2 comments about Clandestine in Chile: The Adventures of Miguel Littin.

1. Book is simply awsome. Intriguing characters, especially Hanna. Is she ready? Is she ready???



2. Gabriel Garcia Marquez is known the world over mostly for his novels, especially "One Hundred Years Of Solitude," and one non-fiction book on the drug wars in Colombia, but one of the least recognized of his jewels is "Clandestine In Chile: The Adventures Of Migue Littin," it is both a chronicle of an exiled artist's return to his homeland and a study of what Chile was like under the right-wing dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. So infuriated was the regime when the book was published that Pinochet ordered thousands of copies to be burned Nazi-style. Like Marquez's novels, "Clandestine In Chile" is poetic and lush, heartwarming and heartbreaking as Littin returns to Chile in disguise to shoot a film on Chile under Pinochet and finds himself wandering a nation changed by rabid capitalism and silenced by intense fascism. In one tense moment Littin lies down in his hotel room bed, only to realize that the city of Santiago is DEAD SILENT after Pinochet's curfew is implemented, no cars, not even dogs make a sound. In beautiful prose Marquez describes the epic landscapes of Chile, of the Andes and the mining communities where the workers almost breath fire from the coal they mine. He chronicles the revolutionary days of Salvador Allende, Chile's and the world's first elected socialist president who sparked the fury of the Nixon White House and was overthrown in a September 11, 1973 coup by Pinochet's forces. We meet Chile's poor as they remember Allende and secretly keep mementos from his days in office before "The Terror" came and the Mapucho river flowed with the corpses of the fascist junta's innocent, often young victims. The passages where Littin and his crew shoot their film under the guise of an environmental documentary team are exciting as they try not to be discovered by the regime's informants and police force. At one point they film inside La Moneda presidential palace and come an inch away from Pinochet himself. Marquez obviously respects Littin very much and his admiration for the man and his work is palpable, and being a friend of Cuba's Fidel Castro, Marquez's contempt for Pinochet and the fascist system that was then in Chile is also evident. This adds a unique emotional intensity to the work, like the best non-fiction he brings history to life instead of just providing a kind of academic report. Film buffs will also enjoy this book for Littin's insights into the guerrilla filmmaking process as he gets his shots by any means necessary, always avoiding getting caught even under the most dangerous circumstances. "Clandestine In Chile" is a masterful book, and of the more underappreciated titles in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's remarkable catalogue.

No comments about Chile & Easter Island (Country Guide).

1 comments about Desert Memories: Journeys Through the Chilean North (Directions).

1. I've lived in Chile and I've lived in the desert (but not Chile's Norte Grande). Ariel Dorfman writes very compellingly about the many complex aspects of desert life - the mining-based economy, the range of people who come from elsewhere, the relation of the desert as "periphery" to those "other places" who live off its wealth. Also he does justice to the desert's beauty, native peoples, transportation systems. He involves himself in the narrative, almost Woody-Allen style at times, but this book isn't in the British travel narrative mode of "here are all the awful things that happened to me." Rather, it's a story of extraordinary people and places - world-class scientists, grass-roots activists, byzantine networks of in-laws (few Chilean memoirs would be complete, lacking these!). It's a measure of this gifted writer's absolute skill that he has so many funny moments, and fine descriptions of the desert's landscape, and the pathos of people working to reclaim the ghost towns of the mining industry, all in one book. One of the book's most moving moments, for me, is the chapter that ends with the narrator observing of one town citizen who'd returned to a reclaimed ghost town, that there was no need to ask if he'd kept the key to the house he'd been forced to leave thirty years earlier.

   The title is absolutely right: memory and time are crucial to the desert. In writing of Chile, one of the most complicated and interesting country of the world, Dorfman brings with him his experience, contacts, broad awareness of this land. The narrative is beautifully structured, too. Dorfman, in all, is getting better and better with time. There are many wonderful books about Chile's extraordinary history, its many-layered social class structure, its heart-breakingly beautiful geography. The field of social and ecological memoirs/travelogues about Chile is a very crowded one, with some top-notch writers (think Darwin, just for starters...). Desert Memories is one of the best books there is for anyone considering a trip to this country.

