- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Bantam; New edition edition (1 Mar 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0553816799
- ISBN-13: 978-0553816792
- Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.8 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
117,971 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #13 in Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Central & South America > Argentina
On A Hoof And A Prayer: Around Argentina at a Gallop
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More About the Author
Product Description
Sunday Telegraph
'Evans is an adventurer...Her writing is full of colourful
anecdotes on taking tango lessons in Buenos Aires, attending polo
tournaments and galloping across the pampas and into the mountains. This is
a jolly romp of a read, with some good snapshots of local life'
anecdotes on taking tango lessons in Buenos Aires, attending polo
tournaments and galloping across the pampas and into the mountains. This is
a jolly romp of a read, with some good snapshots of local life'
Book Description
She's back... and on another hilarious, madcap adventure
Inside This Book
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
On a Hoof and a Prayer is a pleasant enough little page turner, and has enough interest in it to keep you going to the end. At first it seems like it might be funny, insightful, and maybe even adventurous; however it doesn't take long before a bit of disappointment sets in.
Labouring through the short chapters it soon becomes obvious that this is a simply a pedestrian account of an unremarkable whistlestop journey round the well-beaten tourist trails of Argentina: a day here, a bus journey there, and an internal flight somewhere else. Polly's own experiences are interspersed with a little cultural history, but where this occurs it is often quoted in large paragraphs directly from the source books she read as research. I'm not sure I learned that much more than a half hour television show could have told me, and there was basically no first hand insight into Argentinian life or culture.
I think my main disappointment is that the gimmick of the book - "around Argentina at a gallop" - fails to materialise at all. Granted she spends a week learning to ride when she first arrives, but after this all we get is an occasional pony trek, and then a short four day riding holiday nearer the end. I was expecting some kind of expedition on horseback, perhaps an exploration of the Andes or a summer as a gaucho, but sadly it wasn't to be.
Don't get me wrong. It wasn't terrible, but by the last 1/4 of the book I was just hoping it would end soon and I could get onto something else. I've heard similar disappointment expressed at "Kiwis Might Fly", and after reading this I won't be in a hurry to read any more of Polly's work. Worth borrowing if you are interested in Argentina, but not one to buy...
Labouring through the short chapters it soon becomes obvious that this is a simply a pedestrian account of an unremarkable whistlestop journey round the well-beaten tourist trails of Argentina: a day here, a bus journey there, and an internal flight somewhere else. Polly's own experiences are interspersed with a little cultural history, but where this occurs it is often quoted in large paragraphs directly from the source books she read as research. I'm not sure I learned that much more than a half hour television show could have told me, and there was basically no first hand insight into Argentinian life or culture.
I think my main disappointment is that the gimmick of the book - "around Argentina at a gallop" - fails to materialise at all. Granted she spends a week learning to ride when she first arrives, but after this all we get is an occasional pony trek, and then a short four day riding holiday nearer the end. I was expecting some kind of expedition on horseback, perhaps an exploration of the Andes or a summer as a gaucho, but sadly it wasn't to be.
Don't get me wrong. It wasn't terrible, but by the last 1/4 of the book I was just hoping it would end soon and I could get onto something else. I've heard similar disappointment expressed at "Kiwis Might Fly", and after reading this I won't be in a hurry to read any more of Polly's work. Worth borrowing if you are interested in Argentina, but not one to buy...
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I agree totally with J Dowens review. I wanted to like this book, I wanted to be riveted, I wanted to smell the leather, feel the Argentinian wind in my hair along with the author...but it just didn't do it for me. Pleasant enough in a mildy interesting kind of way. More like "Round Argentina at a Trot" in my opinion. Don't think I'll be bothering with any of the author's other books which is a shame. The book covers are good though!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Inconsequential
3 Aug 2009
Format:Paperback
I should start my review by saying that this book is a fine example of its type -- the breezy travelogue -- but if you prefer something meatier and more substantial, you're likely to be disappointed.
When I read books of this sort, my hope is that in return for the time spent reading, I'll come away with a better idea of the place being written about. While she did a credible job of describing some of the landscapes she encountered, if you're interested in people and culture, well, I have some bad news for you.
Example: During a brief visit to Buenas Aires, she encounters a group of "Mothers of the Disappeared" protesting in front of a government building. And she writes something like this: "Was the little girl pictured on her T-shirt one of the disappeared? How did it happen? How did she feel about it? What drives her to continue these protests thirty years after the event?"
Three pages later, she encounters *Grand*mothers of the disappeared, and again with the rhetorical questions: "Did she really hope to find her grandson? How could the government help her now? Did she feel haunted as she walked the streets, wondering if each young man she saw was her long-vanished relative?"
Good questions all. She's fluent in Spanish, so why didn't she ask them and let us know? What the heck kind of travel writer is too timid to speak to the people she finds interesting enough to describe?
I found it very frustrating, and would only give this book two stars, but other people might not care too much about that stuff so I'll give her one more. I mean, it wasn't horrible -- just shallow.
When I read books of this sort, my hope is that in return for the time spent reading, I'll come away with a better idea of the place being written about. While she did a credible job of describing some of the landscapes she encountered, if you're interested in people and culture, well, I have some bad news for you.
Example: During a brief visit to Buenas Aires, she encounters a group of "Mothers of the Disappeared" protesting in front of a government building. And she writes something like this: "Was the little girl pictured on her T-shirt one of the disappeared? How did it happen? How did she feel about it? What drives her to continue these protests thirty years after the event?"
Three pages later, she encounters *Grand*mothers of the disappeared, and again with the rhetorical questions: "Did she really hope to find her grandson? How could the government help her now? Did she feel haunted as she walked the streets, wondering if each young man she saw was her long-vanished relative?"
Good questions all. She's fluent in Spanish, so why didn't she ask them and let us know? What the heck kind of travel writer is too timid to speak to the people she finds interesting enough to describe?
I found it very frustrating, and would only give this book two stars, but other people might not care too much about that stuff so I'll give her one more. I mean, it wasn't horrible -- just shallow.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Like reading wet ramen--filling, but not memorable
17 Aug 2008
Format:Paperback
Polly has written a complete account of her travels; unfortunately, she has done so with unspectacular prose. Consequently, biblio amnesia frequently descends, leaving you asking yourself, "What did I just read? Was it important?" I wanted to like this book, and I certainly don't hate it. I just wish I'd encountered some truly memorable prose that I could take with me from this experience. Polly has some unique insights--she just needs to find a way to make her prose as vivid and inspiring as her travels.
good trip prep
31 Jan 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Polly Evans is a great travel writer. I preferred the book about China, but this was good prep for our trip to Argentina.
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