Bruce Chatwin
In Patagonia
In Patagonia
A classic travel book which I read years ago and remember not being as enthusiastic as nearly everyone else seems to be. I travelled through Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego so thought I should give it another go. Chatwin focusses on the people he meets rather than the amazing landscape and flora and fauna which is fair enough but less interesting for me. His descriptions are great when he does do that. The issue I have with the people descriptions is that he goes off into the history of people who have lived in Patagonia often with tenuous links to those he meets. Or he goes in search of people who happened to know past outlaws or rebels. So although interesting I feel that it is a skim through of those people just about the times that they spent in Patagonia. So my view remains the same. Interesting book but not "fascinating" or "exceptional". His descriptions of some of the locals especially the poorer "peons" verge on the bigoted.
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