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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
I theoretically understand the concept of not judging past works based on modern morals but it was really hard to not be appalled by the casual racism that filled this otherwise fascinating memoir.
Maybe this book was awesome in the 1920s. I don’t think it’s all that good now. Not only is Karen Blixen (actual name) self-absorbed, but until the last 70 pages where she has to sell the farm, there appears to be no emotion to anything she does. A servant/“squatter”/native dies. The land is pretty. An animal dies. She kills an animal (she likes to hunt). Someone gets married. She pretends to be a doctor. Her land is too high to grow coffee. She has visitors. Grasshoppers eat all the maize. It’s at times poetic but at the same time so flat.
Book aside, it sounds like Karen Blixen was quite an amazing person in real life. I certainly wouldn’t have enjoyed running a failing coffee farm in Kenya where lions are there to eat you and/or your animals.
Book aside, it sounds like Karen Blixen was quite an amazing person in real life. I certainly wouldn’t have enjoyed running a failing coffee farm in Kenya where lions are there to eat you and/or your animals.
I'm afraid this book was not as enjoyable as I thought it would be. As a biography it is too disjointed and fragmented. The book reads like a collection of essays, which don't have any chronological sequence. I'm also bothered by the language used when she was talking about the natives. I'm very much aware of the fact that we are all products of our times. Keeping that in mind, I still found her to be extremely prejudiced against the natives that she was surrounded by. In one sentence she's praising them, and in the next she's pointing out how they're just a step above animals. She's also very graphic in some of her descriptions, which I sort of liked. She's not shy about her opinions, and she's not afraid about not fitting into any molds of femininity. This is why I was so taken aback about her opinion of the natives-for a non-conformist, she really didn't break away from the colonial view of Africans. While she's very descriptive about the landscape and the day to day life on the plantation, she totally skips over describing any of her personal relationships. We don't get more than a couple of sentences about her husband, and I didn't realize until the end that one of the friends that she briefly describes was actually her lover. What really comes through in this book is her love for Africa and her life in Africa. I liked the fact that she doesn't present a romantic version of Africa, but I expected a memoir, and this does not fit into the memoir category in my view.
I read this book as part of a British Empire challenge that I am participating in with a group on GoodReads and looked forward to what seemed like a memoir about a beautiful and interesting country set in the early part of the 20th century. The author, Karen Christence Dinesen or Baroness Blixen-Finecke wrote under a variety of aliases including Isak Dinesen, Pierre Andrézel, Tania Blixen amongst some others. She is Danish in origin and this memoir is a chronicle of her years in Africa where she managed a four thousand acre coffee plantation often by herself due to a separation with her husband. What became apparent to me while reading this fascinating account was how much she had fallen in love with the country and she describes the surrounding landscape in vivid and rich terms:
“The air was cold to the lungs, the long grass dripping wet, and the herbs on it gave out their spiced astringent scent. In a little while on all sides the Cicada would begin to sing. The grass was me , and the air, the distant invisible mountains were me, the tired oxen were me. I breathed with the slight night-wind in the thorn trees.”
What I did also find extremely interesting in this book was the attitude that was taken towards the “natives.” The author did seem to be a fair manager of her farm and the native people that she employed to work on it and was also exceedingly sympathetic to those in need however I felt that her tone edged towards the patronising when she referred to these people, as if she was very aware of her position and who was beneath her in the rankings. On the other hand, you could put this down to the attitudes prevalent at the time of writing which certainly would not be as acceptable in today’s society. She also tried her hand at doctoring, despite having little experience – just what you would learn on a first aid course, and did manage to have a few successes which she called “lucky cures,” although more worrying was her “catastrophic mistakes,” none of which are elaborated on. More than once, she also referred to herself as akin to God in the dealings she had with the native people, which was slightly uncomfortable to read.
On a positive note, I did enjoy reading about her interactions with the people (and animals!) of the country, especially Lulu, a little fawn that she adopted who grew up quite contentedly with the dogs of the farm as if they were family. At the end of her stay when she realises she cannot economically manage the farm anymore the reader feels her profound sadness as she prepares to leave a country she thinks of as her home even to the extent that she considers being buried there. This part of the memoir was especially touching and poignant and gives a real sense of the dismay that the author feels at leaving people that she has begun to consider as friends. I think in general I did find this an interesting read, although I probably wouldn’t read it again yet the language and style of writing is especially beautiful and should be commended and appreciated.
