by Bruce Chatwin
It is sometimes easy to forget that the closing of the American frontier actually opened up a new South American frontier. Argentina was flooded with immigrants from around the world. The Welsh, the English, the Germans, Italians, the Russians, and many more arrived in large numbers, searching for the freedom that they felt they had lost in their homelands. These immigrants are among the people that Bruce Chatwin visits with in his classic travelogue, In Patagonia.
I decided a few months back to read some of the classics of travel literature that I had managed to miss. Chatwin absolutely had to be first up, especially with a teaser that mentioned Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Butch and Sundance were among those who sought out the new frontier. Chatwin delves through their history in South America, but also into that of other immigrants through conversations with long time residents from all cultures present in the region from indigenous, to Russian Jewish, to sheep farmers. The conversations are not related in depth. Instead they are more like vignettes that paint a scene from the country at the time--a country in the midst of (and recovering from) a great deal of political turmoil. We also get literary quotations, journal entries, and assorted scenes from along the road. At first it is a bit unusual, difficult to grasp a hold of, but once you do, it is as entrancing as the many reviews promised it was.
Modern travelogues are rarely so disjointed. There needs to be some sort of gimmick, purpose or, heck, just a linear narrative. There also needs to be a personality at the center. This is completely missing in In Patagonia. This book started with a personal journey--to visit a land much studied in his childhood, but book isn't about his visit. Instead, the book is about the land and it's people, not the journey, not the experience. Chatwin himself is almost incidental to the story. He seeks out the story of Patagonia and finds it in bits and pieces. He makes no judgments, no conclusions, but leaves the reader to assemble his or her own picture. It is a thought provoking and very literary experience. It is quite simply one of the best travel books I have ever read.
