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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
The namesake flight is easily the worst part of the book. That is both because there's not a lot to say about a rather uneventful flight (well, until she got to North America) and because Beryl Markham's life before that point was so eventful.
The stories about her childhood in Africa are fascinating as are her stories about her time as a horse trainer. She does an amazing job building up the drama in her stories but without any noticeable hyperbole for the most part.
I really recommend the book, but with the warning that animals (dogs, horses, and a parrot) are very much creatures living in Africa and are not safe from the native wildlife. So you need to steel yourself for those stories.
The stories about her childhood in Africa are fascinating as are her stories about her time as a horse trainer. She does an amazing job building up the drama in her stories but without any noticeable hyperbole for the most part.
I really recommend the book, but with the warning that animals (dogs, horses, and a parrot) are very much creatures living in Africa and are not safe from the native wildlife. So you need to steel yourself for those stories.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
A beautifully written memoir filled with adventure and excitement, which was a refreshing change from some of the more trauma-focused biographies I’ve slogged through recently. This book was both thrilling and lyrical, combining a truly impressive life with truly impressive writing skills. I was blown away by Markham’s resistance to stagnancy, her acceptance of change, and, quite simply, her incredible life story - all of which was brilliantly displayed by her remarkable storytelling.
12: West With the Night by Beryl Markham...as “assigned” by book club. I likely would not have picked it up on my own, and I’m not sorry that I read it, but it did not push most of my “This was a great book because...” buttons. The last fifty pages were truly the best, however. This is the memoir of a woman who lived in Africa most of her life, who was made to be very independent and soloed in life and as a pilot at a young age and in a much earlier time ...and yet none of it is presented as very remarkable nor presented very remarkably, really. I needed more description to feel I’d truly visited Africa...or more explanation or background supporting how, more specifically, she came to flying...something to make it more richly and valuably one of those pieces to make me feel like at least that was complete. It end up being not all that “deep” of an experience as such a life seemed to have produced.
Kindle
DNF. I really wanted to like this book. Based on others who liked it. I want to be like them. I think I need more dialogue not just descriptions.
DNF. I really wanted to like this book. Based on others who liked it. I want to be like them. I think I need more dialogue not just descriptions.
Markham has a beautiful prose and gift for animating the inanimate. For her time she was progressive although in modern time it can be tough to hear her obvious racism and sexism.
Tough one to rate - it's a great adventure story about a badass independent woman, but she was so entrenched in colonialism and so unquestioning of its negative ramifications that it can be hard to read. On the other hand, it does give a lens into what that world looked like from the inside and how much colonialism contributed to so many of today's problems. I enjoyed it and I'm glad I read it, but I'm not sure I "liked" it exactly.