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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
She's a great writer & has lived an extremely interesting life. Her stories about horse training & aviation are compelling & almost cinematic.
Given the time this was published (1940s) there's absolutely 0 critical thought about colonialism or her own role as a colonizer, which is the elephant in the room when reading this in 2023.
Given the time this was published (1940s) there's absolutely 0 critical thought about colonialism or her own role as a colonizer, which is the elephant in the room when reading this in 2023.
3.5 ⭐️ Sometimes my mind wandered when I listened to this book. When I was fully paying attention this book was pure poetry. The narrator fully captured Beryl’s personality, in my opinion. I’m curious what our book club thinks of this book. One thing this book taught me: I much prefer books with a clear plot and memorable characters. I couldn’t keep anyone straight except Beryl. I love that she kept a journal of her life; she inspired me to write more down of my own life.
This book was wonderful. I think I'll be going back to the many passages I dog-eared over and over through the years, and now understand why a friend of mine makes its reading a yearly requirement. Her way with words sticks with you......
"The sound of Paddy's roar in my ears will only be duplicated, I think, when the doors of hell slip their wobbly hinges, one day, and give voice and authenticity to the whole panorama of Dante's poetic nightmares. It was an immense roar that encompassed the world and dissolved me in it."
"I still have the scars of his teeth and claws, but they are very small now and almost forgotten, and I cannot begrudge him his moment".
Whether telling of being attacked by a lion as a girl, learning to hunt with her African mentors, training racehorses, learning to fly with Tom Black and later working with Blixx - it is all a fantastic story of colonial Africa.
Looking at it through modern eyes the racism of the time can be jarring in some moments, but her respect for Africa and her African companions also shines through. I'll definitely be looking into her life a bit more - this left me intrigued.
"The sound of Paddy's roar in my ears will only be duplicated, I think, when the doors of hell slip their wobbly hinges, one day, and give voice and authenticity to the whole panorama of Dante's poetic nightmares. It was an immense roar that encompassed the world and dissolved me in it."
"I still have the scars of his teeth and claws, but they are very small now and almost forgotten, and I cannot begrudge him his moment".
Whether telling of being attacked by a lion as a girl, learning to hunt with her African mentors, training racehorses, learning to fly with Tom Black and later working with Blixx - it is all a fantastic story of colonial Africa.
Looking at it through modern eyes the racism of the time can be jarring in some moments, but her respect for Africa and her African companions also shines through. I'll definitely be looking into her life a bit more - this left me intrigued.
This book follows Beryl as she grows up in colonial Kenya, trains race horses, flies around as a bush pilot, and joins elephant-hunting safaris. Her life is adventurous and the writing is dazzling. As the only woman adventuring around at a young age with so many male explorers, there is no overt mention of unexpected romance or affairs. Even though in reality, her life was full of plenty of both. Despite this sort of sanitized version of events, it is still an amazing book that will have you daydreaming of flying around Africa in the 1930s. Do yourself a favor and sign up for a free month trial of Kindle unlimited and download this now.
I didn't expect to love this book the way I did, but the prose was so lush and evocative that I felt transported. A fabulous read, for the beautiful sentences scattered throughout as well as the story of a life well lived.
I picked this one up on Prime Reading and holy cow, I had no idea what I was in for. I'm adding this one to my list of all-time favorites. Beryl Markham is totally incredible. She claimed fame when she became the first person to fly east-west over the Atlantic, but she had an incredible life full of adventure leading up to that flight. The entire book reads like poetry and the imagery and prose made it impossible to put down. Markham paints a picture of Africa that was completely foreign to me, detailing a unique upbringing, wild and pure.
An extra plug for any pilot friends - the descriptions of flying and flight are unreal. So beautiful and so raw.
An extra plug for any pilot friends - the descriptions of flying and flight are unreal. So beautiful and so raw.
While I can recognize that this is a well-written book about a very interesting woman, it wasn't for me. Beryl Markham, in many ways, was a woman to be admired - the first person to fly nonstop from England to North America, an horse lover who trained no less than six winners of major horse races, and a bush pilot in Africa, among other things. For me, however, I found the writing style too descriptive and ponderous, without enough plot. There were phrases so beautifully crafted that I marked them while reading for further reflection, but I often found myself bored, which to me is more indicative of the writing style, since Markham was certainly not a dull persona. It's hotly debated whether Markham wrote this, since there is evidence that at the very least it was edited by her third husband, if not more. While I can appreciate that a memoir is only part of a life, and from the view of the author and not necessarily intended to be as factual as an autobiography or biography, I was disappointed to find out that some of the events of the story were conflated or made up (for example, the race between horses Wise Child and Wrack never actually happened). Understandably for the time this was written, the salacious details of her life as a member of the Happy Valley set are left out, although I would have liked to learn more about that soap opera-esque period of her life. I found Markham's person interesting and remarkable, but if you aren't a fan of slow moving, thoughtful, descriptive writing, you may want to read a biography of her life instead.
Note: I also posted this review on the Manchester, CT Public Library Goodreads account.
Note: I also posted this review on the Manchester, CT Public Library Goodreads account.
What a lovely storyteller and a clever writer. She has such a poetic way of telling a story that this book is best read at a slow pace to really drink in the details and savor the adventures. Throughout the book I heard the soft-spoken silky voice of Julia Ormond in my mind.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
One of my favorites