Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1560771 in Books
• Published on: 1995-12
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Customer Reviews

Poetry and a museum piece of the 70's
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.