Bruce Chatwin
Bruce Chatwin was the golden child of the contemporary English novel; by the time he died
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of an AIDS-related illness aged 49 in January 1989 he had produced the startlingly original masterpieces that made his name. Chatwin came late to being a published writer; In Patagonia, his instant classic of what can loosely be termed "travel literature", came out in 1977. In the preceding years this precocious, intense figure had been an art specialist at Sotheby's, a journalist with The Sunday Times, an archaeologist and a restless, questing traveller. By the time his novel of studying the Aboriginal dreamtime in Australia, The Songlines, was published, he had gained a worldwide audience. An obsessive art collector, Chatwin also acquired people as he did fabulous objects. He took both male and female lovers while continuing to remain married to his wife Elizabeth, seemingly the most enduring relationship of his life. It is her cooperation and tenacity which enabled this biography to come about, as well as Nicholas Shakespeare's exhaustive research (the book was eight years in the making). It is the international span of Chatwin's experiences that makes the reader appreciate his desire to know all cultures and disciplines. There is some excellent, evocative writing here, particularly in Shakespeare's account of Chatwin's last weeks, his disappointment at not winning the Booker Prize for Utz and the detailed passage describing Chatwin's awful, miserable death surrounded by friends and family. There are a plethora of adjectives used to describe Chatwin such as "elusive", "mercurial", and "charismatic". Yet what Nicholas Shakespeare brings across in this immense, excellent life of Chatwin is the complete aloneness of the man. He was a flamboyant fabulist, an unparalleled conversationalist, yet, as the Australian poet Les Murray is quoted as saying: "He was lonely and he wanted to be. He had those blue, implacable eyes that said: 'I will reject you, I will forget you, because neither you nor any other human being can give me what I want.'"--Catherine Taylor
Utz - Bruce Chatwin
This book may have some creasing and browning to pages, but no pages will be missing and
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it will be a good tight copy. Dust jacket with book where applicable unless otherwise stated. This book is in stock and will ship within 24 hours from our warehouse in the UK.
...This is a mesmeric book about BruceChatwin's journeys in Australia. It is primarily about the Aboriginal way of life, their mythology and their songs. There is so much to the aboriginal way of life which is alien, not just to our culture, but even to the way in which our minds work. Chatwin draws this with great care. The richness of the ideas in this book is amazing. It deals with a sensitive subject with great care and delicacy and is beautifully written. Gradually, the reader is immersed into more and more of the lyrical aboriginal way of thinking and led away from the conventional travel monologue. This is a great book, an epic, and in the final analysis, deeply sad....
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somewhat helpful 14.08.2000
A complex man Review ofBruceChatwin - Nicholas Shakespeareby
sfinchuk
Advantages: Brilliant portrait, detailed, sympathetic but honest Disadvantages: Can be heavygoing in places
...BruceChatwin was one of the UK's most extraordinary writers of the post-war years and, as the reviewers of this biography have stated, he was also something of an enigma.
He had worked as an art expert and studied archaeology before turning his hand to journalism and both fiction and non-fiction works - like In Patagonia and The Songlines. But his books defied description - the lazy would call it travel writing but Chatwin was keen to explore much deeper themes in his publications - the origins of man and humans as nomads for example. Shakespeare's wonderful biography paints a picture of a complex man, at times likeable and at others truly monstrous to his wife, friends and colleagues alike. He married but mostly had sex with men and was one of the UK's first high-profile AIDS casualties. He could be remarkably generous...
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Advantages: Interesting subject, challenging read Disadvantages: Some readers may find it heavy, high element of philosophy
...of five rivers where there are two medium-sized hills just after the large collection of rocks - clever, huh? Similarly, if you find yourself lost, you can identify the landscape and then try to match it to a songline (assuming, that is, you know enough songlines).
The crucial thing is that in order for this tradition to continue Aborigines must continue to walk the land affirming the songlines and must ensure that they are sung regularly to pass them down for future generations. Furthermore, the real threat of development - industrial, recreational and residential, puts the songlines at risk. It is at this point that BruceChatwin's highly regarded work "The Songlines" begins.
It is important, before I discuss the book itself, to say a few words about the author. While many people know about BruceChatwin's untimely death, they know little...
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