In Patagonia (Penguin Classics) Kindle Edition

When Bruce Chatwin’s classic and offbeat travel narrative “In Patagonia” first appeared in 1977, many readers didn’t know what to think of it. Its publication coincided with my sophomore year at seminary and—boggled down with theological tomes and a recently acquired fondness for the works of John D. MacDonald--I missed the event altogether. It was to be forty years before one of my children (they are all avid readers, God bless ‘em!) brought the book to my attention. Chatwin had been working with the (London) Sunday Times Magazine when an interview with the elderly architect Eileen Gray inspired him to see the varied and desolate area that lies at the southernmost tip of South America. The rumor (not exactly true) is that Chatwin left a note for his employer that read simply, “Have gone to Patagonia.”Gone to Patagonia! How often have we on a day-dreamy kind of afternoon wanted to make the same journey? Patagonia is a region whose struggles and eccentricities are richly woven into the historical fabric of the South American continent. In modern times, Patagonia has been the refuge of scoundrels, outlaws, misfits of all kinds and individuals orphaned by time or by fate.Nicholas Shakespeare’s introduction to the book is excellent and the book itself is one you will never forget. I read it this time for pleasure but will read it again someday to unravel some of its mysteries. There are too many names and dates and places to absorb on a first encounter with “In Patagonia.”If you haven’t read it—do yourself a favor. Put aside that book that is boring you and read about this place called Patagonia which lies at the very ends of the Earth.Reminiscent of Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” and William Least-Heat Moon’s “Blue Highways,” Chatwin’s “In Patagonia” will grip you and never let you go.

One of the greatest travel books of all time. While not specifically a 'Rick Steves' guide to Patagonia, it is more like "On the Road." Meant to be a very personal account of his travels, and his knowledge of this strange part of the world. It has been proven since it's publication to be full of fictional or not properly recreated stories, but regardless, you will never forget this book. Still a classic after nearly forty years. Chatwin's writing is almost dreamlike at times, and others, when he slides back into a story of Darwin, or rounding the Cape in a square rigger a hundred years before, is incredible. If you are a writer or wanting to be one, you could do worse than read this book simply for the astonishingly beautiful passages. It is on my bookshelf next to Herodotus and the diaries of Marco Polo.

I bought this book to get a sense of Patagonia before a planned trip. Frankly, reading it was a slog. At places the sense of continuity from chapter to chapter existed, but not always. I found myself wanting more details about the area, a la Rick Steves. Now, having taken the trip to this incredibly beautiful land, I have re-read the book. On my trip, I learned most of the omitted details, so this time I found what was written made more sense. Like reading Shakespeare or Milton is enriched by a working knowledge of the Bible, having a personal knowledge of Patagonia makes Chatwin's stories more realistic. For example, Chatwin devotes several pages to the story of Jemmy Button. He wrote that Jemmy appeared in his native attire at an event in Great Britain and cleared the room. Such a description only makes sense if you know that Jemmy's native attire was his birthday suit. Similar lack of details occurs throughout the book. Like poetry requires the reader to bring as much knowledge to the language as possible, so this book requires a knowledge of Patagonia to be fully appreciated.

Extraordinary account of the Bruce Chatwin's travels through the Patagonian steppe to Tierra del Fuego. Infused with historical stories that provide a backdrop for the lands he visits, the story here is remarkable.An artifact belonging to his family provides the gravity that pulls him to the southern reaches of South America. He realizes from the beginning the artifact is likely apocryphal, but that becomes an essential element to the story as it lends a fantastical air to the voyage, as if he's visiting some storybook land. You have to remind yourself as you're reading this that it is a very real, but very exotic, place.During the course of reading this, it struck me that Chatwin spends little time describing the physical surroundings, which is odd considering this is known to be a region of breathtaking, albeit stark, beauty. When contrasted with his careful depictions of the people, it dawned on me the essence of Patagonia that he conveys here is the hardscrabble people who have come here looking for a better life and found backbreaking toil and harsh conditions. A couple of generations of that produces a distinctive populace and you then realize, for all it's beauty, Patagonia is less a place than a mentality. Fiercely independent, weathered and cragged could be used interchangeably to describe the place or the people.

