The Naturalist in La Plata

by William Henry Hudson

Celebrated nature classic offers unusual perspective on treeless grasslands of Argentina. Detailed, accurate observations of desert pampas, wildlife, animal defense mechanisms, more.

Genres: Classics

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1892

About the author

William Henry Hudson was an Anglo-Argentine author, naturalist and ornithologist. His works include Green Mansions (1904).

Argentines consider him to belong to their national literature as Guillermo Enrique Hudson, the Spanish version of his name. He spent his youth studying the local flora and fauna and observing natural and human dramas on then a lawless frontier, publishing his ornithological work in Proceedings of the Royal Zoological Society, initially in an English mingled with Spanish idioms. He settled in England during 1874. He produced a series of ornithological studies, including Argentine Ornithology (1888-1899) and British Birds (1895), and later achieved fame with his books on the English countryside, including Hampshire Days (1903), Afoot in England (1909) and A Shepherd's Life (1910). People best know his nonfiction in Far Away and Long Ago (1918). His other works include: The Purple Land (That England Lost) (1885), A Crystal Age (1887), The Naturalist in La Plata (1892), A Little Boy Lost (1905), Birds in Town and Village (1919), Dead Man's Plack and an Old Thorn (1920), and A Traveller in Little Things (1921).

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 2 out of 5]

So what is the difference between a man and a woman ?
Imagine this scenario:

Young man and woman in their late 20's. They're on top of an unmade bed in sweats
or p.j.'s surrounded by snack bowls or unfinished cereal.
It's a sunny summer Sunday afternoon. They've been streaming FRIENDS or somesuch
syndicated t.v. for several hours now.
Without a prelude, woman pauses episode mid stream, stares at man for a moment
and asks, "Do you know what scares me ? " She answers her own question: "This."
A sweeping gesture takes in the whole scene including the silent t.v. She stares at the
silent man who now has the look of a deer caught in the headlights. She presses on.
"We've been together now for what, 6 plus years ? And look at us.
We gave up concerts,movies and dinners after the first couple of years.
Our friends stopped calling.
We don't see relatives anymore.
It's take out or delivery only.
It's work or this, week after week."
No response.
"Last week my mom called wondering when we were gonna 'settle down',
get married, have kids. And what ? Bring them into THIS world ? (woman
again sweeps arms around the room) Into this! THIS terrifies me. "
No response.
Finally, she pleads, " what scares you?"
Man finally snaps to and says, " Um, errr, bears ?"

So what does this have to do with THE NATURALIST IN LaPLATA ?
Nothing.
But it was hopefully more interesting than an obscure book from the 1800's
about herbivores in Argentina. Also I tried remembering why only 2 stars or
why I even bothered reading it. That's really scary !
I thought and thought but the funny bear story kept popping into my mind.
I am a guy after all.....

So, the book ?
Free on kindle.
Read it if you want.
But I bet now you'll be thinking about bears the whole time.

[David Kent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting memoir of the authors time growing up in the Argentinian pampas in the late 1800s, written later after he was living in England. Many anecdotes about habitats and wildlife.