[This edition has a different cover]

Picked this up in a second hand shop to make up my four for a pound. From what I can make out of the hack cover (it's one of those that has reviews rather than blurb)it sounds like it is an exploration into the history and culture of the Australian Aboriginals, and would probably be of special interest to anyone who has read Rabbit-Proof Fence.

From Amazon...

Songlines' or 'Dreaming Tracks' are what all Europeans call the labyrinth of invisible pathways that meander all over Australia. To Aboriginals, they are the 'Footprints of the Ancestors'; they are both intricate sources of personal identity and territorial markers. From such ancient line, Bruce Chatwin has been able to trace a great deal about an Aboriginal culture as complex as it is different from our own. The conflict between the two ways of life mirrors that within 'civilised' man himself. Disputes over the right to excavate land that is sacred to wandering tribes highlight the importance of myth and instinct in the human psyche. What might in other hands seem theatrically picaresque, Bruce Chatwin transforms into something approaching the scale of Greek tragedy...

It sounds really interesting but I'm in no hurry to read it as I've got a TBR as high as Everest and am nmot reading especially fast at the mo. Am planning on setting up a ring for this and I'll read it last!

Going out as a bookring. I was going to keep it UK only but have decided to open it up to the world; I'd especially like to hear what Australians think of it!

I've also decided to read it before I post it off, so I'll add my thoughts on it in a day or two.

List so far is:

perfect-circle (UK)
Hexa (UK)
GlasgowGal (UK)
Kangaroo (UK)
Gooner (UK)
cartref (UK)
Gooby (AUS)
jackiea (AUS)
??? YOU ???
Spike1972 (UK)

then back to me, chelseagirl.

This is a fascinating book, and quite unlike anything I've read before.

The first part of the book concentrates on the authors's quest to find out more about Songlines (as they are known in Europe) - the lines through the Dreamtime that give every Aboriginal his Dreaming, his origins and ultimately his personality. Bruce Chatwin meets an extraordinary variety of people on his travels, both white and Aboriginal, and paints glorious pictures of these characters and the landscape he finds them in. Some of the people are instantly likeable, others are annoying and unpleasant, but Chatwin treats them all fairly.

One of the many trains of thought the book throws up is that of the racist attitude of many of the white Australians that Chatwin meets. On many occasions the behaviour of the Aborigines is inexcusable but you are always left wondering if the bad behaviour is inherent or came as a result of white man's domination of the Aborignal lands. At the same time, Chatwin meets a lot of whites who do whatever they can to help the Aboriginals, often without much thanks, and these people really shine.

Chatwin is fascinated by nomads (hence his interest in the Aboriginal habit of going Walkabout along the Songlines) and has followed a nomadic lifestyle through much of his life; during his travels he kept a series of notebooks in which he jotted down experiences, research, conversations and literary quotes.

About two thirds of the way into The Songlines, Chatwin finds himself holed up in the bush for a few weeks and the next fifty or so pages are taken up with extracts from his notebooks on nomadic lifestyles. This section of the book is almost a strem of unconscious thought, with a quote leading into a conversation leading into a seemingly unrelated bit of research, and although I found this really interesting to begin with, after about thirty pages I became a bit bogged down in it and just wanted to get back to Australia! Thankfully, although the rest of the book comprises a lot of information from Chatwin's notebooks, he links it to various aspects of Aboriginal culture, and some of the sections, especially those on the development of language through song and the search for the man-ape link, were really excellent.

I don't know that I yet fully understand the whole concept of Dreamtime and the songlines, but this book has provided me with a fascinating insight into a culture that is far removed from my own, and I'll be trying to find out more about it in the future.

I'll be posting this book off to perfect-circle very soon, and will look forward to hearing what everyone in the ring makes of it!

Having recently read Fairy Paths and Spirit Roads, I am looking forward to this one. Thanks chelseagirl

I found this absolutely fascinating. Chatwin gives an interesting introduction to Aboriginals and the Songlines they learn. He paints a picture of outback Australia and doesn't shy away from portraying people as they are, racist, drunken or otherwise.

I found the notes from previous notebooks/visits went on too much and disrupted the flow of the Australian story for me. Whilst there were moments of brilliance in the notes and observations he'd made in his travels, I felt there was just too much in this book.

Off to Hexa this afternoon.

Received today - looks like an interesting read.

This was a fascinating read on several levels, especially for the detail of aboriginal beliefs and customs and for the authors ideas about nomadism. I didn't find the notebook extracts distracting as others have done, I kind of like the idea of following his thoughts and developing ideas. I was most interested in the ideas on language and its development through song, having studied languages at university. This book is a classic of travel literature and with good reason - the author meets a wide range of people and is interested in them all, and he is very open to new experiences and ideas - this is travel of the mind as well as the body.

