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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
It's very interesting book that introduces curious themes and subject. I just feel that this fascination of a white middle class dude with aboriginals, amongst other, is a bit uncomfortable to me, it feels like a new kind of racism and colonialism. Also towards the end, Chatwin has lost me. Nevertheless it was an interesting read.
adventurous
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
Anthropology
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
an amazing book. i love the meditations on travel and the origins of human species; the only way to become truly empathic people is through traveling and moving. that’s why cain is representative of settlers and abel of nomads - my favorite analogy. for a while there i thought that the origins of humans is as carnivorous and violent. if someone didn’t finish the book, they might’ve been left with that idea. however, i love how chatwin refutes this and says that humans prevailed through their cat nemesis, not killed each other. almost gives me a sense of sisyphean-like meaning to life that we suddenly lost.
anyways, i learned a lot through this book about not only a people that i don’t know much about but also about history, evolution, and philosophy. it took me a long time to get through some passages just because i’d stop every few sentences to look up some new place or term up.
i’m not the biggest fan of the notebook sections. at first they were fascinating, but 100 or so pages (more than 1/3 of the book) makes it seem like filler. it picked back up in the end, though, and there were some really good quotes and bits of philosophy. i definitely learned the most in these sections, but the topics jump quickly and it makes it hard to stay focused, while the narrative sections are much more captivating
i love chatwins writing style. he explains the scenes with such accurate and straightforward detail; i can imagine each passage vividly. he makes the content easy to digest and makes this information accessible to the general population. i know it’s not right that we’re learning about the aboriginal australians through a white englishman, but i think for the 80s chatwin was able to teach more about a subjugated population in a straightforward, objective, and not racist way. this definitely helps many stereotypes, but i hope to read more works from aboriginals soon
i did really enjoy this book and i loved the mix between fictional narrative and nonfiction. it inspires me to travel more and taught me about so many hidden corners of the world i hope to one day visit
anyways, i learned a lot through this book about not only a people that i don’t know much about but also about history, evolution, and philosophy. it took me a long time to get through some passages just because i’d stop every few sentences to look up some new place or term up.
i’m not the biggest fan of the notebook sections. at first they were fascinating, but 100 or so pages (more than 1/3 of the book) makes it seem like filler. it picked back up in the end, though, and there were some really good quotes and bits of philosophy. i definitely learned the most in these sections, but the topics jump quickly and it makes it hard to stay focused, while the narrative sections are much more captivating
i love chatwins writing style. he explains the scenes with such accurate and straightforward detail; i can imagine each passage vividly. he makes the content easy to digest and makes this information accessible to the general population. i know it’s not right that we’re learning about the aboriginal australians through a white englishman, but i think for the 80s chatwin was able to teach more about a subjugated population in a straightforward, objective, and not racist way. this definitely helps many stereotypes, but i hope to read more works from aboriginals soon
i did really enjoy this book and i loved the mix between fictional narrative and nonfiction. it inspires me to travel more and taught me about so many hidden corners of the world i hope to one day visit
Actually, I already stopped reading this book after gone through half-way. Usally I find travel literature quite interesting and still I never really read something about Australia and its Aboriginals. And I bet they can be very interesting; but Bruce Chatwin's style feels kinda floppy, I din't feel any real connection to the characters and sometimes people are just randomly mentioned without any real purpose for the story. I missed reflection upon the rituals and deeper personal impressions of the author.
I was really looking forward to reading this book, but in the end came away disappointed in its writing style and content.
The concept of Songlines is extremely interesting, and the Aboriginal history that is covered is complex and wonderful. However I don't feel that Chatwin gives due and proper attention to the historical side of the Aboriginal culture, and despite covering the Songlines in reasonable depth, I was left wanting to know more about the culture as a whole.
Chatwin seems to want to try tackling an in-depth subject, but seems incapable of the style of writing required. Like previous readers I felt the notes from previous journals were wholy unnecessary, and I skipped over most of them. Those that I did read seemed to be trying to make comparisons with Aboriginal ""Walkabouts"" and migratory animals, or other similar "Songlines" around the world. He touches on the point that these ""Ancestors"" from many tens of thousands of years ago could have set up a similar "Songline" culture around the world, but doesn't investigate this any further. Additionally, a lot of the comparisons he draws on, such as ""suicidal"" lemmings, and the Nazca Plains totemic maps, are false comparisons (these two phenomena now disproved). Other comparisons he does make are unaccompanied by any further supporting information (such as a bibliography) making it impossible for the reader to follow-up on the subject.
On the whole I found this a distictly average read. However, what it has done is awakened an interest in me for Aboriginal culture and to understand more of this fascinating and complex ancestry. I think I will read up further on the subject in the future, but I won't be reading any more of Bruce Chatwin's highly average musings.
The concept of Songlines is extremely interesting, and the Aboriginal history that is covered is complex and wonderful. However I don't feel that Chatwin gives due and proper attention to the historical side of the Aboriginal culture, and despite covering the Songlines in reasonable depth, I was left wanting to know more about the culture as a whole.
Chatwin seems to want to try tackling an in-depth subject, but seems incapable of the style of writing required. Like previous readers I felt the notes from previous journals were wholy unnecessary, and I skipped over most of them. Those that I did read seemed to be trying to make comparisons with Aboriginal ""Walkabouts"" and migratory animals, or other similar "Songlines" around the world. He touches on the point that these ""Ancestors"" from many tens of thousands of years ago could have set up a similar "Songline" culture around the world, but doesn't investigate this any further. Additionally, a lot of the comparisons he draws on, such as ""suicidal"" lemmings, and the Nazca Plains totemic maps, are false comparisons (these two phenomena now disproved). Other comparisons he does make are unaccompanied by any further supporting information (such as a bibliography) making it impossible for the reader to follow-up on the subject.
On the whole I found this a distictly average read. However, what it has done is awakened an interest in me for Aboriginal culture and to understand more of this fascinating and complex ancestry. I think I will read up further on the subject in the future, but I won't be reading any more of Bruce Chatwin's highly average musings.
if you want an outsiders understanding of the world of Australian aboriginal culture, read this book. Superb
Historic
Rating and review from notebook
- Very boring and meandering
- Super racist
- No story whatsoever
- Author clearly very into his own opinions and intelligence
- The odd interesting fact
- Lots of random and usually dull segues
- Very Australia centric
Rating and review from notebook
- Super racist
- No story whatsoever
- Author clearly very into his own opinions and intelligence
- The odd interesting fact
- Lots of random and usually dull segues
- Very Australia centric
adventurous
informative
reflective
slow-paced
i read this on holiday, hoping for a sun-baked, evocative, travel-meets-philosophy amble: and thats exactly what i got! i really enjoyed this, the tone and content reminded me a lot of zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance. even though chatwin (or this "bruce" character, depending on whether or not you believe chatwin that the book is a work of fiction) doesn't really spend a lot of time speaking to australian aboriginal people, i was pleasantly surprised at the lack of casual racism on his part, though perhaps this can't be said of everyone he meets along his journey. the book doesn't feel dated in any way that becomes uncomfortable. the middle portion, comprised of chatwin's jottings from his travels around africa and australia, forms a break from the narrative structure and were absolutely fascinating; tying the rest of the book together into a neat thesis just when the travelling began to feel a bit aimless. such a great book; definitely going to hunt out some more chatwin when i get the chance. 4/5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Racial slurs, Racism, Colonisation
Sparked all kinds of connections in my brain. This one will reverberate in different areas of my life. I love it when a book is more than just a book. Engaging and informative without being didactic.