Beautifully written and full of wonderful descriptions and intriguing tales, In Patagonia is an account of Bruce Chatwin's travels to a remote country in search of a strange beast and his encounters with the people whose fascinating stories delay him on the road. (19980720)
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Fascinated by Patagonia ever since an early childhood lust for his Grandma's scrap of hairy Giant Sloth skin, Bruce Chatwin is intrigued by odd miners, Darwin, the Welsh and the log cabin built by Butch Cassidy. From Rio Negro to the southernmost town of Ushuaia, Chatwin depicts all in writing as spare as the Patagonian desert and as vibrant as the purple clouds off Last Hope Sound.
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Elliptical and alive, this is a brilliant travel book (Observer )
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By Stephen A. Haines
HALL OF FAME
Format:Paperback
How many children become adults fulfilling a childhood dream by visiting remote places? Bruce Chatwin, driven by memories of his grandfather's strange artifact, takes us with him to the farthest reaches of South America. His travels in that mysterious realm result in this masterfully done account of journeys in Patagonia - southern Argentina and Chile. It's not an exaggeration to praise this work as the first to supplement Darwin's. Both sought fossils, although Chatwin's pursuit is rather more specific. Both described the land, the people and events in the most captivating and readable manner. A rare treasure in travel literature, this book is a timeless treasure.
Patagonia has been a haven for many European nationalities besides the Spanish. British, Welsh, Scots and the Germans have found refuge and opportunities here. Chatwin encounters a wide spectrum of the inhabitants. By touring on foot, bus and horse, as well as obtaining the occasional lift, he is able to garner intense impressions. Lacing the account of what he observes with numerous piquant historical side notes, he imparts the place along with the spirit of the residents. The history varies as the land itself. Rising from the Atlantic across a vast plain until reaching the rising slopes of the "back" of the Andes, Patagonia offers incredible vistas and diversity. Decades of building immense rancheros and farms have been punctuated by social and political upheavals. Chatwin recounts the lives of many of the rebels and how they impacted the pampas scene. His literary capacity seems as vast as the territory. We even encounter The Ancient Mariner. There are no dull moments in this book.
Chatwin presents a more knowledgeable view in discussing aboriginal people than that of most travel writers. There's nothing patronizing in his tone as he tries to address their plight. "Tries to" because European intrusion has left so little for researchers of indigenous cultures to address. He cites the expressive terms in the Yamana language to point out how culturally inept the colonizing powers have been. We learn to use the term "primitive" with caution. Millennia of residence gained the original peoples skills the Europeans disparaged, often to
their regret. It's becoming a familiar story, made sadder at the realization the loss of cultures swept away by colonization.
At the end, his original quest brings him to a cave visited by Charley Milward, wrecked ship's captain. He cannot replace the artifact Milward left in Chatwin's grandmother's house, but there is other compensation. That the quest isn't a failure adds further lustre to an incredible journey. But what Chatwin has gained is as nothing compared to what he's given us. This book will remain a classic for years to come. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is not like any other travel journal I have ever read. The text does not stick rigidly to what Bruce did or what he saw, but branches off into the realms of history and culture, giving the reader so much to think about. The real beauty is that towards the end, all the various paths and routes seem to coincide to nicely tie the storyline up into one overall piece.
I would greatly recommend this book, since it is a refreshing change of style to the more modern travel experience books on the market, and so makes for very compelling reading.
25 of 26 people found the following review helpful
By jacr100
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
His interest in Patagonia first awakened by a piece of sloth skin from that region that hung in his grandmother's house, Chatwin sets out on a mazy route from Buenos Aires to Tierra del Fuego. As he makes for where the ancient sloth was discovered a century before, he glimpses into the lives of the settlers, gauchos and Indians who have spread themselves thinly across the pampas. The deep loneliness, isolation and fatalism implicit in the lives of those living at the end of the earth is conveyed starkly in Chatwin's laconic prose. Roaming between these outposts of humanity, he amuses himself in the pursuit of a series of riddles aside from the sloth mission - and as we are drawn into Chatwin's world of esoterica, where Butch Cassidy lived to a ripe old age, and revolutionaries become barbers, the lines between fact, supposition and invention become almost impossible to discern. Which is what makes this intellectual odyssey - or 'ridiculous journey', as Chatwin self-deprecatingly puts it - such fun; the recondite histories woven into the narrative only enrich Patagonia as a land of dreams and possibility. Be warned, though, that this book is thin on descriptive passages, and gives a largely impressionistic vision of Patagonia: it is more concerned with the region's idiosyncrasies and curious history than rendering a sense of what it's like to be there. Utterly unique: I recommend it highly.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Still changing perspectives nearly forty years on
In Patagonia is the book that liberated travel writing from the Eric Newby school of 'I went there and did that and saw that' - it is a pastiche of cameo scenes and odd diversions,... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Wandering Angus
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best travel book ever written.
Chatwin takes travel book writing to another dimension. In Patagonia is without any doubt more than just a travel book and it is more than a book about a geographical location. Read more
Published 14 months ago by F. Gonzalez-Lacoste
2.0 out of 5 stars
Seminal Maybe but Uninspiring
I had heard and read so many good publicity pieces about Bruce Chatwin's "In Patagonia" that when I came to read the book I had great expectations. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Herman Norford
3.0 out of 5 stars
Moderate at best
Plenty of character sketches, some of which are interesting in their way but none of which are amusing in any way and will be forgotten as soon as you move on to the next one. Read more
Published on 3 May 2011 by Yellow Duck
5.0 out of 5 stars
To the ends of the earth...
Bruce Chatwin wrote this superlative travel narrative over 30 years ago. For travelers of the "path less taken," Patagonia carries a special allure - it is one of the few areas... Read more
Published on 8 April 2011 by John P. Jones III
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bruce Chatwyn Revisited
When I arrived in Welsh North eastern Patagonia (Trelew) a few weeks ago, our guide said that most of his clients carried Chatwyn's book and were keen to see what remains of Welsh... Read more
Published on 4 Feb 2011 by Mervyn
5.0 out of 5 stars
In Patagonia
Having spent several months travelling in Patagonia in 2008 it was nice to read Bruce Chatwin's account of his travels there several years earlier. A good read
Published on 11 Sep 2010 by N. A. Latif
4.0 out of 5 stars
Patagonia
This is a great read, as literature as as well/more than travel writing. Well worth resurrecting.
Published on 10 Sep 2010 by M. Dent
5.0 out of 5 stars
ANTIPODEANS EVERYWHERE
If you enjoy books such as "Travels with my Aunt" and any number of those fantasies by R.M. Ballantyne ("The Coral Island", for instance), this is one for you. Read more
Published on 8 May 2010 by Erroll F. Brosnan
2.0 out of 5 stars
Uninvolving
Having been around when this book became a big hit in the 1980s,l was intrigued when it was selected for our book club.What a disappointment it turned out to be. Read more
Published on 1 Jan 2010 by D. Glowacki
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