The idea of songlines and the way they are experienced is perhaps difficult for a westerner to grasp, but I love the way that the songs give meaning to the landscape. Having also recently read Fairy Paths and Spirit Roads, it was good to get a more in depth view of these sacred sites - it seems that language and the sacred and the land are all linked in a very deep way.

Sending on to GlasgowGal later today.

Received in the mail.
Thanks chelseagirl and Hexa. I'm really looking forward to reading this ASAP.

:-)

I was really looking forward to reading this book, but in the end came away disappointed in its writing style and content.

The concept of Songlines is extremely interesting, and the Aboriginal history that is covered is complex and wonderful. However I don't feel that Chatwin gives due and proper attention to the historical side of the Aboriginal culture, and despite covering the Songlines in reasonable depth, I was left wanting to know more about the culture as a whole.

Chatwin seems to want to try tackling an in-depth subject, but seems incapable of the style of writing required. Like previous readers I felt the notes from previous journals were wholy unnecessary, and I skipped over most of them. Those that I did read seemed to be trying to make comparisons with Aboriginal "Walkabouts" and migratory animals, or other similar "Songlines" around the world. He touches on the point that these "Ancestors" from many tens of thousands of years ago could have set up a similar "Songline" culture around the world, but doesn't investigate this any further. Additionally, a lot of the comparisons he draws on, such as "suicidal" lemmings, and the Nazca Plains totemic maps, are false comparisons (these two phenomena now disproved). Other comparisons he does make are unaccompanied by any further supporting information (such as a bibliography) making it impossible for the reader to follow-up on the subject.

On the whole I found this a distictly average read. However, what it has done is awakened an interest in me for Aboriginal culture and to understand more of this fascinating and complex ancestry. I think I will read up further on the subject in the future, but I won't be reading any more of Bruce Chatwin's highly average musings.

Many thanks to Chelseagirl for sharing this book. It will continue it's journey this weekend.

:-)

Arrived this morning. Lovely sunny morning it is too.
It will be my first Chatwin book, and it sounds as though it goes into more depth than the usual travel book, maybe verging on anthropology?
Just a couple of rings to get through first I'm afraid, but will read ASAP! Looks very promising.

Sorry to say, I didn't think much of this one. The Australia bits were good. But that's all they were, really - bits. OK, I appreciate that it's somewhere between a travel book and text book (can't think of the word, not text book, but..). Also, you can't really go into too much detail about the actual songlines, what with it being sacred knowledge etc. However, I didn't like the disjointed notes from Bruce's notebooks with no real explanation as to why they were there, especially when it was supposed to be about Australia.

Didn't live up to the promises of the blurb on the dustjacket for me, unfortunately.
Don't write it off just yet though, one man's rubbish is another's gold after all!

Skipping Gooner because she's moving, so posted this on to the next person on the list today.

to be read, posted to me as part of bookring, thanks for sending it on Kangaroo, and great card chelseagirl. Will be starting to read it,as arrived just as I finished the book I was reading, good timing.

I have been interested in the Aboriginal culture, including their drawings. The whole aspect of the songlines and dreamings I found fasinating.The songline tells of the creation and connects all of Australia.All the land to them is sacred.In a way I see they have been doing for years, which we have only begun to do, value and protect our land.

The book I enjoyed, the diary part a bit hard going, but will lead me to read and find out more about the Aboriginal culture

thanks for sharing this book, will post it on once recive gooby address.

RELEASE NOTES:
postal release
releasing to gooby as part of bookring

Received by post from cartref - next in line TBR.

Enjoyed this book although found it difficult to get into. It seemed to just meander - perhaps that was the point. The characters that intrigued me breezed in and out again and the journal extracts were either fascinating and too short or just distracting.

One of the things that i found a bit irritating was the implication that aboriginal culture is fairly homogenous - that the languages change but the songs stay the same. from what i know of songlines (which is very limited, i admit) the concept exists predominantly in central and western australia. i haven't heard about in relation to the koori people in southern-eastern australia where i live, and given that there are over 200 tribal groups across the country i'm not sure it's quite as comprehensive as Chatwin implies.

then again, broome pearl shell have certainly been traded thousands of kilometres south and my recent visit to the national museum in canberra certainly supported the concept of these trading routes with ceremonial significance in central and western australia. in a country where woefully little aboriginal history and culture is taught in schools, i am happy to admit my own ignorance.

as an aside of bookcrossing serendipity, i read about this book in "almost french", the story of an aussie journalist living in paris, 2 days after finishing it.

thanks, chelseagirl! have jackiea's address and will post on to her today.

