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nicholasgrantgarcia's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. Its simple, sincere writing and stirring narrative make it one of the more entertaining books I've read lately. The book is a recollection of the author's childhood in the Argentinian pampas during the late 19th century. I enjoyed learning about the author's life, especially his fascination with nature, from his perspective. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in South American history or interested in nature generally.
clairewords's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting autobiography written in 1918 of a childhood in the Argentinian pampas (plains), a boy who never grows out of his love of nature and eventually develops a kind of mystical relationship to it, despite doing all the cruel tings young boys do growing up in rural isolation with older brothers.
Inevitably perhaps, despite the appreciation for the wild, there is the presence in the text of racial prejudice and superiority, but if one can out that aide, it provides a unique glimpse into life in another era, in a naturalists paradise, on the path of many migrating birds, a freedom that comes from a lack of a strict education and not needing to go away to school.
I read this because it was recommended to me when I created a list of my top 5 nature-inspired reads, because it's over 100 years since it was published I was able to download a copy from Project Gutenburg and was all the more interested to read it and it is mentioned as one of the texts that in some way informs the excellent [b:The Adventures of China Iron|43401565|The Adventures of China Iron|Gabriela Cabezón Cámara|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1568287627l/43401565._SY75_.jpg|58042155].
The final chapter is a beautiful lament to his mother and makes me wish he was able to write more about his parents and how they came to be living out there in the first place, perhaps it is childish adoration, but they seemed unsuited to the harshness of that environment and there is no sense of actually farming, he does seem to have the most incredible sense of freedom, perhaps because they employed people to do the actual work, as if often the 'colonial' way.
An enjoyable read.
Inevitably perhaps, despite the appreciation for the wild, there is the presence in the text of racial prejudice and superiority, but if one can out that aide, it provides a unique glimpse into life in another era, in a naturalists paradise, on the path of many migrating birds, a freedom that comes from a lack of a strict education and not needing to go away to school.
I read this because it was recommended to me when I created a list of my top 5 nature-inspired reads, because it's over 100 years since it was published I was able to download a copy from Project Gutenburg and was all the more interested to read it and it is mentioned as one of the texts that in some way informs the excellent [b:The Adventures of China Iron|43401565|The Adventures of China Iron|Gabriela Cabezón Cámara|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1568287627l/43401565._SY75_.jpg|58042155].
The final chapter is a beautiful lament to his mother and makes me wish he was able to write more about his parents and how they came to be living out there in the first place, perhaps it is childish adoration, but they seemed unsuited to the harshness of that environment and there is no sense of actually farming, he does seem to have the most incredible sense of freedom, perhaps because they employed people to do the actual work, as if often the 'colonial' way.
An enjoyable read.
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