The Purple Land [Hardcover]

W. H. Hudson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2003

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: law, his wife, three sons, and five daughters, all grown up. There were also several small children, belonging, I believe, to the daughters, notwithstanding the fact that they were unmarried. I was greatly amazed at hearing the name of one of these youngsters. Such Christian names as Trinity, Heart of Jesus, Nativity, John of God, Conception, Ascension, Incarnation, are common enough, but these had scarcely prepared me to meet with a fellow-creature named—well, Circumcision! Besides the people, there were dogs, cats, turkeys, ducks, geese, and fowls without number. Not content with all these domestic birds and beasts, they also kept a horrid, shrieking paroquet, which the old woman was incessantly talking to, explaining to the others all the time, in little asides, what the bird said or wished to say, or, rather, what she imagined it wished to say. There were also several tame young ostriches, always hanging about the big kitchen or living-room on the look-out for a brass thimble, or iron spoon, or other little metallic bonne bouche to be gobbled up when no one was looking. A pet armadillo kept trotting in and out, in and out, the whole evening, and a lame gull was always standing on the threshold in everybody's way, perpetually wailing for something to eat—the most persistent beggar I ever met in my life. The people were very jovial and rather industrious for so indolent a country. The land was their own, the men tended the cattle, of which they appeared to have a large number, while the women made cheeses, rising before daylight to milk the cows. During the evening two or three young men—neighhours, I imagine, who were paying their addresses to the young ladies of the establishment—dropped in; and after a plentiful supper we had singing and dancing to the music of the guit...

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Of living writers that I have read, W. H. Hudson is the rarest spirit." -- John Galsworthy, 1915 --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

W. H. Hudson (1841–1922) was born in Buenos Aires to American parents. He spent his youth in South America before emigrating to England in 1870. His books include the acclaimed novel Green Mansions, The Naturalist in La Plata, Idle Days in Patagonia, Adventures among Birds, A Crystal Age, A Shepherd’s Life, Far Away and Long Ago, and A Hind in Richmond Park.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: IndyPublish.com (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1414202563
• ISBN-13: 978-1414202563
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,384,022 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a long book, but a must-read for the courageous traveler, December 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Purple Land: Being the Narrative of One Richard Lamb's Adventures in the Banda Oriental in South America, As Told by Himself (Hardcover)

Hemingway alluded to this book in his masterpiece "The Sun Also Rises", claiming that "The Purple Land" is dangerous reading if read too late in life. By this he meant that it entices the reader to want to go to South America, particularly to Uruguay. I found this to be true upon concluding this book myself. The reader vicariously lives through an adventurous, young Englishman, Richard Lamb, in his journeys in Argentina and Uruguay. Discover how he meets his loving wife, his mistresses, and the rebellious banditos who attempt to overthrow the opressive Uruguayan government. Slow at times, nail-biting at others, but the story is not too long. Just right. I highly recommend this as good library material... if you can find it.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An adventure worthy to have been told and now read, June 26, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Purple Land (Paperback)

If you are a fan of turn-of-the-century literature as I am, you will find this narrative a good read. I had never heard nor read anything about this Hudson fellow until I recently began to read "The Sun Also Rises", which, as you may know, is Ernest Hemingway's first novel. Hemingway nonchalantly mentions Hudson and the travels of Lamb briefly in his story. I was intrigued as I gathered Hemingway himself had read the book and apparently liked it well enough to mention. Or perhaps I am mistaken. Regardless, this book is really as series of tales of adventures in the jungles of South America. You meet the natives, the food, the lifestyle and the beautiful girls (as you might expect; latino woman are notably lovely, in my experience). It should be noted, however, that the author, being a product of his times no doubt, is not particularly sensitive to political correctness.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Men selected by nature, March 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Purple Land: Being the Narrative of One Richard Lamb's Adventures in the Banda Oriental in South America, As Told by Himself (Hardcover)

A window into a time and place where men culture and tools were formed by a harsh natural selection process. The wide open range wild herds of cattle and horses a few men isolated from civilization. Henry Hudson was there, his first impressions are from the viewpoint of an educated Englishman examining barbarians. He then gets immersed in the environment and sees the deeper human experience and the effects of total freedom and self reliance on the character of men