I will be traveling in Chile next week and I wanted to have a good, on the ground resource for my travels. This certainly did the job. I really like how she included maps of where she was traveling and moving through the country from north to south. All aspects of the country seem to be covered, the history, the culture, the languages, the economy and commerce and education, including the spiritual and religious influences. Sara is a masterful travel writer. I plan to read all of her writings. ( )

I think our desire for travel can be summed up by one of Wheeler's first sentences in Travels in a Thin Country, "Our collective ignorance appealed to my curiosity" (p 3). It's the reason most of us want to travel, to abolish an innate ignorance of the world around us. I admired Wheeler's bravery for jumping into a journey down Chile's entire length, all the way to the Antarctica end, without a solid plan in place. Her travel is motivated mostly by the seat of her pants and held up by the kindness of strangers. Interwoven in the adventure is a strong sense of political and cultural history of the region. I wanted photography to back up Wheeler's gorgeous descriptions of the people and landscapes she traveled through. ( )

“Chile: Travels in a Thin Country” (1994) is Sara Wheeler’s account of a trip from north to south Chile, Ms Wheeler writes easily (although the occasional “wrinkled hills transmogrified into brown shale”, “the candelabra cacti”, and the “fecund valley floor”, all in one paragraph, may suggest otherwise), but her observations lack the depth of a good travel book, and focus too much on Ms Wheeler herself, and the variety of travel partners she encounters. Some of the local characters are very interesting, but she more often than not forgets to exploit the full potential of these contacts, we never get to know what they really think, how they really fit in. Likewise, occasionally she stumbles onto an interesting historical subject, which she then fails to explore to the full: it never gets beyond what you find in the average travel guide. I read the first half of the book, relevant to my upcoming trip, and then put it away. I don’t think I will ever finish it. ( )

This is probably a 4 star but have only rated it 3 because I don't really know how to review it. I enjoyed it totally = Wheeler writes well and has combined a heck of a lot of history with documenting her travels through Chile. For someone about to go to Chile it would be invaluable (if a little dated) - I mean don't rely too much on her transport timetables since that would be changed in the years since she wrote it) although I get the feeling progress is slow due to the nature of the terrain. I would have liked an historical timeline maybe in the index but it wasn't that kind of book. In the context of her travels she quotes a fair number of authors from Chile and/or other books to read regarding historical aspects and for that reason alone it's worthwhile to have on your shelf if you are interested in the country. She mentions Bruce Chatwin's Patagonia as still being relevant to travellers in Chile and I hope to track that down sometime soon. There are so many incidents she recounts that touch the heart in many ways - covering the geography, history, politics and humanity of the country it is impossible to single any one out here. Chile is one of those places that not many people seem to know much about. While reading this the student riots there were happening and so I could relate to what I saw on the news. I was impressed that Wheeler was able to wrangle herself down to the Chilean South Pole base and her commitment to venturing further into the unknown Chile than many tourists do.


$2 today 11/7/11 ( )

Livro bem escrito, vivo e bem disposto, com diversas peripécias e aventuras que a viajante e autora experiencia, na sua viagem solitária. Contém astante informação geográfica, histórica e política do país. ( )