A review by rzh
The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin

adventurous informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

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
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