Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen

[Buh4Bee]

This is not a book review, but a request of encouragement in whether to drop it or keep reading. I am in 130 pages of this 430 page book. It is an epic memoir that describes the sweeping landscape and Stoic people of Africa, mainly near Nairobi. The writing is excellent, and the intellectual level of engagement keeps you awake when you should be starting to fall asleep. My main complaint is that the book is long and the story is rather dry. The stories and descriptions of the people and the landscape are captivating, but there is not much more. It is a memoir, but you never really get to know this Baroness Karen von Blixen-Fineche. Another disappointment is thatI saw the movie as a young woman and I was hoping to find some of the drama found in the movie in the book. I know, we are always supposed to read the book first. I didn't know. What do people think?

[JCamilo]

She is a great writer. The movie is not based on this book, but a research that included her diares and from the guy's diaries too. Robert Redford will appear, but she is really discret about it.

Anyways, she is a great short stories writer. Babette feast, Elisa, Immortal Stories... all agreat stuff and considerable more developed. When you finish Out of Africa, jump to her other works.

[Buh4Bee]

Huh! I did not know that- thanks for the ah-ha! moment. I think I may put this one on the back burner and return to it after I finish my book club book.

[JCamilo]

I would not, the end of the book is better, specially when she tell more stories there, like lion hunting or the world war consequences.

[Buh4Bee]

Thanks for the encouragement.

[tonywalt]

A good book to read is the biography of Denys Finch Hatton by Sam Wheeler. It gives you another perspective of the same time, place, and people. I agree"Out of Africa" lacks emotion. It's worth reading though. As Jcamilo pointed out she is very discreet and short on her relationship with Finch Hatton. Timelines are fuzzy...

I just read both "Out of Africa" and his biography side by side. I must say the movie is damn good and for once, better than the book.

Also, the girl who played Felicity in the movie was quite an interesting character in life. An accomplished pilot, and quite vivacious. She died in 1986 and her biography The Lives of Beryl Markham, by Errol Trzebinski is very good.

I worked in Kenya for a while and was pretty interested in the whole Kenyan story.

[Buh4Bee]

I remember her, she was the young girl that would come to visit, babble, and never make eye contact. She was very memorable.

I had trouble with A Movable Feast for the same reason, that the book is a bunch of short stories strung together. I realize I stay more focused when reading epic or non-fiction.

I read more last night and I think I'll post a few quotes, that may help make it more interesting. I did that before I stop reading Ovid.

[qimissung]

I read "Out of Africa" so long ago, jersea, that I really don't remember it any more, just that I loved it. I usually prefer plot over writing, but I only remember that I thought she wrote so beautifully.

In a similar vein, I loved, adored, Beryl Markham's memoir "West with the Night," also completely gorgeous, and what a fascinating character she is!

I've seen the movie "Out of Africa," and it's heartening to hear that it's at least as good as the book. It's been awhile since I've seen it, too.

Stay with it or return to it periodically, if you can jersea; you will not be disappointed.

[Buh4Bee]

I never followed up on this. I did finish the book and it was a worthy read. It's true that you end up reading it more for the writing than for the plot. One aspect of the book the captivated me was her life philosophy- she never was concerned with the trivial things, but more about doing things right. She lived according to her own beliefs and this was astounding for a woman in her time. I respect her story for she was always master, and she loved her companion with grace and dignity. It was tragic when he was killed. It was also heart breaking that she did not have children- she probably would have been a good mother. I am glad she had her pen and paper- for these must have taken the place of children.

[mortalterror]

I loved the book and thought the movie was good but very different. It focused on the love story, which the book doesn't. I remember thinking it was such an amazing book that it put her in a league with Hemingway, Steinbeck, and Fitzgerald.


In an interview after receiving the Nobel Prize, Hemingway said, "As a Nobel Prize winner I cannot but regret that the award was never given to Mark Twain, nor to Henry James, speaking only of my own countrymen. Greater writers than these also did not receive the prize. I would have been happy--happier--today if the prize had been given to that beautiful writer Isak Dinesen. . . .
- http://www.karenblixen.com/question96.html

[Buh4Bee]

Spam response!

[Buh4Bee]

Her prose are truly astounding, it's the plot that is dry. But in a memoir, one cannot control the story as it is dictated by real events. I have not read any of her short stories, so the events in the short stories may be less slow than in this book. I found out about this book be reading Hemingway's A Movable Feast.