Tracks

Rating:
Summary: MY ULURU
Review: I read what Robyn Davidson wrote about Uluru bringing tears to her eyes - there was so much meaning in what she said and felt about Uluru being more than just a rock. What Robyn did took courage to travel such a vast distance there are not many people who would undertake such a journey on their own. I to have my own special Uluru. My Uluru is a pure bred Australian Kelpie Dog and is a red as the true Rock. "Roo" as he is called at home was named after the magnificant Rock Uluru because he too is majestic and proud and is also a true blue Aussie. At birth this little pup stood out amongst his brothers and sisters. He is now going on twelve years of age and still stands majestic and proud. If it were possible I would love to travel with my Uluru to see the great Rock. Two great Australian legends - Two great spirits together.

Rating:
Summary: Infuriating woman, exciting adventure
Review: I won't dwell on the inspiring story of a woman finding a new path in life, etc., as that has been well covered by other reviewers. This book was enjoyable, but not purely of the life-changing sort many other reviews note.

Robyn Davidson records the events of her journey with painful honesty. You will want to give her a hard slap and tell her to start acting like an adult. You will read of her many foolish actions and shake your head in disbelief. In most cases, she does not suffer greatly for her immaturity, but in the end, she pays dearly for one careless moment. It is that moment, towards the end of her adventure, which redeems this book from the genre of self-obsessed introspection.

You will not finish "Tracks" with any desire to relive her trip for yourself, but you will be glad she was took on the challenge.

Rating:
Summary: Infuriating woman, exciting adventure
Review: I won't dwell on the inspiring story of a woman finding a new path in life, etc., as that has been well covered by other reviewers. This book was enjoyable, but not purely of the life-changing sort many other reviews note.

Robyn Davidson records the events of her journey with painful honesty. You will want to give her a hard slap and tell her to start acting like an adult. You will read of her many foolish actions and shake your head in disbelief. In most cases, she does not suffer greatly for her immaturity, but in the end, she pays dearly for one careless moment. It is that moment, towards the end of her adventure, which redeems this book from the genre of self-obsessed introspection.

You will not finish "Tracks" with any desire to relive her trip for yourself, but you will be glad she was took on the challenge.

Rating:
Summary: Tracks was shockingly bad, really really bad.
Review: In Tracks by Robyn Davidson, the author depicts the events of her solo journey across 1,700 miles of Australian desert. She also expresses her views on camels, Aborigines, and just about everything imaginable. The content of Tracks was not quite what I expected it would be. I was anticipating an adventure novel with stories about encounters with deadly snakes, dealing with incredible heat, and nearly dying of thirst. My predictions were totally off the mark. One of the things I found surprising about this book was the depth with which she described her own feelings. It is not often that you read an autobiography that depicts the thoughts and feelings of the author during specific events. She even described her feelings for other people, good or bad, which astonished me. She held nothing back. Another thing I found surprising was the honesty with which she wrote the book. She didn't try to come across as an incredibly brave person. In fact, she expressed the fact that she considered not even doing the journey at all. She also wrote a lot about aborigines and what the Australian government has done to them. None of what I have described in this paragraph was mentioned on the back cover. To be perfectly honest, I found Tracks to be rather boring. I was looking forward to reading about an exciting adventure. Instead, I learned about everything that's wrong with Australian men and what she thinks the government should do concerning Aborigines. These may be noteworthy topics, but if this is what the book is about then it should be advertised that way, not as a thrilling adventure novel! In my opinion, this book was written so that Robyn Davidson's thoughts (on just about everything) could be heard. If anyone is looking for a book written by an overly opinionated woman, you should read Tracks.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating story
Review: It was few years ago. I was in college back home in Poland where I spent most of my time reading & dreaming about Down Under. When I grabbed the book from the library's shelf I knew that it will change my life forever.I've always wanted to go there and cross the country from north to south and east to west. Davidson's powerful story gave me a courage to realize that my dreams are likely to come true. Even though I made a stop in the United States, where I've been living over 2 years now, I'm on my way to the beautiful place, to my place, my idea fix - Australia. And if it wasn't for her personal struggle I woludn't even imagine myself going there. I'm on my way...

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating story
Review: It was few years ago. I was in college back home in Poland where I spent most of my time reading & dreaming about Down Under. When I grabbed the book from the library's shelf I knew that it will change my life forever.I've always wanted to go there and cross the country from north to south and east to west. Davidson's powerful story gave me a courage to realize that my dreams are likely to come true. Even though I made a stop in the United States, where I've been living over 2 years now, I'm on my way to the beautiful place, to my place, my idea fix - Australia. And if it wasn't for her personal struggle I woludn't even imagine myself going there. I'm on my way...

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring -- really!
Review: It's a cliche to call books "inspiring," but this one really is -- not because Robyn Davidson is heroic, but because (as she points out repeatedly) she's an ordinary woman from a rather sheltered background, but with extraordinary determination, persistence, and resourcefulness. To her, the meaning of her journey is that anyone can achieve whatever they want to. But, she tellingly points out, many of the reporters who dogged her steps portrayed her as crazy because that blunted her message -- which, if women took it seriously, would rock the foundations of society. She's completely frank about her feelings, her doubts about her journey, and the excuses she makes to herself when she's tempted to quit; but, to me, this made her accomplishment even greater because she was fighting herself as well as external obstacles. The internal journey she underwent was as important as the external one, and those readers who complain that there's too much of the former and not enough of the latter are, I think, completely missing the point of the book.

Rating:
Summary: An refleshingly blunt adventure memoir
Review: Maybe this book is unique in that it came long before all the current Krakauer-esqe accounts of brave journeys that impose much soul searching sappiness upon us. Davidson reels you into her outragous Camel trek without wasting a single word on dear diary introspection. The result is an intensely memorable read.

Rating:
Summary: Magnificent and touching
Review: Ms. Davidson spoke to my mind and heart with her honesty and experience in the Australian desert. She questions herself and searches for who she is with great courage, humor, insight, and truth. I have given this book to many of my friends, encouraging them to travel on this journey and perhaps inspire them to seek a part of themselves that they feel is lost.

Rating:
Summary: Great detail of mental challenges
Review: Overall, a very great good detailing her Journey. There are not many stories/accounts of day-to-day events, but more of an overall description of her mood and feelings during the journey. I felt that too much time was spent on the political message describing the treatment of the Aboriginal people. Worth the effort though, as it is a short book that tells a very unique story.