Patagonia has been a haven for many European nationalities besides the Spanish. British, Welsh, Scots and the Germans have found refuge and opportunities here. Chatwin encounters a wide spectrum of the inhabitants. By touring on foot, bus and horse, as well as obtaining the occasional lift, he is able to garner intense impressions. Lacing the account of what he observes with numerous piquant historical side notes, he imparts the place along with the spirit of the residents. The history varies as the land itself. Rising from the Atlantic across a vast plain until reaching the rising slopes of the "back" of the Andes, Patagonia offers incredible vistas and diversity. Decades of building immense rancheros and farms have been punctuated by social and political upheavals. Chatwin recounts the lives of many of the rebels and how they impacted the pampas scene. His literary capacity seems as vast as the territory. We even encounter The Ancient Mariner. There are no dull moments in this book.

Chatwin presents a more knowledgeable view in discussing aboriginal people than that of most travel writers. There's nothing patronizing in his tone as he tries to address their plight. "Tries to" because European intrusion has left so little for researchers of indigenous cultures to address. He cites the expressive terms in the Yamana language to point out how culturally inept the colonizing powers have been. We learn to use the term "primitive" with caution. Millennia of residence gained the original peoples skills the Europeans disparaged, often to
their regret. It's becoming a familiar story, made sadder at the realization the loss of cultures swept away by colonization.

At the end, his original quest brings him to a cave visited by Charley Milward, wrecked ship's captain. He cannot replace the artifact Milward left in Chatwin's grandmother's house, but there is other compensation. That the quest isn't a failure adds further lustre to an incredible journey. But what Chatwin has gained is as nothing compared to what he's given us. This book will remain a classic for years to come. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]


Innovative writing for the imaginative traveller   May 24, 2004
 13 out of 13 found this review helpful

I was browsing the shelves of the travel section of a large bookshop recently looking for inspiration. 'In Patagonia' appealed to me for three reasons. Firstly, I am planning a long trip to South America and was interested to read any writing covering that area. Secondly, I was captivated by Paul Theroux's comment on the back cover of the Vintage edition that Bruce Chatwin had found a remote place 'like the land where the Jumblies live'. I love eccentric people and places. Thirdly, I was intrigued by the pictures in the centre of the book - a corrugated iron hut on wheels, a run down station in the middle of knowhere, a set of hand prints on a cave wall and other peculiar and whimsical images relating to the places Chatwin visited on his travels and the stories he collected on the way. I had to read it.

What emerges is an extraordinary chronicle of the nomadic wanderings of Chatwin during his 6 month trip to Patagonia (he quit his job at the Sunday Times in order to embark on this visit). He begins by describing how he was curious to find out more about a curious ancient beast, of which his grandmother had a fragment of skin, but soon becomes waylaid by a bizarre succession of people and stories that build upon each other as the book progresses like a ramshackle house of cards.

It is the stories that form the essence of the book. There is description of the geography and physical characteristics of the region but only in brief passages as a setting to another inspired piece of Patagonian folklore. Chatwin clearly has an ear for a good yarn and an almost dilletante, enquiring mind. Also, in the manner of a skilled raconteur, he is frequently economical with the truth in order to include his own even better facts. Thus the book is a curious conglomerate of part travel writing, part sociology, part history, part anthropology and part fiction.

Don't read if if you want a standard travel chronicle that will tell you where to go or what do do in this part of the world, but then there are plenty of Rough Guide and Lonley Planet books for that. If you are a budding voyager with a taste for scholarship and a penchant for bizzare tales, this book is an essential part of the travellers canon.


Inspiring   March 11, 2004
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Gave me the travel bug and has resulted in many thousands of pounds spent on treks to great parts of the world, all worth every penny.
Definitely the most expensive book I've ever bought, but the most rewarding.


sadly lacking in detail and depth - grasshopper   May 27, 2002
 6 out of 27 found this review helpful

In patagonia rates as one of the most disapointing travel books i have read, i actually preferred the fairly awful in the saddle with darwin for some reason even though its heavily chatwin based.
having travelled through most of the areas chatwin traverses i thought he really failed to illuminate the people and patagonia.
maybe it was the start of a whole new form of travel writing, but thankfully its progressed and adapted.
to be honest a lot of the areas history i had already picked up, but obviously guide books pull from travel writings and vice versa, but it did remove one of the books main appeals.
somewhere at the beginning Chatwin vaguely states he was looking for a pice of skin which he then finds to end the book, although often there seems to be a real lack of purpose in the book, a huge ammount is the retelling of stories of a vague relative of chatwins almost verbatim, and most of these are fairly pedestrian, most of the rest of the book deasl incoherently with butch cassidy and the sundance kid, but theres far better works available if this is what your after.
The book creates an image of Chatwin (as he sees himself possibly) as a Kung-fu (70s TV show) style character aimlessly walking around a undetailed patagonia mostly in flashback.


Superb   February 7, 2002
 9 out of 11 found this review helpful

Certainly the best travel book I have ever read. Chatwin covered the history, mythology and reality of Patagonia and in the process added to it. This book convinced me to travel through Patagonia and I can't think of a higher recommendation.