Last Tango in Buenos Aires: Sketches from the Argentine by David MarshMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
When you ask people to think about Argentina; the most popular memories would be Maradona and the ‘hand of God’ and them invading the Falklands. Other things that might spring to mind are the Perons, the vast ranches raising the beef cattle for their spectacular barbeques and the stark beauty that is Patagonia. David marsh want to push past these stereotypes and discover the real people that live in this troubled country of contrasts.
On his journey he meets the real Argentinians; war veterans, gold diggers, teachers, priests and the indigenous Indian peoples. They tell him their stories, brining alive an Argentina that we know almost nothing about. There are tales of happier times when it was a rich and potentially key player in the world, to the tragedy of the families devastated by the military dictatorship that ‘disappeared’ so many innocent people.
It is not like a lot of travel books where it is a recollection of a series of observations; he meets all the people and draws the stories out, making this such an interesting book to read. Marsh has managed to convey a sense of the landscape too, as he travels from the cities to the high Andes and onto Patagonia. Well worth reading. 3.5 stars
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