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Bruce Chatwin

    May 13, 1940 – January 18, 1989

    Bruce Chatwin was an English novelist and travel writer whose works often delve into themes of journey, culture, and human existence. His distinctive style blends lyrical prose with a keen observational eye, blurring the lines between fact and fiction to explore profound truths about the human condition. Chatwin masterfully weaves personal experiences with broader historical and cultural tapestries, inviting readers to contemplate our place in the world and the nature of nomadic existence. His writing is characterized by a unique voice that captures the spirit of adventure and the deep-seated human search for meaning.

    Bruce Chatwin
    The Songlines
    Journey to Armenia
    On the Black Hill
    On the Black Hill. Auf dem Schwarzen Berg, englische Ausgabe
    Under the Sun
    Lady, Lisa Lyon
    • 2017

      The Novels

      • 608 pages
      • 22 hours of reading

      While Bruce Chatwin is best known as a master of travel literature, his three acclaimed novels must not be overlooked. Here we see a writer exploring human life, from its freedoms to its limits, in ever more exhilarating and unexpected ways. In On the Black Hill, twin brothers begin to realise that the world beyond their familiar fields is changing. In Utz, a scholar visits a communist state to meet an eccentric porcelain collector. And in The Viceroy of Ouidah, an ambitious slave trader makes a choice that could threaten his ultimate dream.

      The Novels
    • 2011

      Under the Sun

      • 554 pages
      • 20 hours of reading
      4.2(13)Add rating

      "Wonderful...the closest we are ever going to get to a Chatwin autobiography." -William Dalrymple, The Times Literary Supplement (London) The celebrated author of such beloved works as In Patagonia and The Songlines, Bruce Chatwin was a nomad whose desire for adventure and enlightenment was made wholly evident by his writing. This marvelous selection of letters-to his wife, to his parents, and to friends, including Patrick Leigh Fermor, James Ivory, and Paul Theroux- reveals a passionate man and a storyteller par excellence. Written with the verve and sharpness of expression that first marked him as an author of singular talent, Chatwin's letters provide a window into his remarkable life and strikingly detailed insights regarding his literary ambitions and tastes.

      Under the Sun
    • 2005

      On the Black Hill is an elegantly written tale of identical twin brothers who grow up on a farm in rural Wales and never leave home. They till the rough soil and sleep in the same bed, touched only occasionally by the advances of the twentieth century. In depicting the lives of Benjamin and Lewis and their interactions with their small local community Chatwin comments movingly on the larger questions of human experience.

      On the Black Hill. Auf dem Schwarzen Berg, englische Ausgabe
    • 1997

      Anatomy of Restlessness

      Selected Writings 1969-1989

      • 224 pages
      • 8 hours of reading
      3.9(559)Add rating

      Exploring themes of nomadism and restlessness, this collection showcases Bruce Chatwin's diverse literary talents through previously neglected or unpublished essays, articles, and stories. It highlights his deep fascination with travel and the peripatetic lifestyle, as well as his insightful observations on art, archaeology, and culture. Chatwin's poignant reflections on exile and his sharp social commentary, particularly on Capri, reveal his unique perspective and enduring quest for belonging, making this anthology a captivating glimpse into his multifaceted career.

      Anatomy of Restlessness
    • 1992

      Patagonia Revisited

      • 72 pages
      • 3 hours of reading
      3.1(10)Add rating

      Since its discovery by Magellan in 1520, Patagonia was known as a country of black fogs and whirlwinds at the end of the inhabited world. It immediately lodged itself in the imagination as a metaphor for "the ultimate", the point beyond which one could not go. In this book, Chatwin and Theroux join forces to explores the instances in which the "final capes of exile" have affected the literary imagination, and to track down some of the extraordinary travellers, past and present, from W.H. Hudson, to Captain Joshua Slocum and Butch Cassidy. Paul Theroux has won the Whitbread Literary Award. This book had its origins in an entertainment the writers gave for The Royal Geographical Society, at a time when Theroux was following Chatwin's "In Patagonia" with "The Old Patagonian Express".

      Patagonia Revisited
    • 1989

      Journey to Armenia

      • 80 pages
      • 3 hours of reading

      Осип Мандельштам (1891–1938) — одна из ключевых фигур русской культуры XX века, ее совершенно особый и самобытный поэтический голос. «В ремесле словесном я ценю только дикое мясо, только сумасшедший нарост», — так определял Мандельштам особенность своей прозы с ее афористичной, лаконичной, плотной языковой тканью.

      Journey to Armenia
    • 1989

      What am I doing here

      • 384 pages
      • 14 hours of reading
      4.0(1756)Add rating

      A personal selection of stories, profiles and travelogues. Chatwin goes in search of the Yeti in Nepal and follows the footsteps of his mentor, Robert Byron, in Afghanistan. It reveals his view of the world returning to the theme of "The Songlines".

      What am I doing here
    • 1988

      The Songlines

      • 336 pages
      • 12 hours of reading
      4.0(297)Add rating

      Fictional account of travels around Alice Springs; place names fictional; concepts of relationship between songs, land and identity

      The Songlines
    • 1988

      Utz

      • 128 pages
      • 5 hours of reading
      3.7(206)Add rating

      SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE. Bruce Chatwin's bestselling novel traces the fortunes of the enigmatic and unconventional hero, Kaspar Utz. Despite the restrictions of Cold War Czechoslovakia, Utz asserts his individuality through his devotion to his precious collection of Meissen porcelain. Although Utz is permitted to leave the country each year, and considers defecting each time, he is not allowed to take his porcelain with him and so he always returns to his Czech home, a prisoner both of the Communist state and of his collection.

      Utz
    • 1983

      Mapplethorpe's provocative portrait of Lisa Lyon, the first World Women's Bodybuilding Champion. A commanding work of photography by a modern master of the art.

      Lady, Lisa Lyon