2 comments about Chile in Focus: A Guide to the People, Politics and Culture (In Focus Guides).

1. Not a spectacular work, but is takes care of much of the information about Chile.



2. This is a great little book. It's an excellent intro-to- Chile book. If you only want a short, easy to read, interesting book about Chile, this is it.

No comments about The Diary of Benjamin Reynolds (The Journal of a Voyage 'round Cape Horn from Philadelphia to Chile and Back Again Via Rio De Janiero in 1840-41).

No comments about Michael's Guide Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

5 comments about Uttermost Part of the Earth: Indians of Tierra Del Fuego.

1. An outstanding account of the triumph of the human spirit against all odds. A truly memorable work. A towering achievement to have written such a telling account of life on the edge of civilization. Tschiffely's achievement in persuading E. Lucas Bridges to commit the story to paper has preserved the memory of a lost race.

   Why it is out of print is beyond me.




2. I was given an old hardback copy of this title by my husband's granny, who lived in Tierra del Fuego for several years. It's the most rivetting book I've ever read. I'd love to recommend it to my book group, but where is it?

   This is the remarkable story of a family which, whilst colonising, nevertheless also became as assimilated into, and trusted by, the native community as it is possible to be. E. Lucas Bridges' account of his family's relationship with the soon-to-be-extinct Indians of Tierra del Fuego is one book I'll read (and be completely absorbed by) again and again.

   It left me with enormous respect for the writer, and deep regret for the extinction that incomers (sometimes unwittingly, sometimes consciously) meted out to this fascinating and multi-faceted people.

   One very minor lack in this brilliant book is the expression of any emotional response to the events that unfold. The story is narrated very factually and presumably accurately, but I often found myself wanting to know "What did the writer really feel when this or that intriguing or absurd or dangerous sequence of events played out before him?".

   No book has more made me want to visit a region than this one. An absolutely unforgettable read.




3. I visited Tierra del Fuego & Patagonia in March of 2004. When attending a lecture aboard ship regarding the early settlement of this area I was told a good resource book on this area was Lucas Bridges book "The Uttermost Part of the Earth" - it was a great recommendation. I was able to obtain the book via Interlibrary loan (believe it came from a library in Minnesota). A great read! Lucas was one of 6 children of Thomas Bridges a missionary sent from England to Christianize the natives. 5 of his 6 children were born there. The book doesn't deal that much with actually missionary (ie: church) work as it does the experiences of Bridges family members with the native tribes. What endurance those people had! I'd recommend it to anyone interested in that part of the world.



4. No other book has been written, to my knowledge, that is similar to the "Uttermost Part of the Earth." The book is well and evocatively titled. The author was the third white child to be born in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina in 1874. Ushuaia has become today the southernmost city of the world -- a place where 60 degrees F is a hot summer day and the wind never stops blowing.
   
   The author's missionary family came to Ushuaia to convert the Yahgan Indians who eked out a cold existence around the waters of the Straits of Magellan. Growing up, the author became even more fascinated with the Ona Indians who lived in the interior of Tierra del Fuego and hunted guanaco, a wild version of the llama. The author spoke the languages of both tribes, lived with them, and recorded their culture and lifestyles. These two peoples are now culturally extinct. In 1947 the author estimated that their numbers had declined from more than 7,000 when he was born to about 150. Disease brought by the White Man along with White settlement of Tierra de Fuego for sheep herding, mining, and fishing doomed the Indians.
   
   The "Uttermost Part of the Earth" is also an adventure tale, told in a dead-pan understated style that accentuates the extraordinary events in the author's life. There are tales of sailing in waters that probably have the worst weather in the world and of being the first to cross Tierra del Fuego on foot. One does not doubt Lucas's veracity; there is little of the contrived excitement lesser adventurers try to generate. Indeed, he seems guilty of understatement. One would welcome from him more forthright expression of his views.
   
