| Author: | Gary Snyder | ISBN: | 9780811222808 |
| Publisher: | New Directions | Publication: | January 17, 1971 |
| Imprint: | New Directions | Language: | English |
| Author: | Gary Snyder |
| ISBN: | 9780811222808 |
| Publisher: | New Directions |
| Publication: | January 17, 1971 |
| Imprint: | New Directions |
| Language: | English |
“A reaffirmation of a back country of the spirit."—Kirkus Reviews
“A reaffirmation of a back country of the spirit."—Kirkus Reviews
This collection is made up of four sections: "Far West"—poems of the Western mountain country where, as a young man. Gary Snyder worked as a logger and forest ranger; "Far East"—poems written between 1956 and 1964 in Japan where he studied Zen at the monastery in Kyoto; "Kali"—poems inspired by a visit to India and his reading of Indian religious texts, particularly those of Shivaism and Tibetan Buddhism; and "Back"—poems done on his return to this country in 1964 which look again at our West with the eyes of India and Japan. The book concludes with a group of translations of the Japanese poet Miyazawa Kenji (1896-1933), with whose work Snyder feels a close affinity. The title, The Back Country, has three major associations; wilderness. the "backward" countries, and the “back country" of the mind with its levels of being in the unconscious.
“A reaffirmation of a back country of the spirit."—Kirkus Reviews
“A reaffirmation of a back country of the spirit."—Kirkus Reviews
This collection is made up of four sections: "Far West"—poems of the Western mountain country where, as a young man. Gary Snyder worked as a logger and forest ranger; "Far East"—poems written between 1956 and 1964 in Japan where he studied Zen at the monastery in Kyoto; "Kali"—poems inspired by a visit to India and his reading of Indian religious texts, particularly those of Shivaism and Tibetan Buddhism; and "Back"—poems done on his return to this country in 1964 which look again at our West with the eyes of India and Japan. The book concludes with a group of translations of the Japanese poet Miyazawa Kenji (1896-1933), with whose work Snyder feels a close affinity. The title, The Back Country, has three major associations; wilderness. the "backward" countries, and the “back country" of the mind with its levels of being in the unconscious.
