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Loading... In Patagonia (Picador Books) (original 1977; edition 1979)by Bruce Chatwin
Work InformationIn Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin (1977)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Chatwin takes us on a journey few will ever have the opportunity to match. ( ) Hmmm. Didnt know what to expect from my first "Bruce Chatwin", but this wasnt it. Lots of little snippits - most chapters less than 2 pages long - I got very little idea of Patagonia as a place, there seemed to be very little focus or a line being followed.[return][return]Plenty of characters but couldnt tell how they related to each other (if at all) or how they related to Chatwin. Most interesting things were the longer chapters, such as those on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, who spent several years in Patagonia before disappearing off into the sunset Published in 1977, this book is a mix of history and travel diary. Bruce Chatwin starts in Buenos Aires, and travels down Argentina, crossing the region known as Patagonia. He stops to visit people along the way, asks them questions about their family histories and the events that occurred in the area. We hear many immigration stories and local legends. Chatwin supplements what he hears from the people he meets with his own historical research. It is all reasonably interesting, but there is little organization or narrative arc. As he travels, he jumps from one topic to the next in a series of extremely short chapters. We hear a lot about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, who apparently owned a cabin in the region. We get a description of the landscape and see photos from his travels. There are descriptions of extinct giant sloths. We learn the story of Jemmy Button, an indigenous person taken in 1830 from Tierra del Fuego, who traveled on the HMS Beagle. These are just a few examples of many vignettes. This is a memoir with very little introspection or analysis. He repeats historical stories that have been debunked as myths. I found lots of side dishes to enjoy, but it seems lacking in a main course.
If the book were nothing more than a study of how the English maintain quaint customs in remote environments, its appeal would be limited. Fortunately, Mr. Chatwin has an inquiring mind, and part of the pleasure lies in his digressions. Not for him the straight line and the urgent destination. He detours and meanders and circles back, and before we know it we are being told tales of the early navigators, or given an account of an anarchist revolution, or hearing the true story of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, who went to Patagonia in 1901 on the run from the Pinkertons, started a sheep farm and stayed for five years. Mr. Chatwin's mind, like a crowded attic without cobwebs, produces curios and discontinued models, presented in a manner that is laconic without being listless, literate without being pedantic, and intent without being breathless Belongs to Publisher SeriesAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
"An exhilarating look at a place that still retains the exotic mystery of a far-off, unseen land, Bruce Chatwin's exquisite account of his journey through Patagonia teems with evocative descriptions, remarkable bits of history, and unforgettable anecdotes. Fueled by an unmistakable lust for life and adventure and a singular gift for storytelling, Chatwin treks through "the uttermost part of the earth"--That stretch of land at the southern tip of South America, where bandits were once made welcome - in search of almost-forgotten legends, the descendants of Welsh immigrants, and the log cabin built by Butch Cassidy."--Jacket. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)918.270464History and Geography Geography and Travel Geography of and travel in South America Argentina; PatagoniaLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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