Idle Days in Patagonia

by William Henry Hudson

First published in 1893, W.H. Hudson's Idle Days in Patagonia is the narrative of his life's great adventure—a year in Patagonia. His time there climaxed 30 years as a naturalist, riding and roving in his native Argentina. His visit to this remote country fulfilled not only a private dream, but also a scientific mission. His collection of bird skins together with a brilliant report to the Zoological Society of London more than a century ago added greatly to his prestige as an ornithologist. In this book, Hudson's scientific interests harmonize perfectly with his extraordinary narrative and descriptive power. Its acute observation of nature and man, and its evocation of remote places and strange peoples mark him as a writer of keenness and distinction.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Nature, Memoir, Adventure

155 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1893

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

[Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Decepcionante. Si bien las descripciones de la vida patagonica de hace cien anios son cautivantes y valen ciertamente la pena, la mayor parte del libro transcurre entre dos registros: 1) el de las observaciones naturalistas, como era de esperar en el caso de Hudson, y 2) la divagacion filosofica. En cuanto al primero sorprenden e irritan dos aspectos: a) que Hudson a pesar de citar reiteradas veces a Darwin, no haya comprendido en modo alguno los principios de la teoria evolutiva y que perpetre conclusiones aberrantes sobre pseudo principios geneticos basados en profundas equivocaciones (como sus disquisiciones sobre el color de ojos de los ingleses); b) que numerosas observaciones naturalistas terminen en un regocijado tiro de fusil y con el animal observado abatido (para gloria de un museo). Hudson seria un caso típico del disparador empedernido al que habría que haberle regalado una cámara de fotos y sacado el fusil para que eternice en forma menos nociva lo que quiere eternizar. Sorprenden ademas el apedreo innecesario de avutardas y gallaretas, la destrucción gratuita y alegre de hormigueros y otros hechos mas de la misma calania confesados con una cierta culpabilidad traviesa e infantil. En cuanto a las disquisiciones filosóficas me parecieron profundamente aburridas y no carentes de un cierto desprecio de "hombre blanco" hacia el "primitivo aborigen". Se salvan los recuentos de historias acerca de la colonización patagonica y el enfrentamiento entre indios y colonos; el resto, olvidable.

[Shaitanah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the descriptive language, but other than that, there is too much digression in this book. I don't even mean the chapter on the colour white, though I have already been through that with Moby Dick and could have down without a rehash of that. It's just, I feel I know no more about Patagonia after reading this book than I did before I started. The constant repetition of the word "savage", however period-appropriate, did not endear me to the book either.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, though it's a strange one that I wouldn't recommend to everyone. The title essentially means "This Would Have Been 'Very Active Days in Patagonia' Had I Not Shot Myself in the Leg: The Rambling Thoughts of a Naturalist with Too Much Time on His Hands." Because of this, the organization doesn't make a lot of sense; the book will describe local bird behavior in one chapter and ponder questions like "is white an inherently disturbing color as Herman Melville claims?" in the next. Some of his speculations about nature are very good and have since been proven true. Others are wrong but interesting from a historic perspective. Sometimes his thoughts are hilariously bizarre (like his futile quest to find a person with "real emerald eyes" by openly staring at every person he encountered). But Hudson is a wonderful writer, and I enjoyed the whole book. I identify so much with many of his feelings about wilderness.

A warning: Like almost all European nature writers from this time, Hudson feels the need to comment on "civilized" vs "savage" people (though he's clearly struggling with which lifestyle is really better...), so be prepared for that.

[Maite Burgos · Rating 1 out of 5]

No me gusto para nada.

[Carsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange mix of a book: vivid descriptions of the Rio Negro area, philosophical and literary digressions and ornithology. The attitudes - those of a man of his time and not of ours - occasionally grate. It is interesting to see what seem to be signs of the neutral 'scientist' in conflict with an emotional attachment / mystical side.
He quotes and then sometimes takes issue with the likes of Melville and Darwin - Darwin didn't spend enough time actually observing birds before opining on them, in Hudson's view and these sections of the book are at times fascinating and at times too obscure for me.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book which very occasionally gives you the feeling of being in the South American wilderness when it was still a frontier. Hudson's credentials as a naturalist are severely undercut for a contemporary reader by his love of killing birds and animals. Also his nineteenth century chauvanism and racism are unattractive - and his unawareness of their awfulness only adds to the repugnance. But the descriptions of the natural world of Patagonia and his indirect descriptions of the wide variety of people living there are interesting.

[Lila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sketches of life in Patagonia from the bird-obsessed Hudson, a late Victorian (with all the racism and sexism of his time) torn between his desire to kill animals and his realization that taxidermy specimens are no replacement for the live creatures. Notable essays are his response to Melville's digressions on the color white in Moby Dick and his observations on eye color and leaf-cutter ants.

[S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this e-book on Barnes & Noble instead:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/idle...
(The Amazon link went to a blank page with a picture of a dog.)

[Antonio Silva Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

La mente de un hombre se deja regar por los paisajes patagónicos para ofrecer pequeñas historias y reflexiones que solo pueden ser producto del ocio (uno muy filosófico, en todo caso).

[Jill McGillicuddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the library's copy, but have ordered one for my shelves. Enjoying books about other cultures and their history. Probably since travel isn't an option yet. :o)

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I greatly enjoy Hudson’s observational writing but find his philosophizing tedious. This book is far too much of the latter — and much of it having little to do with Patagonia.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a bunch of Hudson's fiction years ago, but I haven't picked up one of his books in a while. This one was fun. It's nonfiction, the story of a year Hudson -- born in Argentina and schooled in England -- spent in Patagonia, along with stories of the people he meets, and of course descriptions of the wildlife. (Hudson was an amateur ornithologist, and his descriptions of bird life are a lot of fun. As are his comments on Darwin's views of Patagonian birds.)

[Nevena Barberic · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe the only reason to read this book is to see how far we have come as a human kind.
The author says he is a bird lover and then he takes a shotgun and kills them for fun.
He calls people savages for living with nature, and killing with a gun instead an arrow is civilized thing to do. His writing skills are poor, and I don't think I've learned anything new by reading this life-sucking book!

[Rafelmenmell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tengo cierta obsesión por leer cualquier cosas con Patagonia en el título y este libro tenía alguna reseña buena. Pero me ha decepcionado bastante, tiene algún párrafo bueno pero me ha provocado interés nulo.

[Adrian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a bad book and an interesting read....

Can anyone tell me what an ornithologist is doing going shooting birds in his leisure time?

[Torsten Wiedemann · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is nothing to see in Patagonia and the story isn't about much but if You are an idler and traveler, drawn into (and fascinated by) deserts, You will like this book!

[Felix Perez]

La única forma de sobrevivir a los días de labor en la ciudad.