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Gary Snyder
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Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems Anniversary Edition, Kindle Edition

by Gary Snyder (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 110 ratings
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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, have 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 fiftieth anniversary of that groundbreaking book we celebrate with this edition. A small press reprint of that book included Snyder's translations of Han Shan's Cold Mountain Poems, perhaps the finest translations of that remarkable poet ever made into English.

Reintroducing one of the twentieth century's foremost collections of poetry, this edition will please those already familiar with this work and excite a new generation of readers with its profound simplicity and spare elegance.
Previous page
  1. ISBN-13
    978-1582435411
  2. Edition
    Anniversary
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Counterpoint
  5. Publication date
    August 28, 2009
  6. Language
    English
  7. File size
    589 KB
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gary Snyder is the author of more than twenty collections of poetry and prose. Since 1970 he has lived in the watershed of the South Yuba River in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1975, Snyder has also been awarded the Bollingen Prize for Poetry and the Robert Kirsch Lifetime Achievement Award. His 1992 collection, No Nature, was a National Book Award finalist, and in 2008 he received the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. Snyder is a poet, environmentalist, educator and Zen Buddhist. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"As early as the 1950s, before ecology became a household word, Snyder understood things about our civilization and economy that no one else was talking about, and he wrote about them with great authority and a sinewy line." -- Richard Tillinghast, The Nation

"His greatest strength-a quiet and profound elegance, an ability to write a simple phrase that seems to have been echoing through human consciousness for three or four thousand years." -- Lewis MacAdams, California Magazine

"Long ago staked his claim as one of America's finest poets...[An] unswerving integrity [is] present throughout the development of Snyder's poetic sensibility." -- Boston Herald

"The master of lucid meditation." -- Los Angeles Times Book Review

"This poet's great gift has always been perfect visual clarity... and, needless to say, derives from Snyder's vision in the larger sense." -- Paul Berman, The Village Voice

Cold Mountain Poems: 1
Cold Mountain Poems: 10
Cold Mountain Poems: 11
Cold Mountain Poems: 12
Cold Mountain Poems: 13
Cold Mountain Poems: 14
Cold Mountain Poems: 15
Cold Mountain Poems: 16
Cold Mountain Poems: 17
Cold Mountain Poems: 18
Cold Mountain Poems: 19
Cold Mountain Poems: 2
Cold Mountain Poems: 20
Cold Mountain Poems: 21
Cold Mountain Poems: 22
Cold Mountain Poems: 23
Cold Mountain Poems: 24
Cold Mountain Poems: 3
Cold Mountain Poems: 4
Cold Mountain Poems: 5
Cold Mountain Poems: 6
Cold Mountain Poems: 7
Cold Mountain Poems: 8
Cold Mountain Poems: 9
Above Pate Valley
All Through The Rains
At Five A.m. Off The North Coast Of Sumatra
Cartagena
For A Far-out Friend
Goofing Again
Hay For The Horses
Higashi Hongwanji
Kyoto: March
The Late Snow & Lumber Strike Of The Summer Of Fifty-four
Mid-august At Sourdough Mountain Lookout
Migration Of Birds
Milton By Firelight
Nooksack Valley
Piute Creek
Praise For Sick Women
Riprap
The Sappa Creek
A Stone Garden
T-2 Tanker Blues
Thin Ice
Toji
Water
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder® --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B003Z9JMTS
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Counterpoint; Anniversary edition (August 28, 2009)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 28, 2009
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 589 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 82 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1582435413
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 110 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
110 global ratings
Han Shan, Shi-de et al.
5 Stars
Han Shan, Shi-de et al.
Each man sweeps the things he hatesInto the neighboring room;The coward does it with a sword,The brave man with a broom. --me
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Top reviews from the United States

