false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167810664m/26474.jpg 26474 8 <I>Out of Africa</I> is Karin Blixen's love letter to the country she called home for nearly 20 years. Arriving in British East Africa (now Kenya) from Denmark in 1914, Blixen--Isak Dinesen was her pen name--was immediately seduced by the landscape of the Ngong hill country, not to mention the animals and people who inhabited it. Her descriptions bring this wonderland alive for readers: out on safari, she recalls the movements of a group of giraffes, "in their queer, inimitable, vegetative gracefulness, as if it were not a herd of animals but a family of rare, long-stemmed, speckled gigantic flowers slowly advancing." Blixen laces into her reverie the account of her coffee plantation--which ultimately succumbed to high altitude, droughts, and tumbling international coffee prices--and tales of her friendships with other colonials in Nairobi. But one should read her memoir for the stories she tells of cooking with her Kikuyu chef (who almost never ate any of the European delicacies he so expertly created), adopting an abandoned infant antelope, flying over the countryside in her lover's plane--"the greatest, most transporting pleasure of my life on the farm"--and watching the children of her tenant farmers collect at her house each day at noon for the spectacle of her cuckoo clock. <p> Though some of her references to native Africans will likely make today's readers uncomfortable, Blixen can also be perceptive, particularly in her articulation of the differences between European and African culture and her excitement over what she learns from "her" Africans. It is not long before she is attuned to the rhythms of nature: she can foresee when the rains will come, can spot the new moon before anyone else on the farm, and knows exactly what the silence of night should sound like. Though her sorrow is almost unbearably palpable when at last--after the collapse of the farm, the loss of her lover, and the war looming--Blixen leaves Africa, the reader will close the book richer for her sojourn. <I>--Jordana Moskowitz</I> 1382759 book 1985 Out of Africa and Shadows on the Grass total:461|5:186|4:162|3:86|2:21|1:6| 461 1884 697 71 4 2 false false Tue Dec 25 20:01:24 -0800 2007 Tue Dec 25 20:49:16 -0800 2007 "If I know a song of Africa, of the giraffe and the African new moon lying on her back, of the plows in the fields and the sweaty faces of the coffee pickers, does Africa know a song of me? Will the air over the plain quiver with a color that I have had o...more...]]> 3 1 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Nov 28 10:00:53 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 09 05:05:51 -0800 2007 Out of Africa is one of the greatest love stories ever told I went into the reading thinking just that. I was already picturing Meryl Streep and Robert Redford because of the popularity of the movie (though my ...more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Jun 12 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 26 07:27:27 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 12 19:18:54 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 15 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 22:30:30 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 23:48:33 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1985 Thu Oct 29 14:04:38 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 29 14:05:06 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1986 Fri Mar 13 16:06:49 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 13 16:16:34 -0700 2009 numerous more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jul 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 23 07:19:46 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 03 07:14:56 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Fri Aug 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 09 21:19:51 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 21 19:54:15 -0700 2009 It is, however, interesting to get insight into the mind of a colonialist. For example, there are times whe...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jan 03 00:00:00 -0800 1990 Tue Jan 13 18:53:15 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 13 18:58:55 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Thu Feb 12 04:54:41 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 12 05:00:33 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 1997 Tue Feb 19 10:49:59 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 19 11:08:08 -0800 2008
Isak Dinesen wrote in her second language - Englis...more...]]> 1 0 false false Tue Oct 07 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 29 14:56:39 -0700 2008 Tue Oct 07 16:17:57 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 15 13:14:42 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 15 13:19:59 -0700 2007
Millions of women swooned when Robert Redford washed Meryl Streep's hair in the movie. Millions more ran out to go buy mosquito netting for their bedrooms after watching that one scene (you know the...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Apr 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 25 04:39:26 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 29 14:45:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 1998 Sun Mar 23 14:29:08 -0700 2008 Wed May 21 10:13:40 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Feb 19 18:43:41 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 13 12:36:22 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 19 18:43:41 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Thu Nov 20 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 20 09:01:55 -0800 2008 Thu Nov 20 09:04:54 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Wed Nov 19 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jul 02 08:35:54 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 02 08:37:02 -0700 2009
These 4 essays (about 85 pages) are an epilogue to "Out of Africa." The writing is so poignant as to make you want to weep, and still fills your heart with love. ]]> 5 0 false false Mon May 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 25 20:43:25 -0700 2009 Mon May 25 20:44:42 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Thu Mar 26 02:57:49 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 26 02:57:58 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=26474