Squeezed between a vast ocean and the longest mountain range on earth, Chile is 2,600 miles long and never more than 110 miles wide--not a country ...
read full description
reviews
May 13, 2011
Gwenyth
rated it: 
I am giving up on this. Other reviews have commented that the author doesn't seem to absorb her surroundings and isn't likable. That's my impression as well. It seems as though she wouldn't be able to get from one place to another without the assistance of locals, expats, and other travelers; she repays them all with mildly patronizing character sketches.
It might be bearable if she stuck to poking fun at the "tack" she sees everywhere (manjar blanco, nescafé, peasant child More...
It might be bearable if she stuck to poking fun at the "tack" she sees everywhere (manjar blanco, nescafé, peasant child More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 30, 2011
Cheryl in CC NV
rated it: 
So far I'm finding that it would be really helpful if I were British or more familiar with their slangs and idioms. First I have to figure out what Wheeler is saying, then I have to figure out the Chilean stuff she's talking about. (ETA: It's worse in the beginning, for some reason.)
I have learned, about 1/2 way through, quite a bit of history, geography, geology, and culture of Chile - and a fair bit about South America as well. Of course, everything she mentions is new to me - s More...
I have learned, about 1/2 way through, quite a bit of history, geography, geology, and culture of Chile - and a fair bit about South America as well. Of course, everything she mentions is new to me - s More...
Jan 04, 2012
Jim
rated it: 
I enjoyed Travels in a Thin Country even though I had my misgivings about the author. She certainly knew how to write well, but I felt she went about her travels the wrong way. She landed in Santiago with a little black book full of names and addresses, but with very little deep understanding of Chile, its culture and literature. She picked up some as the trip moved from the Atacama Desert in the north to the colder south around Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, and even Antarctica (where Chile lays
More...
Apr 17, 2011
itpdx
rated it:
This is a gem of a book about a fascinating country. Sara travels Chile from the northern desert to the Antarctic. The book is like getting letters (or maybe to be more current--reading a blog) from a very adventurous friend who can write. She stays in haciendas and isolated police stations. She gets to know the elite, the eccentric, and the salt-of-the-earth. She throws in tidbits of history, without getting academic. I read it with computer at hand to fill in the details that I was inter
More...
Apr 25, 2011
Lucia
rated it:
A woman traveling (mostly) solo in South America for 6 months. How could I possibly not love this book? I'm still trying to figure that out, as I've been looking forward to eating it up.
The author's account of traveling from the northern tip of Chile to the southern tip manages to be boring. How can that be? Everything about South America is fascinating to me. I haven't been to Chile, but the other parts of Latin America I have traveled in have been lively, passionate, gorgeous, hea More...
The author's account of traveling from the northern tip of Chile to the southern tip manages to be boring. How can that be? Everything about South America is fascinating to me. I haven't been to Chile, but the other parts of Latin America I have traveled in have been lively, passionate, gorgeous, hea More...
May 11, 2009
Marilyn
rated it:
I struggled in the beginning, feeling that she was just visiting places without absorbing them, as I like my travel writers to do. Her style grew on me as I read and by the time she hit the Carretera Austral and inhaled the scenery and melted into her surroundings, she had a convert. I'd like to read her other books now.
Feb 01, 2010
Janice
rated it: 
Really interesting travelogue of Chile, written in 1994 by English author Sara Wheeler. Wheeler basically covers all of Chile, starting in the north and going all the way to Antarctia. She is a master of the understatement and has a great eye for detail. I can't wait to read more of her travels.
Feb 20, 2010
Stephen
rated it:
I read about a hundred pages of this and decided I wasn't very interested in finishing it. The set-up is enviable: an extensive, top-to-bottom, six-month-long tour of one of the countries I find most interesting. However, Wheeler's prose style isn't particularly alluring, her characterizations aren't very precise or captivating, and none of her adventures (at least in the first several chapters) are very interesting. I lost interest rather quickly.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 14, 2010
Melody
rated it:
I hesitate to give this book just two stars but it just didn't captivate me enough to finish. I did learn some interesting things about Chile's history and my memory was refreshed about Pinochet and Chile's diverse geography but her travel stories were not enough to hold my interest.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 04, 2010
Susan
rated it:
This book is a 1st-person account of a British woman traveling through Chile. I got through about two chapters before having to return it to the library. The author is not a very likable person and I don't think it was interesting enough for me to finish. I liked the title, though.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Dec 29, 2008
Andrew
rated it:
My trip in Chile was so brief-only 4 days-so it was great to live vicariously through Sara Wheeler who traveled the length and (admittedly short) breadth of the country. I appreciated her wit, her powers of observation and description and her amazing spirit of adventure, something that I have somehow lost and left behind as I move into more refined, planned and less spontaneous travel.
Feb 06, 2012
Ed
rated it:
Chile is probably my favorite vacation country and Sara Wheeler has written a great account not only of her travel from north to south but also of the people and recent history of this great country.
