Chatwin, Bruce. In Patagonia. New York: Penguin Books, 1977.
Chatwin’s In Patagonia has been called a masterpiece. It’s short, but a masterpiece nonetheless. This is not your typical travel book. Chatwin doesn’t linger over landscape and sights to see. Instead, he focuses on the historical and follows in the footsteps of legendary characters like Butch Cassidy. He journeys through Patagonia with a thirst for all that Patagonia is rumored to be, past and present. Don’t expect to have a clear picture of Patagonia in your head when you are finished. You won’t know the best restaurant or the biggest tourist attraction, but you will have captured the nostalgic and the profound instead. My only regret is there are only a quiet collection of photographs that don’t quite add up to the narrative.
Quotes I liked, “She still had the tatters of an extraordinary beauty” (p 61) and “Never kick the woman you love” (p 299). Great advice, if you ask me!
Reason read: According to a couple of travel sites, December is the best time to visit Patagonia. Hence, the December read.
Book trivia: Introduction was written by Nicholas Shakespeare who also wrote a biography of Chatwin.
Author Fact: Bruce Chatwin died at 48 years old of AIDS.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter simply called “Patagonia” (p 173). Also, in More Book Lust in the chapter called “True Adventures” (p 223).
~*LunaSea*~ 