Bad Times in Buenos Aires
2 journalers for this copy...
Different cover.
I came to this book knowing very little (a bit ashamed to admit) about Buenos Aires. This was an interesting introduction. I was a little put off by the author's primarily negative attitude: she really didn't enjoy her time spent there as a freelance journalist; hence the title (she arrived in 1993), but still enjoyed the read and learned a lot - some amusing quirks of the people and some very dark moments in history of which I had only a sketchy knowledge.
For example:
The phone system's frequent crossed wires can bring people together who wouldn't have ever spoken otherwise.
There's a higher percentage of people in therapy (and thus, a higher percentage of "therapists") than almost anywhere else. "Often described as the world capital of psychoanalysis, Buenos Aires was said to have three times as many analysts per head as New York. ...Therapy seemed a logical response to the events that had tormented Argentina in the 1970's, but actually it had been popular for decades before that."
The award for Best Chapter Title goes to "A Fear of Falling Buttocks", detailing the obsession (by no means unique to Argentina) about losing one's figure. "The obsession with looks, many porteños agreed, made relationships problematic in Buenos Aires...One of the capital's dating agencies announced publicly that it was to close after five years' business had yielded only one marriage (and that was looking rocky)."
The country's often gruesome history of the 20th century is covered, with an especially moving discussion of the disappeared [desaparecidos] whose mothers never give up waiting for answers. Eva Peron also gets quite a bit of ink, and I learned much more than is presented in Evita. And the author, being British, is often unwillingly drawn into heated arguments about Las Malvinas, the Falklands.
Perhaps the most surprising thing I learned was about a Welsh settlement in Gaiman, eastern Patagonia, where there are several competing tea houses serving up cakes and tea to tourists. In one of them, "tea towels from Wales hung on the walls alongside completed jigsaws of Welsh landscapes; an outsize kettle was permanently on the hob. The flickering television picture of gaudy blondes hosting game shows was the only hint that this was Argentina...[the owner was] a direct descendant of the original 160 colonisers who arrived in Patagonia from Wales in 1865, she looked Welsh, spoke Welsh, and let her mind wander every now and then to those green hills and valleys a world away."
There's lots more I'd like to quote, but then there'd be nothing left to read for yourself in the book. :-)
Recommended, in spite of the author's gloomy take on her subject.
I came to this book knowing very little (a bit ashamed to admit) about Buenos Aires. This was an interesting introduction. I was a little put off by the author's primarily negative attitude: she really didn't enjoy her time spent there as a freelance journalist; hence the title (she arrived in 1993), but still enjoyed the read and learned a lot - some amusing quirks of the people and some very dark moments in history of which I had only a sketchy knowledge.
For example:
The phone system's frequent crossed wires can bring people together who wouldn't have ever spoken otherwise.
There's a higher percentage of people in therapy (and thus, a higher percentage of "therapists") than almost anywhere else. "Often described as the world capital of psychoanalysis, Buenos Aires was said to have three times as many analysts per head as New York. ...Therapy seemed a logical response to the events that had tormented Argentina in the 1970's, but actually it had been popular for decades before that."
The award for Best Chapter Title goes to "A Fear of Falling Buttocks", detailing the obsession (by no means unique to Argentina) about losing one's figure. "The obsession with looks, many porteños agreed, made relationships problematic in Buenos Aires...One of the capital's dating agencies announced publicly that it was to close after five years' business had yielded only one marriage (and that was looking rocky)."
The country's often gruesome history of the 20th century is covered, with an especially moving discussion of the disappeared [desaparecidos] whose mothers never give up waiting for answers. Eva Peron also gets quite a bit of ink, and I learned much more than is presented in Evita. And the author, being British, is often unwillingly drawn into heated arguments about Las Malvinas, the Falklands.
Perhaps the most surprising thing I learned was about a Welsh settlement in Gaiman, eastern Patagonia, where there are several competing tea houses serving up cakes and tea to tourists. In one of them, "tea towels from Wales hung on the walls alongside completed jigsaws of Welsh landscapes; an outsize kettle was permanently on the hob. The flickering television picture of gaudy blondes hosting game shows was the only hint that this was Argentina...[the owner was] a direct descendant of the original 160 colonisers who arrived in Patagonia from Wales in 1865, she looked Welsh, spoke Welsh, and let her mind wander every now and then to those green hills and valleys a world away."
There's lots more I'd like to quote, but then there'd be nothing left to read for yourself in the book. :-)
Recommended, in spite of the author's gloomy take on her subject.
This will go into thegoaliegirl's Travel Narrative Bookbox. Hope someone enjoys it!
Looking for a new reader via thegoaliegirl's Travel Narrative Bookbox.
This book came home in my travel narrative bookbox. It was a book that I haven't heard of before, so I will be adding it to my tbr pile.
I am making a point of working my way through my older books on my TBR shelf. I found this one interesting. Not my favorite by any means but I did enjoy it.
