The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 17 March 1998
by Peter Matthiessen, photographs by Thomas Laird
To the east of Lo Monthang, Matthiessen discovers a lost green plateau that he compares to legend of Shangri La. He hides its identity and doesn't mark its location on the map included in this book, protective of its untouched spiritual splendor. The story starts with a journey up the Kali Gandaki river in the Mustang region of Nepal, to a fortress town near the Tibetan border which still lives by centuries-old traditions. Like his award-winning The Snow Leopard, he tells of the stark and beautiful landscape, and the mysterious creatures ranging from the elusive snow leopard to the mythological mehti (or yeti). Unlike the earlier work, this tale is less developed, more of a wandering than a quest. The text describes Laird's stunning color photographs that make this coffee-table book so beautiful. Still, Matthiessen's text is thought provoking, and left me wondering about this world high in the Himalaya, as it faces dwindling water supply and the increasing attention of outsiders.
Also by Matthiessen: [Killing Mr. Watson] [At Play in the Fields of the Lord] [Blue Meridian] [Far Tortuga]