wallace Stevens Award for lifetime achievement by the Academy of American Poets. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems
- Original title
- Riprap, & Cold Mountain Poems
- Original publication date
- 1959 (Riprap) (Riprap); 1958 (Cold Mountain Poems) (Cold Mountain Poems); 1969 (Combined edition) (Combined edition)
- People/Characters
- Han Shan
- Important places
- America; China
- Important events
- beat movement
- Dedication
- This book is dedicated to:
Speed McInturff
Ed McCullough
Blackie Burns
Jim Baxter
Roy Raymonds
Roy Marchbanks
Spud Murphy
Jack Perschke
Joe Duperont
Jack Haywood
Stanley Porter
Crazy... (show all) Horse Mason
In the woods & at sea. - Quotations
- Mid-August at Sourdough Mountain Lookout
Down valley a smoke haze | Three days heat, after five days rain | Pitch glows on the fir-cones | Across rocks and meadows | Swarms of new flies. |
I cannot remember things I on... (show all)ce read | A few friends, but they are in cities. | Drinking cold snow-water from a tin cup | Looking down for miles | Through high still air. --Gary Snyder
The path to Han-Shan's place is laughable, | A path, but no sign of cart or horse. | Converging gorges--hard to trace their twists | Jumbled cliffs--unbelievably rugged. | A thousand grasses bend with dew. | A hill of pines h... (show all)ums in the wind. | And now I've lost the shortcut home, | Body asking shadow, how do you keep up? --Cold Mountain (Han-Shan) - Original language
- English; Chinese
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- Members
- 358
- Popularity
- 87,670
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (4.14)
- Languages
- English, French
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 9
- ASINs
- 8
