Oliver Balch

Strangely enough, the only reason I know about Hay-on-Wye is because of the books. This Welsh town has over 20 bookshops and is the host to a huge literary festival at the end of May. When the writer Oliver Bach decided to move to the village of Clyro, just outside Hay; he wanted more than to immerse himself in a world of books, put down roots and make it a maybe make it a place he could call home

Compared to London and Buenos Aires where he had lived before it was utterly different, and he wasn’t to settle into village life with his family. He is ably assisted by the Victorian diarist, Francis Kilvert, a curate who wrote about the village in the 1870’s. Bach wanted to see how much had changed since then, as well as find out just what had stayed the same. Like all newcomers, he is treated coolly at first, but ever so slowly, people warm to him. The village is full of characters, he meets local councillors, activists, hippies and a family that have dropped of grid. Hay even has its own King, self-appointed of course. Being a rural community, agriculture is a major part of the economy and he spends time with the local young farmers groups, finding out just what keeps them entertained and helping out at a function.

It is a nicely written book and he is honest in his opinions of the qualities and flaws of country living. Initially he feel like an immigrant, but the longer he spends there he finds that he is not the only incomer; there are others that even a few generations on feel like they are still new. I particularly liked the history of the area that he discovers, uncovering details about where he now lives and the houses and landscape around. As interesting as it was to read though, there did not feel like there was a huge amount of depth to the book. Just need to arrange a trip to Hay now…… (más)

In this book a British journalist travels around South America, examining a different issue in each country he visits (e.g. Bolivia and economics, Paraguay and human rights, Peru and religion). He is also apparently following in the footsteps of Simón Bolívar, a revolutionary and important figure in the history of the continent. While both of these viewpoints are interesting, they don't necessarily mesh well, and in some chapters the author appears to forget about one or the other of his themes.

Although I found a lot of the information in this book interesting, the author's sexist remarks were off-putting. Some example quotes:

[On trying to find common ground with a Huaroani man from Ecuador] ""the one unanimous subject of male interest: women." This was followed by a "hilarious" anecdote about how a woman from his same tour group was upset and freaked out by a stranger trying to get into her tent in the middle of the night.

[At a class on domestic abuse] "'Gluttons for punishment, if you ask me,' an unsympathetic student remarks. I'm tempted to agree."

[Interviewing a victim of domestic abuse] "As she describes the litany of abuse she's suffered, I find myself drifting off.""

He is also very dismissive of the responses of a woman he interviews at a gay rights march in Chile; the interview went along the lines of "But aren't things getting better for women these days?" "No, not really." "Well... I think they are."

While I did learn a lot about the political situations in various regions of South America, I don't plan on reading anything else by this author.… (más)

Det er ikke lett å finne god reiselitteratur fra Sør-Amerika, og de to første kapitlene av denne reisen gjennom 9 av de 13 landene i Sør-Amerika og en svipp innom Cuba er en av de få jeg klarte å spore opp før jeg dro dit sist sommer. Jeg likte ikke de første to kapitlene, det virket som om Balch slet med å finne en god vinkling på boken, og historiene han fant fram var mørkere og mer depressive enn det jeg var klar for - til tider virket det helt unødvendig. Men etter at boken tok tak løftet boken seg, og nå sitter jeg igjen med en opplevelse av at skal du forstå Sør-Amerika, så er dette en av de bøkene du MÅ lese. For lese må du, Sør-Amerika er så komplisert og fassetert at første- og andreinntrykk ikke hjelper.
Boken er som sagt en reise gjennom de fleste landene i Sør-Amerika, hvert land får et fokus på ett spesielt tema, samtidig er dette temaer som gjelder for alle landene reisen foregår gjennom. I Chile er det kvinnesynet og kjønnsroller, i Argentina arbeiderklassens rettigheter, i Brasil raseproblematikk, og i Peru nye religiøse strøminger. Disse analyseres gjennom personlige møter med mennesker utsatt for urett i relasjon til temaene, og et er denne personlige vinklingen og de varme møtene som gjør boken så lesbar.
Samtidig er reisen gjennom Sør-Amerika en reise gjennom livet til Simon Bolivar, kontinentets frihetskjempe som ledet kampen mot det spanske imperiet.
Den femte stjernen mangler av én grunn: Begynnelsen var ikke spesielt god. Men les den hvis du har interesse av kontinentet.… (más)

In this book a British journalist travels around South America, examining a different issue in each country he visits (e.g. Bolivia and economics, Paraguay and human rights, Peru and religion). He is also apparently following in the footsteps of Simón Bolívar, a revolutionary and important figure in the history of the continent. While both of these viewpoints are interesting, they don't necessarily mesh well, and in some chapters the author appears to forget about one or the other of his themes.

Although I found a lot of the information in this book interesting, the author's sexist remarks were off-putting. Some example quotes:

[On trying to find common ground with a Huaroani man from Ecuador] ""the one unanimous subject of male interest: women." This was followed by a "hilarious" anecdote about how a woman from his same tour group was upset and freaked out by a stranger trying to get into her tent in the middle of the night.

[At a class on domestic abuse] "'Gluttons for punishment, if you ask me,' an unsympathetic student remarks. I'm tempted to agree."

[Interviewing a victim of domestic abuse] "As she describes the litany of abuse she's suffered, I find myself drifting off.""

He is also very dismissive of the responses of a woman he interviews at a gay rights march in Chile; the interview went along the lines of "But aren't things getting better for women these days?" "No, not really." "Well... I think they are."

While I did learn a lot about the political situations in various regions of South America, I don't plan on reading anything else by this author.… (más)