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104th out of 115 books
—
32 voters
Letters from Africa, 1914-1931
"Here is a rich new biographical perspective on the brilliant storyteller whose sophisticated romantic fiction . . . made her an international success and perpetual candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature. . . . [These letters] contain the raw material that was later transformed into her classic memoir Out of Africa (1937). They also reveal her as a highly intelligent...more
Paperback, 516 pages
Published
April 15th 1984
by University Of Chicago Press
(first published 1931)
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I very much enjoyed these letter from Karen Blixen to various of her family members during the years she lived in Kenya and tried to make a success of the family coffee business. The letters give great insight into the relentless financial pressures and strains she was under, her isolation in Kenya from the arts which she loved so much and her conflicted feelings/views of the "natives" as she liked to call the black people of the different tribes. In her book "Out of Africa" one doesn't get the...more
Dull-ish. Read Judith Thurman's bio instead.
This is a reread for me. It's one I keep by the bed and read parts from time to time. Her letters cover much more than her life in Africa (which is my favorite part to read!) -- her philosophies of many aspects of life, some more interesting to me than others.
I've actually read this twice before years ago, and on the third time around this time I was looking for something specific in it (so still have it marked as to-read mainly to remind me) - but I seem to keep getting waylaid with other books..
if you want to know some of the back story behind "out of africa" this is a really enlightening read. some of her philosophizing gets irritating, but that's one of the dangers of reading the letters of a writer.
Aug 21, 2007
Caulyne B
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
People who liked the movie Out of Africa
Shelves:
biographymemoir
These are the letters that Out of Africa was based upon. A bit dense at times, but also surprisingly engaging if you're in the right mood.
I gave up less than half way through. The narrative on life in Africa was interesting to a point, then repetitive.
May 23, 2013
Maria
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| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| comment | 1 | 10 | Jun 09, 2009 09:43pm |
Karen Christence Dinesen, Baroness Blixen-Finecke - wrote as Isak Dinesen, Pierre Andrézel, other pseudonyms: Tania Blixen, Osceola, etc.
A Danish writer, who mixed in her work supernatural elements, aestheticism, and erotic undertones with an aristocratic view of life, Blixen always emphasized that she was a storyteller in the traditional, oral sense of the word. She drew her inspiration from the...more
More about Karen Blixen...
A Danish writer, who mixed in her work supernatural elements, aestheticism, and erotic undertones with an aristocratic view of life, Blixen always emphasized that she was a storyteller in the traditional, oral sense of the word. She drew her inspiration from the...more
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“I have read true piety defined as: loving one’s destiny unconditionally – and there is something in it. That is to say: I think that in a way this sort of “religiousness” is the condition for real happiness. ”
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