Most of us in North America think of Patagonia as a barren place, and much of it is, but the human stories here are amazing: author notes that seemingly everyone he ran into had a tale. As as Chatwin backtracks his own ancestry (opening and closing with the fascinating story of nearly-fresh skin of the ancient ground sloth Mylodon) he fits in lore about everything from Welsh and English immigrants clinging to scraps of their old lives, to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Butch was fairly similar to his movie incarnation, Sundance not at all), to people who are either forgotten royalty or claim to be, and so on. Even the empty places of Patagonia have fascinating details provided here. Just a great book that's as amazing as its reputation.

Let me start by saying that the only reason I gave this review a star was for the actual effort Chatwin put into traveling those days from his native UK all the way to South America. In some way he has my respect for actually jotting his experiences down.However here is why I don't advise anyone to read this book:1) Literary Style: It's more of a journal than anything else, he barely focuses on a topic and when you flip the page its over, for those who take their time to read its quite annoying. The chapters jump from topic to topic, and doesn't really give you any more than a few pages on the said issue (few pages on nature, brief description of food, then jumps back to history) its confusing if your the type who likes to get 'in the zone' when you read.2) Colonial Mindset: The writer definitely examines Argentina & Patagonia through the lens of a colonizer from a dying empire. He compares everything to Britain (and Europe) and worst of all he focuses only everything British related throughout his travels which technically evades the point of reading about Patagonia. Yes there are historical links to Britain in Patagonia and South America as a whole, but those links do not define the entire continent and its culture. He ignores the Italian, Arab, Spanish, influence & accomplishments in Argentina & Patagonia and focuses on the lives of a handful of Welsh farmers or maybe some Scotsman's life spent drunk in which I did not purchase the book to read about.In conclusion if you want to read about Argentina don't buy this book, if you want to learn about some historical British part of history in South America then why not. Other than that I can safely say there are plenty of other books to learn about Argentina & Patagonia.

A cornucopia of people: exiles, revolutionaries, farmers, shepherds, miners, outlaws including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, sailors, explorers, including Fitzroy and Darwin, adventurers, speculators and let us not forget the indigenous indians, places, landscapes and adventures in the tail of South America. All captivating and intriguing and therefore this book makes for a highly interesting read. This sandwiched between Chatwin's near obsession with a piece of skin with russet hair - all will become clear if you read this book. Chatwin's writing style is perhaps unique and beyond my powers to adequately describe it to you. But intelligent it is for sure and highly engaging. I urge you to read it. this book.

I really should have read, and meant to read, this book years ago. Chatwin is regularly listed among the top 10 travel writers along with my favourites Eric Newby, Paul Theroux, Colin Thubron and Bill Bryson. I would add the great Chilean writer Luis Sepúlveda, in particular "Patagonia Express".Patagonia is one of the most beautiful places on the planet and one of the most remote. Chatwin describes the heart wrenching scale of the landscape and the lost specks of astonishing human endeavour in this vast, lonely region.Above all, he entrances us with an astonishing and haphazard cast of eccentric, wild, bad and downright crazy people that such an unforgiving land has attracted from all over the world. He reminds us, without preaching, that huge estates were built on the exploitation of the poor - the local indigenous and those shipped in from the Chilean islands of Chiloé.Don’t hesitate, this book will make your life richer. Like all the best books it is unputdownable and will live in your psyche long after you have read the last page.

Unusual story of one man's travels in Patagonia, with numerous additional side-stories of people and events in Patagonia's history , the style is Hemingway-esque and written is short self-contained chapters . This is not your usual 'wish you were here' travel writing - it makes fascinating reading and adds whole new dimensions to the geography, geology, flora, fauna and humanity of this little-known corner of South America. I enjoyed it very much and would recommend it to serious readers everywhere.

A very captivating, unputdownable book ... loved the discovery of very large settlement of Welsh people still living a very charing 'welsh' lifestyle deep in the furthermost tip of South America ... Only in Patagonia! Get it, you'll love it. Charming and very very readable boo