Books that help you understand more about South America while traveling

When planning a trip through South America it can be helpful and inspiring to read literature from the continent or about the continent. I selected these book titles that help you understand more about South America while traveling. I only selected literature, because reading history books just doesn't inspire me as much as literature does.

1. The Gringo Trail by Peter Moore (1999): A humorous backpacking journey through Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia, interwoven with beautiful descriptions of landscape and culture. Written with a loose, ironic tone to describe both the allure and the absurdities of the traveler's life.
2. Turn Right at Machu Picchu by Mark Adams (2001): An adventurous rediscovery of the Inca Trails in Peru, blended with Hiram Bingham's original journey. Adams combines personal experiences with clear explanations of the history of discovery, scholarly discussions, and the challenges of conservation and the impact of tourism.
3. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez: A magical realist saga about the Buendía family in Colombia, full of colonial echoes and mythical traditions. You might not learn a great deal about Colombia, but the atmosphere is inspiring. Love in the Time of Cholera is also a classic that belongs on your pre-travel reading list.
4. The Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara (1952): A travelogue by a young Guevara through South America, exposing poverty, injustice, and continental interconnectedness. A combination of travel stories, personal reflections, and socio-political observations from a revolutionary in the making.
5. House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende (1982): An epic family saga that blends magical realist elements with political and personal drama, following multiple generations of the Trueba family against the backdrop of social and political changes in an unnamed Latin American nation (though Chile fits very well). In her extensive oeuvre, Allende has written many more inspiring books where life in Chile takes center stage or makes an indirect intrusion. 'My Invented Country' is a personal memoir about Chile's history, dictatorship, and cultural identity rooted in family heritage.
6. Realm of the Incas by Kim MacQuarrie (2010: An adventurous account of Inca heritage and contemporary Andean culture, blended with travel and stories. It tells about the rise and fall of the Inca Empire, focusing on its internal divisions, the catastrophic impact of European diseases in a readable and story-driven style
7. In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin (1977): Poetic travel essays about Patagonia's wild history, myths, and eccentric figures. A classic of travel literature.
8. Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa (1977): A satirical novel about Peruvian radio and family ties, laced with the cultural chaos of the 1950s. Mario Vargas Llosa has written several other titles in his oeuvre about Peru, Brazil (e.g., The War of the End of the World), and the Amazon that are well worth reading.
9. Jungle by Yossi Ghinsberg (2017): A true survival story in the Bolivian Amazon, with indigenous cultures and colonial traces, and its psychological and physical struggle for survival.
10. Captains of the Sands by Jorge Amado (1937): A coming-of-age story about street boys in Bahia, Brazil, featuring poverty, racial dynamics, and Afro-Brazilian culture in the 1930s.
11. The Purple Land (1885) by W.H. Hudson: A romantic account of an Englishman in Uruguay, full of gaucho life, rural traditions, and adventures.
12. Doña Bárbara (1929) by Rómulo Gallegos: An iconic novel about the Llanos region in Venezuela, with themes of civilization versus barbarism, caudillo power, and rural life. About the powerful, manipulative landowner Doña Bárbara and the righteous Santos Luzardo.
13. On my wish to read list: books by Ana Paula Maia from Brazil about Brazilian life and culture: 'Of Cattle and Men' (2013) and 'On Earth As It Is Beneath' (2017)