The Songlines
Book • 1987
The Songlines is a 1987 book by Bruce Chatwin that delves into the Australian Outback and the Aboriginal notion of 'songlines' or 'dreaming tracks'.
The book is part adventure, part novel of ideas, and part spiritual autobiography.
It follows Chatwin's search for the source and meaning of these ancient pathways, which are believed to have been sung into existence by the ancestors of the Aboriginal people.
The narrative is non-linear, with digressions on nomadic and settled ways of life, reflecting Chatwin's lifelong passions for travel, nomadism, and understanding human origins and nature.
The book is part adventure, part novel of ideas, and part spiritual autobiography.
It follows Chatwin's search for the source and meaning of these ancient pathways, which are believed to have been sung into existence by the ancestors of the Aboriginal people.
The narrative is non-linear, with digressions on nomadic and settled ways of life, reflecting Chatwin's lifelong passions for travel, nomadism, and understanding human origins and nature.
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