Magdalena: River of Dreams

Beautifully written with a rather poetic and wistful take on botany and the passage of Colombia through a turbulent 20th century this is a good read for anyone with an interest in travel or the evolution of the environment in South America since the Spanish conquest. It is dotted with lovely stories from the sides of the Magdalena river and from its beautiful and much put-upon people who recount how the pristine enviroment has changed so much in 70 years.

I love armchair travel and this book really transported me to the people and places the author describes.He gets right under the skin of the country’s culture and vividly brings things to life so well I sometimes stopped reading and was surprised to find myself at home.A fabulously rich read.Loved it.

Despite arriving on the day Luis Carlos Galán was murdered I too became one of those travellers “enchanted with the first country that captures their hearts and gives them license to be free. For me it was Colombia”.Another reviewer describes the book as a love story which it is and this is not a criticism. I am in agreement with all of that reviewer’s comments. Despite these reservations I thoroughly recommend this book. During the time I lived, worked and fell in love in Colombia most of “Medio Magdalena” was strictly off limits for reasons that this book makes painfully clear but Colombia has changed and this is a book of hope.I learnt a lot about Colombia past and present from this book despite it not being an academic work.For once a book lives up to its blurb “ braiding together memoir, history and journalism”.Read this together with The Robber of Memories and Short Walks from Bogota and then go and fall in love with Colombia. You will also be enchanted.

Most enjoyable - a blend of travel writing, history, anthropology, music, folklore, literature, even politics...there's something for everyone who is curious about this unique country. Author Wade Davis is as passionate as he is knowledgeable about his subject. I was given this book as a present by my 90 year old father-in-law - seems somehow fitting with the book's long wisdom and future-proof viewpoint.

I really enjoyed the book... Captivating writing style... As a Colombian I really enjoyed Wade Davis perspective about our geography and our people.However, there is a couple of errors... not really significant but a little bit anoying. For example:"Katherine, in her own way, identified with manatees in a manner that went far beyond the conventions of science. Though trained in Bogotá, she was born in San Gil, a small town in the Magdalena Valley, east of Puerto Berrío"... Well, San Gil is not in the Magdalena Valley."Porro is a rhythm commonly associated with the Llanos, the great eastern plains"... may be joropo?

wonderful book by Wade Davis, great writer. Sent quickly.

The story told by Wade Davis in his latest book, “Magdalena: River of Dreams”, is one which should be made mandatory reading for school students every where. The content covers everything a person could ever experience in their human lifetime, and than some. I plan on re-reading this book many many times, simply because there is just so much wisdom to extract from Wade Davis that one reading won’t do justice to his masterpiece. One of the best books I have ever read and highly recommend it to everyone.

È la narrazione sul paese (la Colombia) la sua historia e della sua gente più interessante che abbia mai letto. Ho trovato questo libro scritto da un Canadiense, che descrive in maniera molto piacevole da leggere e veritiera, la Colombia, dalla conquista degli spagnoli ai nostri giorni. Sono nato e fatto le elementari e il liceo in Colombia, letto libri di storia, letto articoli sui giornali, guide turistiche, navigato il Magdalena da Honda a Barranquilla in kayak, negli anni 60, ed ho constatato che il libro non è un romanzo. Tutto se agiusta ai fatti e alla verità.

I've never read a book like that! infact I wouldn't have found it had it not been recommended by one member of my bookclub. Have learned a lot about the turmoils of Columbia through history, the love and attachment of its people to their lands and homes. Fabulous book!