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dharma130's review
5.0
Wow! Fascinating adventure!
Really enjoyed the author’s writing and the strength she has to do such a thing. I am so fascinated by camels now! Towards the last 60 pages, some of her quotes about life are amazing. Highlighted a bunch of insightful ones. Can’t believe this was 1970s when she did this. No cellphones, no GPS. Gives you a little slap in the face to wake up and see if you’re a survivor without all the amenities we have in life.
Really enjoyed the author’s writing and the strength she has to do such a thing. I am so fascinated by camels now! Towards the last 60 pages, some of her quotes about life are amazing. Highlighted a bunch of insightful ones. Can’t believe this was 1970s when she did this. No cellphones, no GPS. Gives you a little slap in the face to wake up and see if you’re a survivor without all the amenities we have in life.
blacksheepdigitalva's review
3.0
Years ago I watched the movie adaptation of this book and fell in love. Australia has a pull on my heart that I cannot always understand but embrace. I was extremely excited to read the book and find out directly from the women who had traveled the 1,700 miles how the trip had changed her. The book does explain a great deal the effort, work, and gusto it took to make the trip happen. I appreciate her fight for the aboriginal peoples and their culture. I appreciate her desire to do something incredible and not because she wanted to become famous. I appreciate her honesty that flowed throughout the book. Unfortunately, I did not feel invited on the trip. The whole time, I was a spectator to Robyn's adventures and could not always relate to her feelings. Tracks is a book worth reading, most definitely, but was not what I had expected or hoped for.
jennyrpotter's review
3.0
This was an interesting adventure read, unlike your typical walking or cycling trip. Her perspective on the beauty of the desert, the difficulty of the journey, and the treatment of the Aboriginal people was appreciated. Raw and honest!
castlelass's review
4.0
Non-fiction about Robyn Davidson’s 1977-1978 trip across the Australian desert, accompanied by four camels and a dog. During this trip, she developed capabilities she did not know she possessed as she crossed over 1700 miles, mostly by walking and occasionally riding one of the camels. She started her trip in Alice Springs and ended at the Indian Ocean. Along the way, she interacts with various people, animals, and pests.
Filled with novelties such as:
- How to train your camel
- What it’s like to own a pet crow (not recommended!)
- Surviving in the Australian Outback
And more traditional themes such as:
- A woman confronting a machismo culture
- Finding the inner strength to deal with external perils
- Self-discovery through suffering
- The nature of solitude
- Transcending social and self-imposed limitations
One of my favorite parts of the book is her descriptions of how she adapted to the vastness of the desert, the isolation, and the dreamlike state induced by endurance in an extreme environment. She developed creative solutions to the setbacks that inevitably occurred. She seemed to intuit at some level that her journey into the desert would change her for the better. I recognized her evolution from a somewhat immature and vulnerable person to an agent in her own life. I enjoyed reading the reasons she undertook such a trip, what she learned, and how it changed her. One of her goals was to become more familiar with the Aboriginal people, and she cogently illuminates their plight. Although she was not an author at that point, the book is filled with striking imagery of the desert.
Be advised that it includes a significant amount of abuse and harm to animals, along with racism and sexism. Recommended to fans of memoirs about personal challenges, travel-related adventures, endurance tests, or self-discovery. Overall, I found it an inspirational tale of a remarkable journey, both physically and psychologically.
Memorable quotes:
"To be free is to test yourself constantly, to gamble. It is not safe. I had learnt to use my fears as stepping stones rather than stumbling blocks..."
"Capacity for survival may be the ability to be changed by environment."
Filled with novelties such as:
- How to train your camel
- What it’s like to own a pet crow (not recommended!)
- Surviving in the Australian Outback
And more traditional themes such as:
- A woman confronting a machismo culture
- Finding the inner strength to deal with external perils
- Self-discovery through suffering
- The nature of solitude
- Transcending social and self-imposed limitations
One of my favorite parts of the book is her descriptions of how she adapted to the vastness of the desert, the isolation, and the dreamlike state induced by endurance in an extreme environment. She developed creative solutions to the setbacks that inevitably occurred. She seemed to intuit at some level that her journey into the desert would change her for the better. I recognized her evolution from a somewhat immature and vulnerable person to an agent in her own life. I enjoyed reading the reasons she undertook such a trip, what she learned, and how it changed her. One of her goals was to become more familiar with the Aboriginal people, and she cogently illuminates their plight. Although she was not an author at that point, the book is filled with striking imagery of the desert.
Be advised that it includes a significant amount of abuse and harm to animals, along with racism and sexism. Recommended to fans of memoirs about personal challenges, travel-related adventures, endurance tests, or self-discovery. Overall, I found it an inspirational tale of a remarkable journey, both physically and psychologically.
Memorable quotes:
"To be free is to test yourself constantly, to gamble. It is not safe. I had learnt to use my fears as stepping stones rather than stumbling blocks..."
"Capacity for survival may be the ability to be changed by environment."
cuelake's review
4.0
I’m sure this book meant more to me because of a recent trip to Australia and having been to some of the same places. Nevertheless, I think anyone interested in adventure and struggles of a woman in a man’s world will enjoy this story.
akboysen's review
4.0
Beautiful writing. Made me want to go on a long walk alone in ways most long-walk-alone stories don't, if only so I can go a bit crazy and find a different version of myself in the way Davidson describes.
cometgrrl's review
I couldn't finish this book. I would give it 0 stars, if possible.
The author's writing style and attitude were grating and I could have overlooked that but:
* animal abuse is treated as acceptable
* when one of her camels is deathly sick, she procrastinates about putting it down because of how it will impact her trip
* when she makes the decision to put down the camel, she casually comments that she was practical enough to sharpen her knives so she could skin the camel and tan its hide.
The author's writing style and attitude were grating and I could have overlooked that but:
* animal abuse is treated as acceptable
* when one of her camels is deathly sick, she procrastinates about putting it down because of how it will impact her trip
* when she makes the decision to put down the camel, she casually comments that she was practical enough to sharpen her knives so she could skin the camel and tan its hide.
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