In Patagonia, (a travel book?)

[Sancho]

Has anybody here read Bruce Chatwin’s In Patagonia? I picked it up on a whim in the travel book section and what a rollicking good time it was. Holy crap! There was archeology, paleontology, geography, topography, climatology; Cowboys, Indians, Outlaws, Pirates, Sailors, Nazis, Fascists, Colonists, Communists, Would be dictators, Near-do-wells, and the usual suspects.

What a gas. The book defied categorization in my opinion and it was a splendiferous read.

[duriel]

I have never read In Patagonia, but I have read a few other things by Chatwin. You should really check out The Songlines, which details his experiences with the aboriginal culture of Australia. Great stuff; Chatwin's work is always pleasantly multidisciplinary and perceptive.

[Sancho]

duriel, thanks for the tip and I’m gonna look for a copy of The Songlines. It may be exactly what I need in order to justify a trip to Australia. I truly enjoyed In Patagonia and was struck by how "literary" a travel memoir could be. The guy who wrote the preface to my copy of the book seemed to think Chatwin was heavily influenced by Ernest Hemingway. I’m not convinced that’s exactly true, but Chatwin’s prose was sparse, and like E.H. he left a lot between the lines. That method has got to be a leap of faith for a writer but I appreciate it as a reader – it seemed to draw me into, and make me part of the narrative.