   This book deserves a place on the short bookshelf of travel and adventure classics. "Uttermost" is one of the finest and most unique reads you will find, and one of the most informative also.
   
   Smallchief



5. This is one of the true golden nuggets, the rare find that few people know about... it captures an era and a people long gone with poignant, personal anthropology in a voice filled with empathy, objectivity, and humility. How many peoples like the fierce, brilliant Ona will never again walk the earth? What secrets, innovations, and knowledge bred of millenia living within the ecosystem are lost forever? It's an unknowable question, but the depth of the answer is suggested in the unvarnished portrayal of life growing up among the peoples of southern tierra del fuego. This book is a journey into a time and place filled with danger, adventure, enterprise, cultural exchange in the deepest sense, and above all comradeship and family bonds. I have read Uttermost Part of the Earth numerous times and am so grateful for its existence.

1 comments about Chile Laminated Map.

1. The map was perfect -- we used the map while we were visiting Chile and it was very helpful.

5 comments about Tierra Del Fuego: A Journey to the End of the Earth.

1. This book is about Native Americans that live where the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean meet. This place Tierra del Fuego has really bad storms. This was hard for sailors who explored all around the world, like Magellan. Finally in the 1900's the Americans built the Panama Canal. These meant sailors didn't have to sail all the way to the bottom of the world. The most interesting fact in the book is about Joshua Slocum. He sailed all the way around the world, by himself; He fought off big storms, stopped ambushes by the natives, and most off all fought off killer pirates. He did all those things, by himself.
   
   
   My opinion is that this book was great. It had many different interesting facts. I would recommend this book to anyone, who enjoys a good read. The pictures that Peter Lourie took are amazing.



2. Tierra del Fuego
   I like the pictures and the essential facts about the pictures, but some parts were too complicated and I couldn't truly understand what Peter Lourie was trying to tell us altogether. Overall I'd give this book four stars because it was hard to understand, but the pictures and unusual facts made up for that. I also thought the islands were authoritative and how the animals there adapted to those environments was an adequate addition to the storyline. This book was a great experience and Peter Lourie must have put a lot of effort into this book.
   (...)



3. This is a very knowledgeable and educational adventure. In this book Peter Lourie takes you on a ride of the region of Terria del Fuego. This book tells you of many wonderful islands with animals like Peguin Island and Seal Island. I think you should read this book to learn more and appreciate the beautiful pictures of the flowers and Islands.
   
   By: D.B.



4. Tierra Del Fuego is a book following the adventures of 16th century explorer, Ferdinand Magellan. Tierra Del Fuego is a region off the coast of South America, which is still inhabited by native tribes. From the vmassive farmlands to Penguin Island, Tierra Del Fuego is unlike Amewrica. This book is very informative but it is hard to comprehend. However, the pictures give incredible details which supports the facts. Peter Lourie creates a story that tops all the rest.
   
   NS



5. Peter Lourie is about the best non-fiction writer that I have ever had the pleasure to meet. Joshua Slocum was a funny sailor who sailed alone. One time Joshua was getting attacked by pirates he made a dummy out of his clothes at the front of the ship. Then he went into his room and changed clothes many times to make it seem like there were different people coming out. Then just before the pirates came on his ship, he put thumbtacks on the deck and the pirates stepped on them so they jumped back in their ship and went away. Ferdinand Magellan was the first to sail down what is now know as the Strait of Magellan and live. You see the waters are very choppy and there are lots of rocks in the Strait of Magellan. They named the strait after him because he was the first to sail down the strait and live. These are just some out of the many interesting facts in books by Peter Lourie.

1 comments about Argentina/Bolivia/Brazil/Chile/Paraguay/Uruguay Super Atlas.

1. I had to use this book for a report in my geagrapy class on Uruguay, and it helped quite a bit!