Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
I am pretty sure that Isak (or should I say Karen) turns over in her grave when she hears another happy tourist bragging about a safari tour along the big 5. Out of Africa takes you to rural Africa in a time where the game reserve only just begun. She captured the barren, lively rituals of the natives as pure as they come: a loved one died? Leave them for the lions to finish. No doctor in town? Try some things out, call yourself a docter, see how it goes. For etymology lovers as myself, the book contains some beautiful Swahili words such as Nataka Kufa (he is ready to die now). The natives, as Karen describes, are way more 'kali' (fierce) than the British and French from the West. They don't fear Death, are more tolerant for other religions, way more sensitive to nature, and mostly: masters at accepting life as it is.
Filled with beautiful considerations. One of my favorites:
The pleasure of the true dreamer does not lie in the substance of the dream, but in this: that things happen without any interference from his side, and altogether outside his control. Great landscapes create themselves, long splendid views, rich and delicate colours, roads, houses, which he has never seen or heard of...
Filled with beautiful considerations. One of my favorites:
The pleasure of the true dreamer does not lie in the substance of the dream, but in this: that things happen without any interference from his side, and altogether outside his control. Great landscapes create themselves, long splendid views, rich and delicate colours, roads, houses, which he has never seen or heard of...
I enjoyed the first 50 pages or so. Some of the writing was so lyrical; I particularly felt moved about the elegant giraffes, but it was rather depressing and upsetting. Maybe it’s the style of a “memoir” that I don’t like. No plot. No sequence or dates, only after I arrived, before I left or maybe in reference to before the war. The vignettes get shorter, so it’s just a bunch of random ‘essays’, which vary in effort. Often times, it feels racist, or at the very least, very snobbish where the only thing that matters is the author’s importance about running an African estate and taking charge of the ignorant savages. Yes, the book is a memoir and she did run an estate and had to take charge, it is just the selfish manner in which she presents herself and the situation that is the contention. I can only wonder why folks enjoyed this, and am baffled how it was made into a film with major actors. Not recommended to anyone.
If you are a fan of the movie, OUT OF AFRICA, with Meryl Streep and Robert Redford you may be disappointed when you read the book. Because it doesn't have that same, clear linear narrative of Karen Blixen's life in Africa. The movie clearly used biographical events to provide a movie structure.
Instead, the book is more a series of snapshots. Individual stories and recollections of both local and European people, each one separate and distinct, rather than woven together into one story. There are of course stories about friends like Denys Finch-Hatton and Berkeley Cole. But they are episodic. For example, Blixen's troubled marriage to Bror Blixen and romance with Finch-Hatton are never mentioned in the book.
Blixen's use of language is beautiful, though I must admit I wish I could have heard Meryl Streep narrate it for me. What you will get collectively from this read is an account of life in Kenya during and after World War I, including deep understanding of the beauty inherent in the lives of the local tribespeople. Blixen clearly had a rich appreciation of how the Kenyans made sense of all that colonization brought to their country.
Instead, the book is more a series of snapshots. Individual stories and recollections of both local and European people, each one separate and distinct, rather than woven together into one story. There are of course stories about friends like Denys Finch-Hatton and Berkeley Cole. But they are episodic. For example, Blixen's troubled marriage to Bror Blixen and romance with Finch-Hatton are never mentioned in the book.
Blixen's use of language is beautiful, though I must admit I wish I could have heard Meryl Streep narrate it for me. What you will get collectively from this read is an account of life in Kenya during and after World War I, including deep understanding of the beauty inherent in the lives of the local tribespeople. Blixen clearly had a rich appreciation of how the Kenyans made sense of all that colonization brought to their country.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
It had been ten years since it was on my shelves.
My eyes fell on it, as they often do, but I didn't let my gaze slide elsewhere this time.
Excellent, god took me.
Something is shocking about Karen Blixen living on her African farm with "her" people as if she were talking about "her" plates. But it's time that wants that and the colonies' time when a black was a negro, where a lion was a trophy or a magnificent skin to put on the ground in his living room.
But she has a unique look at those she calls her people. She tries to understand notes' cultural differences without judging them and by quoting them respectfully. You can feel her affection for the little world around her and her farm. Kamante, the strange child she tried to cure; Farah Somalia and his outlook on the world; the old Knudsen, alcoholic and desperate; the women and their laughter at the misfortune; the wise, more aged men.
She hunts but cannot stand caged animals.
His farm is his world, where everyone has their place, overflows a little, and seems welcome with their personality and peculiarities.
She loves Africa, its landscapes, seasons, drought, and rain.
It superbly describes the relationships between the different ethnicities, the beauty of all, and the humor of each other.
It's a little gem of humanity with all its paradoxes.
My eyes fell on it, as they often do, but I didn't let my gaze slide elsewhere this time.
Excellent, god took me.
Something is shocking about Karen Blixen living on her African farm with "her" people as if she were talking about "her" plates. But it's time that wants that and the colonies' time when a black was a negro, where a lion was a trophy or a magnificent skin to put on the ground in his living room.
But she has a unique look at those she calls her people. She tries to understand notes' cultural differences without judging them and by quoting them respectfully. You can feel her affection for the little world around her and her farm. Kamante, the strange child she tried to cure; Farah Somalia and his outlook on the world; the old Knudsen, alcoholic and desperate; the women and their laughter at the misfortune; the wise, more aged men.
She hunts but cannot stand caged animals.
His farm is his world, where everyone has their place, overflows a little, and seems welcome with their personality and peculiarities.
She loves Africa, its landscapes, seasons, drought, and rain.
It superbly describes the relationships between the different ethnicities, the beauty of all, and the humor of each other.
It's a little gem of humanity with all its paradoxes.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Wow, just wow.
The highlight was absolutely the prose. It's so, so beautiful at times, especially when the narrator describes nature and the Kenyan wildlife and natural environment.
The cons of reading this book is the blatant racism and atrocious generalization of POC. Clearly written by a colobizer to other colonizers.
The highlight was absolutely the prose. It's so, so beautiful at times, especially when the narrator describes nature and the Kenyan wildlife and natural environment.
The cons of reading this book is the blatant racism and atrocious generalization of POC. Clearly written by a colobizer to other colonizers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Racial slurs, Racism, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
reflective
slow-paced
adventurous
informative
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced