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A review by kikiandarrowsfishshelf
Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Storyteller by Judith Thurman
4.0
When I was lucky enough to travel to Denmark, was I excited by all history? By the beautiful castles? By the wonderful food? No. I was over the moon because I could go to Isak Dinesen's (Karen Blixen's) house. While there, I broke one of my cardinal rules, don't buy a book aboard that you can get at home, unless it is used. I brought this biography there, among a couple other books.
Thurman does a very good job of portraying, not only Blixen but her family and friends as well. In particular, when Thurman is describing Blixen's time in Africa, there is a sense of peace to the prose, a sense of another world, and we see Africa, not in the same way as in Out of Africa, but in a way that allows us to get closer to Blixen. I enjoyed Thurman's description of how Europeans viewed Kenya at the time, "In Karen Blixen's day the coast [of Kenya:] was considered unlivable by Europeans -or those who had never spent a summer in New York City".
When dealing Blixen's marriage and love affair, Thurman achieves a balance that is not seen in the movie Out of Africa, and the figures of Bror Blixen as well as Denys are far more interesting in real life than in the movie. Take for instance Thurman's comment on Bror's opinion of Blixen's relationship with Denys " . . . if anything, he was proud that his wife's lover was of such high caliber". Thurman also does not whitewash Blixen and shows all aspects of her character.
Thurman includes many interesting family stories, the most interesting one being the debate between Blixen and her father over women's secret power. Blixen apparently define such secret power "as that nerve it takes to sit on a powder keg and threaten to ignite it, while all the time you know that it is empty".
In short, this is a good, entertaining biography,
Thurman does a very good job of portraying, not only Blixen but her family and friends as well. In particular, when Thurman is describing Blixen's time in Africa, there is a sense of peace to the prose, a sense of another world, and we see Africa, not in the same way as in Out of Africa, but in a way that allows us to get closer to Blixen. I enjoyed Thurman's description of how Europeans viewed Kenya at the time, "In Karen Blixen's day the coast [of Kenya:] was considered unlivable by Europeans -or those who had never spent a summer in New York City".
When dealing Blixen's marriage and love affair, Thurman achieves a balance that is not seen in the movie Out of Africa, and the figures of Bror Blixen as well as Denys are far more interesting in real life than in the movie. Take for instance Thurman's comment on Bror's opinion of Blixen's relationship with Denys " . . . if anything, he was proud that his wife's lover was of such high caliber". Thurman also does not whitewash Blixen and shows all aspects of her character.
Thurman includes many interesting family stories, the most interesting one being the debate between Blixen and her father over women's secret power. Blixen apparently define such secret power "as that nerve it takes to sit on a powder keg and threaten to ignite it, while all the time you know that it is empty".
In short, this is a good, entertaining biography,