The South American country of Colombia occupies a distorted place in the modern zeitgeist thanks to its notorious drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, a longstanding civil war, and to a lesser extent, magical realism literature. Yet as the country continues to move away from the ravages of the cocaine trade and civil conflict, Colombia is a hauntingly fascinating country rich in culture, human diversity and biodiversity. In Magdalena- River of Dreams- A Story of Colombia, Wade Davis attempts to highlight how the country is trying to recover in an era of peace while also not shying away from the horrible past and its lingering scars.
As Davis, who is from Canada, puts it, Colombia was the first country he really traveled around as a young man and it enchanted him so much that it left a lasting impression. As a result, he decided to write about the country by traveling along the Magdalena, which runs a thousand miles from the Caribbean Sea southwards to the Andes.
Blending travel, history, journalism and nature writing, Davis tells the story of people, culture and nature, as well as of the Magdalena itself. The setting is not confined to rivers as Davis ventures into jungles, valleys, plains and mountains. At times the language is overly lyrical and optimistic, but this is balanced by the accounts of horrors such as dead bodies of victims of war floating in rivers and entire villages being slaughtered, sometimes by both sides.
Colombia’s civil war lasted for over four decades, during which hundreds of thousands of people were killed and millions were displaced. What made it especially terrible was that there were several different militant factions such as the leftist guerillas, the FARC and ELN, and the right-wing paramilitaries which were formed to counter the guerillas but ended up becoming active combatants who committed terrible atrocities themselves. During this time, a burgeoning cocaine trade sprung up, which fuelled the civil war as it funded the paramilitaries.
When it comes to culture, Davis highlights Colombia’s iconic cumbia music as well as tambora, while the famous novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez is also mentioned in the book.
The great Simon Bolivar, who played a huge role in driving the Spanish out of South America and brought about the independence of much of the continent including Colombia, features in a chapter near the end. Colombia’s Spanish colonial history is also told, and even here there is brutality as indigenous peoples fought and were subjugated by “Spanish conquistadors.”
Through no fault of Davis, after finishing the book, I still felt that I didn’t really understand Colombia at all. But thanks to the author, I know the book would be a vital guide if I ever visit Colombia. Magdalena- River of Dreams is a unique book, combining culture, tragedy, nature, and history in every chapter and page in a way that is true to Colombia’s mystical character.
My Take 