Apr 20, 2011
Sharon
rated it:
The author is an intrepid British traveler and a very good storyteller with a smattering of politics and history of Chile scattered throughout. Really enjoyed her British perspective.
Feb 25, 2008
Sara
rated it: 
I bought this book a few months before I moved to Chile. Sara tours Chile from north to south and shares her experiences that she has with residents of various towns along the way. I found the book useful for learning a little about the geography, history, and spots of interest in Chile, but the author's style turned me off a lot. I almost felt like she felt her way of traveling was superior to other backpackers because she had a more authentic experience and did things off the beaten path.
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Feb 25, 2011
Dee
rated it:
I learned a lot about Chilean history and geography. This book was listed in Book Lust to Go. It was good enough to take my mind off my broken shoulder for a while.
Sep 07, 2009
Wendy
rated it:
This was a really interesting journey along the Chilean coast, from the very tropical north to the frigid south. I really enjoyed it.
Jul 31, 2011
this was an awesome book that reminded me of my time in Chile- if you've never been there, it will whet your appetite to go.
Jan 13, 2011
Jessica
rated it:
The book really gets into some detail about Chilean history, which is why I liked it. Other than that it was entertaining.
Sep 19, 2010
Thia
rated it:
Dry. I would not have finished this book if it weren't for a strong interest in Chile since my son will be living there for two years. This book truely was mainly about her travels - how she traveled and who she traveled with and not enough about the country she traveled thru. I had to look up the areas she visited on the internet in order to get a visual due to a lack of description. Once I saw the beautiful country she was in I wondered why she wrote this book if she wasn't going to give i
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Mar 15, 2010
Megan
rated it:
Made me yearn to return to South America. Wry and witty, with sprinklings of politics and history - a quick read.
Feb 03, 2009
Steven
rated it:
This book is a very good introduction to Chile, it's geography and recent history. Obviously it's only one journey through the country and the author has put a lot of herself into the book. The author and other characters make the story what it is, without that story being particularly tied to the description of the places.
I enjoyed the book and I want to see Chile even more now, but now I'd like to read a bit more about the extended history of the country.
I enjoyed the book and I want to see Chile even more now, but now I'd like to read a bit more about the extended history of the country.
Sep 11, 2010
Virginia
rated it:
I can't afford to go to Chile, so I read this book instead. I highly recommend it.
Jun 14, 2009
Karis
rated it:
Sara Wheeler annoys me, but I always come back to her books. Who knows that that means!
Apr 23, 2010
Roberta
rated it:
Very uneven writing style. I persited because i am interested in Chile.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Mar 22, 2010
Michael
rated it:
I really wanted to like this book. Some of it was a little interesting, but honestly i would have had a more enjoyable time reading the wikipedia article on Chile.
Example of this book:
I went to have dinner with my friends, we ate shellfish, it was ok.
The next moring i got a shower, it was cold.
The roads were muddy, I rode a bus.
Chile is beautiful.
This book has not begining middle or end, its a list, a poorly written list of thi More...
Example of this book:
I went to have dinner with my friends, we ate shellfish, it was ok.
The next moring i got a shower, it was cold.
The roads were muddy, I rode a bus.
Chile is beautiful.
This book has not begining middle or end, its a list, a poorly written list of thi More...
2 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Jan 17, 2010
Jane
rated it:
Until I read this book my knowledge of Chile was confined to what I had learned from a few Isable Allende novels and grim news reports about Pinochet.
Chile is indeed a country of vast contrasts from the driest desert to rain forests to antarctic cold. The intrepid Sara Wheeler brings it all to life with humor and insight.
Chile is indeed a country of vast contrasts from the driest desert to rain forests to antarctic cold. The intrepid Sara Wheeler brings it all to life with humor and insight.
Oct 23, 2008
Marisa
rated it:
I envy Sara Wheeler and her time to journey through Chile. Wish I had the same kind of time between teaching English to mechanics and medical technicians. But since I don't, this is sometimes the next best thing... her voice is authentic and she colors Chile very truthfully. Chile seems to have changed a great deal in the decade since she trekked from Arica to Punta Arenas - modernized and capitalized on its tourism industry, particularly - so I'm hoping that Chiloe is still just as she describe
More...
Aug 10, 2011
Mj
rated it:
I ended up really enjoying this book about traveling the length of the long thin country of Chile. Initially I was put off by the authors approach to travel but by the end I was able to suspend my own notions and ride along on a mostly spontaneous and unstructured approach to getting to know a countries landscape and people. An interesting vicarious trip.
Nov 06, 2008
Hilary
rated it:
This book rang very true to me because I spent 6 months studying in Chile and visited quite a few of the places Wheeler writes about. Perhaps the fact that the book allowed me to take a walk down memory lane made me a little biased, but I loved it all the same!
For anyone who's thinking about visiting Chile or wants to reminisce about their time there (which was the reason I picked up the book), Sara Wheeler's book is a great choice.
For anyone who's thinking about visiting Chile or wants to reminisce about their time there (which was the reason I picked up the book), Sara Wheeler's book is a great choice.
