The Snow Leopard - Peter Matthiessen (3.5 of 5 Wandering Blue Sheep)

This novel is the story of one man's journey into the Himalayas. What begins as a hunt for the illusive snow leopard, becomes a spiritual quest as the author leaves his urban environment and presses forward into the snow-capped mountains. When he reaches the peak of one of these mountains, he seeks refuge in a Buddhist monastery. There he experiences the beauty of simple living.

Now that I think of it, it's a lot like a Himalayan version of Walden Pond. In both, one man goes into the wilderness to escape urban drudgery. Thoreau builds a small cabin; Matthiessen stays in a palace. David writes about birds for fifty pages; Peter writes about blue sheep for fifty pages. Our hero of the lake uses his birds as a spring board into the depths of philosophy and Christian theology while our champion of the mountains uses the sheep as a ladder into the heavens of idealized Buddhism.

The language is beautiful, but the story drags a bit. Basically, if you liked Walden Pond, you'll probably dig The Snow Leopard.

What other books have you read that follow this structure?