---
product_id: 5607533
title: "The Songlines"
price: "¥5292"
currency: JPY
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.jp/products/5607533-the-songlines
store_origin: JP
region: Japan
---

# The Songlines

**Price:** ¥5292
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- **What is this?** The Songlines
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## Description

desertcart.com: The Songlines: 9780140094299: Chatwin, Bruce: Books

Review: A Deep Remembering of Who We Truly Are - I am most intrigued by the nomad thread in this book. The idea that walking is alignment with DNA, that movement is memory, and that we are all travelers in relationship with the Earth, with all life, and with each other feels deeply true. This book reads less like theory and more like a remembering. Loving it so far. The Songlines weaves travel writing, anthropology, philosophy, and myth into an exploration of Aboriginal Australian songlines—ancestral paths sung into being, mapping the land through story, rhythm, and movement. Chatwin suggests that walking is not merely travel, but a biological and spiritual necessity, encoded into human memory. The land is not owned, but known through relationship, song, and care. At its heart, this book questions modern settlement, restlessness, and disconnection, proposing that our deepest sense of meaning arises through movement, attention, and reverence for place. The Earth becomes a living text, and humanity a migratory species shaped by love, song, and belonging rather than borders. It feels both ancient and urgently relevant. Jana LaBarbera | Jana Dreams in Color · Jana Shakti Travels
Review: But this is a fascinating and brilliant read looking backwards in time on Chatwin's speculations - Chatham clearly writes this book in a hurry. The publisher did so too; my copy (1988 I think) duplicates pages 171-234. But this is a fascinating and brilliant read looking backwards in time on Chatwin's speculations. As an evolutionist mnay of his speculations have born fruit. It is absolutely stunning to read his thinking post-Dart and Lorenz on the impact climate (and population bottlenecks) have (probably) had upon the human species. If you are looking for some insight in the oldest existing human culture on the planet, this read has some problems as it is limited to primarily central Australia. Nonetheless the recent dehydration deaths of two Aboriginal "Elders" in the Kimberly's, when their car ran out of gas, possibly because they couldn't read the songlines to water in the area through which they were traveling, underscores one the major and important themes Chatwin's discusses. Chatwin wasn't an anthropologist and I think the reviews that criticize him on his book because of this, miss the point of the book. This is a speculative treatise on the human species and Chatwin's interjections of other thinkers on human origins only greatly enrich your reading of this book. I only sorry I read the book ten years after my own trip to Australia.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #2,010,914 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #25 in Australia & New Zealand History #166 in Travelogues & Travel Essays #2,522 in General Anthropology |
| Customer Reviews | 4.4 out of 5 stars 897 Reviews |

## Images

![The Songlines - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81y0c4DGEHL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Deep Remembering of Who We Truly Are
*by J***R on January 9, 2026*

I am most intrigued by the nomad thread in this book. The idea that walking is alignment with DNA, that movement is memory, and that we are all travelers in relationship with the Earth, with all life, and with each other feels deeply true. This book reads less like theory and more like a remembering. Loving it so far. The Songlines weaves travel writing, anthropology, philosophy, and myth into an exploration of Aboriginal Australian songlines—ancestral paths sung into being, mapping the land through story, rhythm, and movement. Chatwin suggests that walking is not merely travel, but a biological and spiritual necessity, encoded into human memory. The land is not owned, but known through relationship, song, and care. At its heart, this book questions modern settlement, restlessness, and disconnection, proposing that our deepest sense of meaning arises through movement, attention, and reverence for place. The Earth becomes a living text, and humanity a migratory species shaped by love, song, and belonging rather than borders. It feels both ancient and urgently relevant. Jana LaBarbera | Jana Dreams in Color · Jana Shakti Travels

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ But this is a fascinating and brilliant read looking backwards in time on Chatwin's speculations
*by G***M on May 29, 2016*

Chatham clearly writes this book in a hurry. The publisher did so too; my copy (1988 I think) duplicates pages 171-234. But this is a fascinating and brilliant read looking backwards in time on Chatwin's speculations. As an evolutionist mnay of his speculations have born fruit. It is absolutely stunning to read his thinking post-Dart and Lorenz on the impact climate (and population bottlenecks) have (probably) had upon the human species. If you are looking for some insight in the oldest existing human culture on the planet, this read has some problems as it is limited to primarily central Australia. Nonetheless the recent dehydration deaths of two Aboriginal "Elders" in the Kimberly's, when their car ran out of gas, possibly because they couldn't read the songlines to water in the area through which they were traveling, underscores one the major and important themes Chatwin's discusses. Chatwin wasn't an anthropologist and I think the reviews that criticize him on his book because of this, miss the point of the book. This is a speculative treatise on the human species and Chatwin's interjections of other thinkers on human origins only greatly enrich your reading of this book. I only sorry I read the book ten years after my own trip to Australia.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Songlines....a history of a people
*by S***D on July 18, 2016*

Mr. Chatwin provides an interesting look into the "Aboriginals" of Australia. It is a fascinating culture. Frequently, the author goes off on a tangent and one wonders what has happened to the story line, but then he manages to connect the piece with the rest of the dialogue. It is a most interesting adventure he takes us on...the people and the landscape are incredible.

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*Product available on Desertcart Japan*
*Store origin: JP*
*Last updated: 2026-03-29*