Far Away and Long Ago: A History of My Early Life

A vivid portrait of childhood on the Argentine pampas unfolds through a series of keen, sensory sketches. The narrator recalls the house of his birth, a solitary ombú tree that seems to hold its own secret name, and the endless plain that stretched beyond it. Early lessons in riding, the companionship of an old sheep‑dog, and the haunting presence of a murdered slave’s ghost set a tone of wonder tinged with the harsher realities of frontier life.

The memoir moves to a new homestead, where winter journeys and the quirks of a local schoolmaster introduce both humor and unease. Encounters with the land’s flora and fauna—rattlesnakes, armadillos, swarms of birds—bring the environment to life, while the tender, sometimes painful, moments of growing up—like the death of a beloved dog—highlight a child's first grappling with loss. These early chapters weave together nature, family, and the restless spirit of a boy discovering his world.