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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
Markham's writing is lovely and there are many, many enjoyable excerpts that speak to it's quality and poetry. Unfortunately, the story itself falls flat. Stories really. Rather than a cogent narrative, the memoir reads more a disconnected collection of short stories of her life. I think taken one or two chapters at a time, the experience of hearing her story from a first hand perspective would have been more palatable and her writing style more easy to appreciate. Reading through, however, it feels heavy and simply too dense to truly appreciate the excellent writing and what are, once you wade through some of the excess, interesting insights on her life.
West With The Night by Beryl Markham is the 1942 memoir of Beryl Markham, a fearless and captivating woman who battled against the male dominated society of her time. It chronicles her life growing up in British East Africa, now Kenya, in the early 1900’s.
She writes of her early life, growing up more among the local tribe, the Kipsigis, than raised by her father. She is more comfortable among the natives, wild animals, and the horses she and her father raise than among the other British settlers. Despite hardships, she becomes the first woman licensed horse trainer in Africa training several winners.
But she doesn’t stop there. After meeting Finch Hatton, she wants to learn to fly, and becomes a bush pilot, flying to spot big game for hunters and delivering mail and medical supplies when needed. However, she is most well known for being the first women to fly from England to North America flying from East to West. It was a difficult and dangerous flight, since she was flying alone, against the wind, in the dark sitting in a plane full of fuel.
This book is beautifully written so that British East Africa comes alive in all its colors. The fact that the authorship of the book is in question does not detract from the beauty of the writing. Since I knew very little about this remarkable woman, it was intriguing to find such a successful woman in a male dominated world at that time. She truly was a woman living life to its fullest before her time.
She writes of her early life, growing up more among the local tribe, the Kipsigis, than raised by her father. She is more comfortable among the natives, wild animals, and the horses she and her father raise than among the other British settlers. Despite hardships, she becomes the first woman licensed horse trainer in Africa training several winners.
But she doesn’t stop there. After meeting Finch Hatton, she wants to learn to fly, and becomes a bush pilot, flying to spot big game for hunters and delivering mail and medical supplies when needed. However, she is most well known for being the first women to fly from England to North America flying from East to West. It was a difficult and dangerous flight, since she was flying alone, against the wind, in the dark sitting in a plane full of fuel.
This book is beautifully written so that British East Africa comes alive in all its colors. The fact that the authorship of the book is in question does not detract from the beauty of the writing. Since I knew very little about this remarkable woman, it was intriguing to find such a successful woman in a male dominated world at that time. She truly was a woman living life to its fullest before her time.
Markham's prose is lovely, but not engaging enough for me to overlook the lack of meaning in many of her anecdotes. I'm also very surprised by the silence about her affairs.
I was slow to start enjoying this but it really had me by the end.
adventurous
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
An amazing adventure story set in the 1920s and 30s in East Africa. This is a biography that chronicles the incredible life of Beryl Markham. It begins in the wilds of Kenya, where as a child Beryl was friends with the local tribes joining them on hunts and in adventures. Later she became a pilot and flew all over East Africa transporting mail, passengers and scouting for safaris. Finally, she flew solo from England to Nova Scotia across the Atlantic.
Beryl writes well and her decriptions give you a clear sense of the people and the time. However, she doesn't talk at all about any of the challenges of living as a woman alone during this time or refer to any of the politics or world events of the era. It is as if she is immune and unaware. An interesting story, certainly, but I felt there was much more to be said.
Beryl writes well and her decriptions give you a clear sense of the people and the time. However, she doesn't talk at all about any of the challenges of living as a woman alone during this time or refer to any of the politics or world events of the era. It is as if she is immune and unaware. An interesting story, certainly, but I felt there was much more to be said.
Colorful in its description of the land and the adventure of horse training and flight. It’s hard not to read with a little sickness about the colonialism and rigid rules of race and class (even as she shattered some gender rules). But she was of an era and illustrates the unquestioning role and culture of a white colonist. Good to read with Circling the Sun. Markham was extraordinary in any telling of her story.
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
I got this book a few years ago, and only recently picked t back up to finish it. When I began it, I was only mediocre on it, so put it down. This time, I was entranced. Markham’s writing is beautiful, her story incredible, and her reflections on Africa and life made her feel like a kindred spirit. Glad I picked this back up, as it was a treat!