Bruce Chatwin's 'The Songlines'

Author Bruce Chatwin, in his book The Songlines, shares his experiences gained during his trip through Australia, following the footsteps of the Aboriginals. The story is a mix between fiction and non-fiction, it is a “novel of ideas” as Chatwin calls it. I chose this book because it is based on a real story. Furthermore, I have always been interested in the Aboriginals.
The plot is set during the second half of the 20th century in Australia. Bruce, the author and central character, is in Australia to study with the help of Arkady, a traveller of the Outback, the “Songlines” of the Aboriginals. The “Songlines” are invisible pathways that tell the story of the creation of the world. These so-called songs describe how each thing has been created, what it looks like and where it can be found. Therefore, the song can also be seen as a very precise map. The clans are called “Dreaming” and every “Dreaming” has a “Songline”. The walking of each “totemic ancestor” has created each “Songline”. The “totemic ancestors” have created themselves from clay, walked across the country and sung the world into existence, they are the fathers of everything existing. When a man “Walkabout”, he steps on his ancestors’ feet, singing. This ritual enables the Aboriginals to recreate the world.
Indeed, The Songlines is a real page-turner! The text is composed mainly of dialogues, which keep the reader interested and help him to immerse himself in the story. I had loved learning about the Aboriginals’ culture, discover their beliefs and problems, I read this book from cover to cover! However, I felt a bit of machismo in Chatwin’s writing, which I didn’t like. He always describes the women in terms of beauty, enhancing the golden hairs and blue eyes of the white women. But despite this, I enjoyed this book a lot and my overall impression on this reading is fully