Nicholas Trandahl
5.0 out of 5 stars One of my Favorite Poetry Collections
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2017
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Simply put, "Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems" is one of the finest books of poetry I've ever read. I'd rank this up alongside Raymond Carver's "All of Us" and Jim Harrison's "Dead Man's Float". Brutally honest, simple, sparse prose comprise this thin collection, Snyder's first, and the book is finished off by Snyder's translations of the remarkable simple work of Han-Shan, a 7th century Chinese poet that would've been write at home in the 20th century backcountry of America.
This book has finished the long steady rise of Gary Snyder as one of my all-time favorite poets. Certainly one of the greats.
4 people found this helpful
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Erik C. Pihl
5.0 out of 5 stars Snyder redux
Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2009
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Gary Snyder is, has been and, in all probability will continue to be, one of the great American poets, not just of the 20th century, but of any century. This reprise of his first published book of poems is marvellous. Not only is it great to revisit this work after many years, but a CD of Gary reading the material is an excellent addition to the printed work. It gives a sense of what he expects of timing and emphasis when reading his work. This is particualrly valuable when reading his idiomatic "Rip Rap" material. The translations from Han Shan (Cold Mountain) capture, I believe, the rhythm of Chinese poetry as it was written. I would heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in late 20th century American poetry.
4 people found this helpful
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J 3 Gerald
5.0 out of 5 stars An old friend in new clothes
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2018
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I bought the original of this from dear old Cody's Bookstore an amazing 48 years ago (how the hell did that happen?).
It is well worn, following me and my new wife back to my roots in the woods journey and living with me through my environmental political days in the '70's, when I had a lunch with Gary Snyder in Sacramento when he was the new poet laureate of California, through a whole bunch of local community stuff to my widower retirement of these days. It is perhaps my most well worn book, and was part of my journey through the loss of a daughter, and later of my wife of 44 years. It is still a friend - more now for the Cold Mountain poems than Gary's work.
I bought three of the 50-year editions for friends and my teacher in my sangha for this winter holiday season, and my only regret is that the drawing of Han-Shan and Jittoku in the original introduction to the Cold Mountain poems has been replaced with an inferior drawing of Han-Shan, which not only conceals his face, but totally hides his original nature which the original drawing captures... But the words still sing, and you to can "Try and make it to Cold Mountain". I am fortunate to have found mine.
8 people found this helpful
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None Ya
5.0 out of 5 stars Gary Snyder is a master poet
Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2014
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You should read all his stuff. Right now. And did you know - he's a buddy Jack Kerouac, who wrote Dharma Bums? Pretty wonderful stuff, his poems, and the history behind them. I was lucky enough to meet him in person once - he was kind, thoughtful, and irreverent; in other words, awesome!
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robert p.
5.0 out of 5 stars The true Han Chan
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2014
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Great work. These poems are pieces of Snyder's heart. The man is a great poet and this little book (only 2/3 of it are his poems)
will make you feel good. The other part of the book is composed of poems from Han Chan (Cold Mountain).
Snyder translated them himself and a great job he did. You'll get the full feeling of what Han was saying when he wrote them.
No one else I've read has done anything with these poems that comes close to what Snyder has done with his translations. Too bad he didn't translate them all. I'd love to have a copy if he ever decided to do so.
10 people found this helpful
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DhammaBum
5.0 out of 5 stars Life Poetry
Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2011
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I've known of Snyder and his poetry for years, ever since falling in love with Jack Kerouac's 'The Dharma Bums'. I've even had the good fortune of reading a few of Snyder's pieces for school (Ecopsychology!). But, this is the first time I've spent some time with a larger selection of his work...and I've really loved the experience. To me, it reads openly, spaciously, and simply, all things that I can appreciate as a practitioner of Buddhist meditation.
If you enjoy poetry, nature, spirit(uality), or simply life, then I would highly recommend spending some time with this book...
4 people found this helpful
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kingfisher1031
3.0 out of 5 stars Poetry for mind travel...
Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2012
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Riprap’s collection of travelogue poems contain concise and clipped language delivering descriptive narratives and declaratives. Gary’s spiritual quests seem to always get undercut by reality. Joblessness in less than desirable surroundings allows him to focus on enjoyment of practical everyday living. Women have a tough existence raising children, losing their looks to age. Men scrounge for laborious work moving dirt or hauling hay for horses. It’s like reading a diary where nature’s life force penetrates all creation. I think my favorites are the temple poems, which combine sundry details and breathless glimpses of nirvana. Even the long-lined poems “T-2 Tanker Blues” and “Cartagena” possess the same elements in longer strings of short breaths. Cold Mountain Poems is a series of 24 very short poems, almost all less than 10 lines in length which capture the thoughts of a traveler journeying to Cold Mountain. Again, brevity rules, with single-word images riding story-telling lines of philosophical thoughts. Each numbered poem is charming in its own small way, and that really is what these meditations aim for…the small way…is the way...to enlightenment.
8 people found this helpful
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Ellen E.
5.0 out of 5 stars thank you
Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2022
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as described
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Top reviews from other countries

D. J.
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Snyder
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 16, 2010
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I obtained a copy of Riprap some years ago so it was really nice to get hold of this 50th Anniversary edition in hardback, the poetry is timeless (as is all good poetry) it was and still is a groundbraking piece of work, Haiku, Essays, translation's of Han Shan's poetry and with the added bonus of all poems on a cd read by Snyder himself.
I received my copy from "The Book Depository" on time, no problems.
2 people found this helpful
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B C ROGERS
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 23, 2015
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brilliant poems
One person found this helpful
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Ariel Guerra
1.0 out of 5 stars sorry I didn't strike me at all
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 27, 2012
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This was a recommended set of poems. I guess the problem comes from the translation, but I don't find these poems interesting at all, even though I'm someone who gives several chances to the same artwork before I finally decide what to say about it. I don't recommend this book
2 people found this helpful
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