Incidentally, for anyone who might be happening to drop by Melbourne in the next couple of months (he he), the Ian Potter centre at Federation Square is hosting an exhibition of modern Aboriginal art, most of it by artists based in co-operatives in central Australia.

Colour Power

Most of the artists have painted in traditional ways of their country and dreaming stories, but using vibrant "modern" colours. Made me giggle remembering the scene with the American tourists with the bookshop!

Just arrived in the mail, thanks chelseagirl

A really good book. I loved it, although I found it very hard to categorise. Was it a travel book, a book about Australian Aboriginal culture and beliefs or a vehicle for Chatwin’s reminiscences and philosophies of life?
Whatever it was, the writing was magic, the stories were fascinating and the little tastes of his other travels were tantalising. It has made me want to know more about Aboriginal life, a subject that, I’m ashamed to admit, I know almost nothing about, and to read more of his writings in general.
Thanks chelseagirl for the opportunity to read this.

Many thanks Jackiea and Chelseagirl. It showed up in the post today. I have one book ahead of it so will be able to start it on the weekend hopefully.

Well Bruce Chapwin may/may not have found the answer to his original quest(ion) but he certainly captured the essence of the place in which he travelled. I found the second section a bit like a stop at a 'water hole'. While we waited with him for the weather to clear, he shared some stories with us.

There are so many things to draw on and ponder upon in this book. I was finding myself distracted during the days, thinking about some of them.

The idea of the Ancients arising and naming things -- not just the biblical parallels of this -- but the idea of things not being in existence for us (or certain groups of people) if there is not a name for something in the language. (Remember the old story of the thirty different words for snow the eskimos have in their vocabulary?) How much of our world are we missing?

I was fascinated by the idea of children's 'monsters'/boogie men possibly stemming from a primeval hominid predator.

All the travelling around that people do to collect up details of family trees is our attempt to recover what we have lost -- our histories that were never handed down to us.

After 12 years away from my own country and hometown I had a very strong need to go 'home'(2 years ago)and when I got there an even stronger need to walk and walk each day over my old neighbourhood along paths I took to regular occurances -- swimming lessons, piano lessons, friends' houses, play places, school. As I walked along many forgotten things came back to me. I felt like I was collecting the lost pieces of myself. After reading this book I think I understand what I was trying to do. No singing while I was there (not acceptable in our society!) but I felt I have regained a rhythmn. Thanks so much for the opportunity to read the book, chelseagirl.

RELEASE NOTES:

Should take about three weeks. Enjoy!!

3 Weeks eh? What would you say if I told you it arrived this morning, Friday 8th April?

Yeah I know, I'm amazed too! ;o)

Thank you for passing this on cathyinoz - and thank you chelseagirl for sending it out in the first place.

I've been looking forward to this, but alas it has to join Mt Toobie for the time being.

I'm a little late, due to limited net access, but I've now started this book.

*update 28/11/05*

I'd say I'm around half-way through this book, if not a little further.

To begin with, it took me a little while to get my head around the concept of 'songlines', and what they were, and what they meant to both the Aboriginals and 'White Men'.

Then I got into the story a bit more, and the characters and started to fully enjoy the book.

I'm now at the stage where I'm reading through the section of Bruce's "notebooks", and I have to say that the book has lost some of its enjoyment. I hope it picks up again soon.

Having said that, this quote really stayed with me.

"Life is a bridge. Cross over it, but build no house on it".

Indian Proverb"

I was really looking forward to this book, as I have an interest in Australia and it's Nature, Aboriginals, etc.

But.. I'm afraid that I, like a few others who have commmented, came away a bit dissapointed. I wanted/expected to learn a bit more about the Aboriginals and the way they lived, but maybe that's my fault for having the wrong idea of what the book was going to be about.

I too felt that I was enjoying the book until the bit where he used the writings from his notebooks. I found them very hard to read and/or understand, and completely spoilt the flow of the book. To be honest, I found the book hard-going after that, and I only read it as I wanted to see where I went - and, unless I missed something (as I often do), it didn't seem to go anywhere.

Thank you chelseagirl for sharing. I would still like to find out more on this subject, as I still find the whole thing fascinating, but perhaps not by this subject.

I've also been told by chelseagirl that she doesn't want this book back now (please correct me if I'm wrong!), so I'll be marking it as Available and will offer it up for a Bookray/RABCK etc, and if I have no takers I may Wild Release it.

I've had a request from Hellie for this book, so I'll sort that out shortly.

This is ready to post to Hellie, which I hope to do in the next day or two. Or three..

Thanks, arriived today...
was odd that Spike offered this is ranck on foruym as Ip;d only picked it up in Borders the couple weeks before...
Looking forward to reading this already well travelled, , read and enjoyed book...