The Songlines

My Australian friend Grant gave me this book when he visited from Sydney - we'd talked a bit about the Aborigines in Australia compared to the Native Americans in the US. I'm not quite sure what to make of The Songlines: it's well written, an interesting portrayal of an outsider slowly coming to understand some aspects of Aborigine thinking. And there are plenty of amusing Australia anecdotes. But then the book also reminds me heavily of The Teachings of Don Juan - I sure hope Chatwin is more honest than Castenada.