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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
I so admire the women of this time period! Dinesen writes with authenticity and in a style that transports me to Africa. I know this is vastly different from the movie (which I loved), but in a way that makes me admire Karen Blixen even more. She was just an all-around badass.
I of course saw the movie first then felt compelled to read the book. both are beautiful - what an interesting life she led! I truly enjoyed reading this book and learning about her time in Africa, very poetic and realistic at the same time.
"Africa, amongst the continents, will teach it to you: that God and the Devil are one, the majesty co-eternal, not two uncreated but one uncreated, and the Natives neither confounded the persons nor divided the substance."
"A white man who wanted to say a pretty things to you would write: 'I can never forget you.' The African says: 'We do not think of you, that you can ever forget us.'"
"Natives dislike speed, as we dislike noise, it is to them, at the best, heard to bear. They are also on friendly terms with time, and the plan of beguiling or killing it does not come into their heads. In fact the more time you can give them, the happier they are, and if you commission a Kikuyu to hold your horse while you make a visit, you can see by his face that he hopes you will be a long, long time about it. He does not try to pass the time then, but sits down and lives."
"We of the present day, who love our machines, cannot quite imagine how people in the old days could live without them. But we could not make the Athanasian Creed, or the technique of the Mass, or of a five-act tragedy, and perhaps not even of a sonnet ... Still we must imagine, since they have been made at all, that there was a time when the hearts of humanity cried out for these things, and when a deeply felt want was relieved when they were made."
"I thought that the moon might be looking in and wondering how long I meant to stay on, in a place from which everything else had gone. 'Oh no,' said the moon, 'time means very little to me.'"
"A white man who wanted to say a pretty things to you would write: 'I can never forget you.' The African says: 'We do not think of you, that you can ever forget us.'"
"Natives dislike speed, as we dislike noise, it is to them, at the best, heard to bear. They are also on friendly terms with time, and the plan of beguiling or killing it does not come into their heads. In fact the more time you can give them, the happier they are, and if you commission a Kikuyu to hold your horse while you make a visit, you can see by his face that he hopes you will be a long, long time about it. He does not try to pass the time then, but sits down and lives."
"We of the present day, who love our machines, cannot quite imagine how people in the old days could live without them. But we could not make the Athanasian Creed, or the technique of the Mass, or of a five-act tragedy, and perhaps not even of a sonnet ... Still we must imagine, since they have been made at all, that there was a time when the hearts of humanity cried out for these things, and when a deeply felt want was relieved when they were made."
"I thought that the moon might be looking in and wondering how long I meant to stay on, in a place from which everything else had gone. 'Oh no,' said the moon, 'time means very little to me.'"
"Africa, amongst the continents, will teach it to you: that God and the Devil are one, the majesty co-eternal, not two uncreated but one uncreated, and the Natives neither confounded the persons nor divided the substance."
"A white man who wanted to say a pretty things to you would write: 'I can never forget you.' The African says: 'We do not think of you, that you can ever forget us.'"
"Natives dislike speed, as we dislike noise, it is to them, at the best, heard to bear. They are also on friendly terms with time, and the plan of beguiling or killing it does not come into their heads. In fact the more time you can give them, the happier they are, and if you commission a Kikuyu to hold your horse while you make a visit, you can see by his face that he hopes you will be a long, long time about it. He does not try to pass the time then, but sits down and lives."
"We of the present day, who love our machines, cannot quite imagine how people in the old days could live without them. But we could not make the Athanasian Creed, or the technique of the Mass, or of a five-act tragedy, and perhaps not even of a sonnet ... Still we must imagine, since they have been made at all, that there was a time when the hearts of humanity cried out for these things, and when a deeply felt want was relieved when they were made."
"I thought that the moon might be looking in and wondering how long I meant to stay on, in a place from which everything else had gone. 'Oh no,' said the moon, 'time means very little to me.'"
"A white man who wanted to say a pretty things to you would write: 'I can never forget you.' The African says: 'We do not think of you, that you can ever forget us.'"
"Natives dislike speed, as we dislike noise, it is to them, at the best, heard to bear. They are also on friendly terms with time, and the plan of beguiling or killing it does not come into their heads. In fact the more time you can give them, the happier they are, and if you commission a Kikuyu to hold your horse while you make a visit, you can see by his face that he hopes you will be a long, long time about it. He does not try to pass the time then, but sits down and lives."
"We of the present day, who love our machines, cannot quite imagine how people in the old days could live without them. But we could not make the Athanasian Creed, or the technique of the Mass, or of a five-act tragedy, and perhaps not even of a sonnet ... Still we must imagine, since they have been made at all, that there was a time when the hearts of humanity cried out for these things, and when a deeply felt want was relieved when they were made."
"I thought that the moon might be looking in and wondering how long I meant to stay on, in a place from which everything else had gone. 'Oh no,' said the moon, 'time means very little to me.'"
3 1/2 stars.
The whole time I was reading this book I was all like blah blah, rich white lady "steals" land from indigenous people to start a coffee plantation, blah blah shoots native animals, blah blah call indigenous people squatters because they've lived on "her" land for millennia and don't want to leave, blah blah. But then I realized Blixen was just a product of her time as I am of mine. She was actually pretty gutsy and did really care for the "natives" even if she always had a superior attitude towards them. Africa became her home, good or bad, and she truly loved and understood Africa. Reading the poetic way she described her adopted home, described her unique adventures, her trials and tribulations won me over in the end. I felt her pain when she realized she would have to leave her home, her friends, her whole life, having failed in her coffee venture. I imagined how utterly empty and bereft she felt, how hard it would be to say goodbye to something she loved so much, to start over again.
This was a snapshot of a certain time in the history of an African country, a snapshot of an individual living a most unusual life, not a life for the faint of heart. Living through just one plague of grasshoppers would do me in. By the end of the book I had a real respect for Blixen. Yes, Kenya is better off today without the colonists calling the shots, yes of course. This book is just one person's story of her experiences. I finally let go of my judgements and just read.
The whole time I was reading this book I was all like blah blah, rich white lady "steals" land from indigenous people to start a coffee plantation, blah blah shoots native animals, blah blah call indigenous people squatters because they've lived on "her" land for millennia and don't want to leave, blah blah. But then I realized Blixen was just a product of her time as I am of mine. She was actually pretty gutsy and did really care for the "natives" even if she always had a superior attitude towards them. Africa became her home, good or bad, and she truly loved and understood Africa. Reading the poetic way she described her adopted home, described her unique adventures, her trials and tribulations won me over in the end. I felt her pain when she realized she would have to leave her home, her friends, her whole life, having failed in her coffee venture. I imagined how utterly empty and bereft she felt, how hard it would be to say goodbye to something she loved so much, to start over again.
This was a snapshot of a certain time in the history of an African country, a snapshot of an individual living a most unusual life, not a life for the faint of heart. Living through just one plague of grasshoppers would do me in. By the end of the book I had a real respect for Blixen. Yes, Kenya is better off today without the colonists calling the shots, yes of course. This book is just one person's story of her experiences. I finally let go of my judgements and just read.
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
For being a memoir written at the beginning of the 20th century, the author has almost shockingly modern views. She is sympathetic and insightful as she tells of her years on her coffee farm in Kenya. The book is divided into vignettes and shows different aspects of the life as a kaleidoscope. It is less a chronological tale. It works though and I found this a highly meditative and inspiring read.
Just a fantastic read. Isak writes with such depth, clarity, honesty and with an amazing visual impact for the reader. Just loved it.