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Tres Años de Cautividad Entre Los Patagones, 1856
Spanish (translation)Original French
- GenresMemoir
84 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1864
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 18, 2019
Auguste Guinnard was a Frenchman who went off to South America with the hope of making wealth. He and an Italian fellow traveller decided to explore the country and find their fortunes. Instead he finds himself lost, kidnapped, and enslaved by the local American tribes. The book is quite short and is less about his experiences with the Americans and more a description of their lifestyles.
The book was written in 1864, and the writing is suitably dry. However, Guinnard knows to skip the boring and repetitive bits and focus on things that people would mostly not know about. What did Argentinian tribes eat? How did they build their houses? How was their family dynamics? Guinnard makes remarkable and surprisingly balanced observations on these subjects, making this memoir a much better piece of writing than many others written during this period.
There is some European obliviousness displayed, especially when Guinnard appears shocked every time he talks about how the Argentinians hate Christians. I mean, it would be more surprising if they didn't hate them! There is some imperialistic and racist language but I mostly managed to overlook it because (1) it wasn't heavy-handed, and (2) Guinnard was actually a victim of the Argentinian tribes. Their cruelty towards him was remarkable at times.
The book was enlightening in many ways but it lacked emotional depth. I could not connect to Guinnard at all. He also could not bring out the characters of those who enslaved him, and I never got to know them as individuals. They were always "the tribe". Guinnard also was exchanged between different tribes during his captivity, which confused me quite a bit. I think I lacked the context here.
Still, worth a read and I did learn a bit about the now-mostly-extinct tribes of Argentina and Chile. See Guinnard, that's why they hated the Christians!
The book was written in 1864, and the writing is suitably dry. However, Guinnard knows to skip the boring and repetitive bits and focus on things that people would mostly not know about. What did Argentinian tribes eat? How did they build their houses? How was their family dynamics? Guinnard makes remarkable and surprisingly balanced observations on these subjects, making this memoir a much better piece of writing than many others written during this period.
There is some European obliviousness displayed, especially when Guinnard appears shocked every time he talks about how the Argentinians hate Christians. I mean, it would be more surprising if they didn't hate them! There is some imperialistic and racist language but I mostly managed to overlook it because (1) it wasn't heavy-handed, and (2) Guinnard was actually a victim of the Argentinian tribes. Their cruelty towards him was remarkable at times.
The book was enlightening in many ways but it lacked emotional depth. I could not connect to Guinnard at all. He also could not bring out the characters of those who enslaved him, and I never got to know them as individuals. They were always "the tribe". Guinnard also was exchanged between different tribes during his captivity, which confused me quite a bit. I think I lacked the context here.
Still, worth a read and I did learn a bit about the now-mostly-extinct tribes of Argentina and Chile. See Guinnard, that's why they hated the Christians!
May 31, 2020
To była zdecydowanie za szybka (książka ma bowiem niecałe 100 stron), ale jednocześnie całkiem niezła przygoda w nieznane. Auguste Guinnard zabrał swoich czytelników w świat dzikich patagońskich plemion. Na kilkudziesięciu stronach opisał nie tyle swoje życie w niewoli (właśnie tego mi najbardziej brakowało), ale codzienność zupełnie obcych sobie ludzi. Poznajemy zwyczaje, wierzenia i kulturę Patagonów. Poza tym książka zawiera krótkie posłowie Andrzeja Nowaka, w którym opisuje on m.in. etniczno-polityczne realia ziem, które przemierzał autor. To taka pozycja na raz!
Książka przeczytana w ramach akcji #bookiswiata organizowanej przez Olę z Book z Tobą.
Książka przeczytana w ramach akcji #bookiswiata organizowanej przez Olę z Book z Tobą.
October 27, 2022
Un relato breve, con el interés de ser el testimonio de una historia real, esta cautividad en la que el autor convivirá con distintos pueblos indios de la pampa y la Patagonia argentina. La narración es simple, muy lineal, con escasa expresión de sentimientos y emociones. La historia podría haber dado mucho más de sí.
January 23, 2023
Short book. Read in a day. I liked the descriptions of the tribes and life back in the day and I could see the resemblance/influence in our culture between past and present. Learnt about native tribes from Argentina.
March 13, 2011
Of all the 19th century works I've read about Patagonia (don't laugh: I've read a dozen or so), this is the least. A 23-year-old Frenchman named Auguste Guinnard goes to South America to make his fortune. Instead, he is captured by Indians and kept prisoner for some three years, breaking his health and spirit in the process. Finally, he manages to escape and make his way to Valparaiso, Chile, from which he ships back to France.
Guinnard's observations about the various Indians who traded from one tribe to another are interesting, but rely extensively on memory. The Nonsuch edition contains a map which is all but useless, as the names are mostly Indian names; and many locations referred to in the book are left off.
Lastly, Guinnard was not really in Patagonia at all: The first tribe that captured him traveled along the Rio Negro, but most of his travels were among tribes to the north. I suppose the publisher thought he could make more money by saying that Guinnard spent most of his time in the south of Argentina.
Still and all, this book is not without interest. As a world traveler, its author sets a rather poor example.
Guinnard's observations about the various Indians who traded from one tribe to another are interesting, but rely extensively on memory. The Nonsuch edition contains a map which is all but useless, as the names are mostly Indian names; and many locations referred to in the book are left off.
Lastly, Guinnard was not really in Patagonia at all: The first tribe that captured him traveled along the Rio Negro, but most of his travels were among tribes to the north. I suppose the publisher thought he could make more money by saying that Guinnard spent most of his time in the south of Argentina.
Still and all, this book is not without interest. As a world traveler, its author sets a rather poor example.
April 27, 2009
La crónica de un francés que pasa tres años perdido entre los indios de la Patagonia Argentina, escrito en 1856. ¡Conste que lo leo en castellano! En una bella edición ZIGZAG que perdura -en catastrófico estado- desde 1945. Me ha gustado la pluma de Guinnard. Es una buena crónica.
Junto con llevarme nuevamente a nuestro reciente viaje magallánico (con francesa incluida), es plenamente comparable a las aventuras de Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca en "Naufragios". Siempre me ha asombrado el coraje de estas gentes conquistadoras. ¡Notable gente!
Junto con llevarme nuevamente a nuestro reciente viaje magallánico (con francesa incluida), es plenamente comparable a las aventuras de Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca en "Naufragios". Siempre me ha asombrado el coraje de estas gentes conquistadoras. ¡Notable gente!
April 11, 2013
Me parece mal e injusta la crítica que hace de los indígenas patagones y de su modo de vida, totalmente distorsionada desde la perspectiva de un europeo
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews