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hmcgivney 's review for:
West with the Night
by Beryl Markham
I enjoyed Markham's writing immensely. It had an amazing lyrical quality that almost felt like she was telling her story aloud to an audience; she used language, imagery, and phrasing to great effect.
I liked the stories about Markam's childhood, her dog Buller, and riding horses (and flying planes) in the sweeping grandeur of a landscape as wild and big and empty as Africa.
However, there's something about the book that doesn't feel quite genuine. It is filled with good-natured friendship and bonhomie, but doesn't address any drama, or hard times, or ill feeling. Before reading the book, I heard a podcast about Markham's life that suggested that she went through a lot: parents' divorce when she was very young, jealousy of her father's new mistress, the death of her brother, several of her own romantic entanglements...
The book is full of adventures, and I enjoyed it immensely, but I felt like Markham created a "good parts version" of her own story and a slightly too-perfect heroine to go along with it.
I liked the stories about Markam's childhood, her dog Buller, and riding horses (and flying planes) in the sweeping grandeur of a landscape as wild and big and empty as Africa.
However, there's something about the book that doesn't feel quite genuine. It is filled with good-natured friendship and bonhomie, but doesn't address any drama, or hard times, or ill feeling. Before reading the book, I heard a podcast about Markham's life that suggested that she went through a lot: parents' divorce when she was very young, jealousy of her father's new mistress, the death of her brother, several of her own romantic entanglements...
The book is full of adventures, and I enjoyed it immensely, but I felt like Markham created a "good parts version" of her own story and a slightly too-perfect heroine to go along with it.