Please see my full review at http://www.bibliobeth.com
“The air was cold to the lungs, the long grass dripping wet, and the herbs on it gave out their spiced astringent scent. In a little while on all sides the Cicada would begin to sing. The grass was me , and the air, the distant invisible mountains were me, the tired oxen were me. I breathed with the slight night-wind in the thorn trees.”
What I did also find extremely interesting in this book was the attitude that was taken towards the “natives.” The author did seem to be a fair manager of her farm and the native people that she employed to work on it and was also exceedingly sympathetic to those in need however I felt that her tone edged towards the patronising when she referred to these people, as if she was very aware of her position and who was beneath her in the rankings. On the other hand, you could put this down to the attitudes prevalent at the time of writing which certainly would not be as acceptable in today’s society. She also tried her hand at doctoring, despite having little experience – just what you would learn on a first aid course, and did manage to have a few successes which she called “lucky cures,” although more worrying was her “catastrophic mistakes,” none of which are elaborated on. More than once, she also referred to herself as akin to God in the dealings she had with the native people, which was slightly uncomfortable to read.
On a positive note, I did enjoy reading about her interactions with the people (and animals!) of the country, especially Lulu, a little fawn that she adopted who grew up quite contentedly with the dogs of the farm as if they were family. At the end of her stay when she realises she cannot economically manage the farm anymore the reader feels her profound sadness as she prepares to leave a country she thinks of as her home even to the extent that she considers being buried there. This part of the memoir was especially touching and poignant and gives a real sense of the dismay that the author feels at leaving people that she has begun to consider as friends. I think in general I did find this an interesting read, although I probably wouldn’t read it again yet the language and style of writing is especially beautiful and should be commended and appreciated.
Please see my full review at http://www.bibliobeth.com
It took me longer to read this than I had thought - it was in my summer reading pile from the library for a very long time until I finally got to it. I am glad I did before I had to return it to the library. I am also really happy that my library system has up to three renewals allowed on most books.
I was hoping for a book that would remind me in spirit of No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, and in some ways that mood was in the book, especially when describing the surroundings and how she felt when she went out on the farm. I thought it was very well written, and am not surprised by the kinds of books she wrote after leaving Africa. Of course, the No.1 series has an overall upbeat, content feeling, while this one had an overall aura of wistful remembrance. This makes sense, of course, since she probably missed her home in Kenya greatly while writing. The mood carries over to you as the reader because you realize that the places and people and way of life that she wrote about are, for all intents and purposes, gone forever, and have been for a long time.
That said, I really enjoyed reading it, and am thinking about getting the movie from the library.
I was hoping for a book that would remind me in spirit of No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, and in some ways that mood was in the book, especially when describing the surroundings and how she felt when she went out on the farm. I thought it was very well written, and am not surprised by the kinds of books she wrote after leaving Africa. Of course, the No.1 series has an overall upbeat, content feeling, while this one had an overall aura of wistful remembrance. This makes sense, of course, since she probably missed her home in Kenya greatly while writing. The mood carries over to you as the reader because you realize that the places and people and way of life that she wrote about are, for all intents and purposes, gone forever, and have been for a long time.
That said, I really enjoyed reading it, and am thinking about getting the movie from the library.
couldn't finish. I really can bear almost everything, but this one... o man. Young women exploring the world of native people. i guess some folks would describe this topic as an unusual and exeptional journey, however i would not be one of them.
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
This book was beautiful written. I felt as if I was there with the writer. I wanted to be there to witness those sunrises, the view of buffalo
buffaloes from overhead, the flax field, Nairobi streets.
The one qualm I have is with the portrayal of African people as natives. Given the time that this book was written, I can see why the terminology was used (but that doesn't make up for the fact that these were people who were not given the same rights and privileges as white people.)
buffaloes from overhead, the flax field, Nairobi streets.
The one qualm I have is with the portrayal of African people as natives. Given the time that this book was written, I can see why the terminology was used (but that doesn't make up for the fact that these were people who were not given the same rights and privileges as white people.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Murder
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
funny
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced