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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
This book is really long and the first half was very slow. The writing is very descriptive and having been to South Africa, I wanted to read this to learn about Kenya. The story is good, but just really long. Yes, I said that twice! The strength of Karen Blixon is remarkable, especially considering the time period. This is what kept me reading through the times when I wanted to quit. The writing is good, just really long and slow. Yes, I said that three times. It was a feat to finish it, but a good feeling of accomplishment.
this was boring, rambling, and failed to hold my interest.
I reread this after having visited the site of Karen Blixen's farm near Nairobi. The writing is evocative and absolutely gorgeous, but there's a current of colonial-era era racism that you can't ignore.
I read this a long, long time ago and all I remember was that she had great prose.
It's a fascinating look into another place and another time. You got the sense that the author was an amazing person! The book just really makes me wish I could have met her.
I would rate this closer to a 3.5. I liked it very well, but maybe not a "really" liked it. The writing, first off, is beautiful. If I closed my eyes, I could almost feel the hot sun, and smell the grass of the plains of Africa, along with hearing the roar of a lion. This is not a book however for a person seeking high adventure. Living on a coffee farm, it appears, is quite a non-action endeavor. So some parts seemed to lag for me. I have seen some people complain about the racism in this book. One must remember, this is a non-fiction narrative by a woman living in Kenya during the colonization period of Europeans over Africa. I found the author/narrator to be a basically good human being, who appreciated the customs of the natives, and tried her best to make their lives as well as she could, within the confines of the laws and rules of the governing society of the times.
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would. Dinesen's writing style just didn't flow well for me, though I did enjoy her descriptions of an Africa that is no longer.