The White Masai by Corinne Hofmann

Jan 30, 2010 Petra CigareX rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: biography-true-story, travel-adventure-countries, reviewed, 2017-100-reviews, books-read-a-long-time-ago

Swiss woman falls in love with a stunningly beautiful Masai man. Sometimes they sell souvenirs to tourists and eat in cafes in the city. Sometimes they live in his mother's dark round mud, cow shit and straw hut and eat raw meat and drink blood drained from a living cow.

In the hut, away from the town, she finds out that sexual manners for Masai are that she lies there absolutely still and shows no passion just as if she had her clitoris cut off and labia sewn up like the real Masai women. Perha ...more

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Aug 31, 2007 Katherine Howell rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Now - before I started and indeed after reading the first few chapters, this book is making me angry. Angry is maybe not the right word. I just think that she's an ignorant dufus. Who makes a decision to change your life so dramatically (and invade someone else's home) based on deciding you've fallen in love with someone you've just glimpsed?? This happens while she's on holiday, she goes home for 6 months and then comes back to find him (which she does - don't worry, this is all very early on, ...more

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Feb 23, 2010 Badly Drawn Girl rated it it was ok

I struggled with this book. The beginning is so unbelievable that I was left feeling uncomfortable by how shallow this woman was. I find it ironic that she has said in an interview that a lot of people are uncomfortable with the fact that she married and had a baby with a black man. As a mother of two biracial sons, I can guarantee that is not what made me uncomfortable. What made me uncomfortable was her complete lack of regard for the culture she barged her way into. She didn't know the first ...more

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Oct 12, 2018 Mwanamali marked it as nope

The fuck? She fell in love with a Samburu then became a masai? BTW it's MAASAI. Those are two vastly different nomadic tribes in Kenya. And what is a Samburu warrior doing at the coast? It's in the south east. They're pastoralists who reside in the central upper Rift Valley. They're not exactly touristy.

I'm so fucking tired of wypipo milking our culture for profit and this bish churned out four books and a movie? This book is more pandering to the white saviour trope and it should be nuked from ...more

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Mar 23, 2017 Anne Goldschrift rated it liked it · review of another edition

Diese Frau... das beste Beispiel für selbstverschuldetes Elend..

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Jul 24, 2011 Leslie rated it it was ok

Recommends it for: Silly young women

Shelves: bio-memoirs, africa

Now ladies, what have we learned here? When on vacation in a foreign country, don't fall in lust with the noble savage ( right in front of, and in spite of, your current boyfriend). Don't do it. It's not only vulgar but also dangerous. No man is worth dysentary, diptheria and yellow fever. And let's be honest dearie, I doubt even Martha Stewart herself could do much with a cow dung hut. And why have your baby out in the hellish bush with lions and snakes and God-knows-what lurking about when you ...more

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Jan 04, 2015 Iset rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I’m not quite sure how I feel about this book. I initially picked it up due to my interest in the subject matter; I having a passing interest in anthropology and enjoy reading about other cultures, and have read a couple of books before about the tribes of this region of Africa. This seemed like just the thing; someone with knowledge of both western and Masai culture telling the ultimate tale of becoming immersed in another culture for life. Except it wasn’t.

I became concerned early on when Cori
I’m not quite sure how I feel about this book. I initially picked it up due to my interest in the subject matter; I having a passing interest in anthropology and enjoy reading about other cultures, and have read a couple of books before about the tribes of this region of Africa. This seemed like just the thing; someone with knowledge of both western and Masai culture telling the ultimate tale of becoming immersed in another culture for life. Except it wasn’t.

I became concerned early on when Corinne recounts how, on holiday in Kenya with her boyfriend, she is immediately struck by the good looks of a Masai warrior. From that moment she feels compelled to engineer meetings, pursue him wherever he goes, and tell her boyfriend in no uncertain terms that it’s over. Her very first thoughts, upon seeing Lketinga for the first time, are: “I can’t take my eyes off him; sitting there in the last rays of the sinking sun, he looks like a young god. Five minutes from now, I think to myself, suddenly depressed, you’ll never see him again.” Her boyfriend thinks she’s not acting like herself, and I have to say I agreed with him. She bullies him into going places where she thinks she might by chance encounter “my Masai” again, and treats him with very little regard, and by the end of the holiday decides that she’s going to sell her life in Switzerland to come and live and be with Lketinga. This despite them not sharing a language at all, and the author herself admitting “I have no idea if I’m even remotely attractive to him.”

“The next day is our second to last, and I’ve made up my mind to tell my Masai that, after the end of the holiday, I’m leaving Marco. Compared with what I feel for Lketinga, everything that I have felt up until now seems laughable. Somehow I have to make that clear to him tomorrow and tell him that soon I will be coming back on my own. Only for a moment does it cross my mind that I don’t know what he might feel about me, but immediately I tell myself there is only one answer: he feels exactly the same!”

To be honest I kept reading out of morbid curiosity; the old crash in slow motion playing out before your horrified eyes. The author makes it out to be some sort of epic love she feels for this man, but it’s not, it’s just lust – her dreamy musings about him revolve around his appearance, there’s nothing deeper she knows about him that she can point to as a reason for love. During the months back in Switzerland whilst she sorts out selling everything she owns, she claims to “get hold of everything I can find about the country” but it seems doubtful that she did thorough research given the deep misunderstandings she later makes about Lketinga and the customs of his people, and for some reason she spends the time learning English instead of the Samburu language, or even Swahili. She gets nervous as her departure date gets closer and Lketinga doesn’t write to her, but talks herself out of her doubts with this horrifying line: “ And then my resolve steels itself again, and I am as convinced as ever that this man is all I need to be happy. ”

I expected the author to have spent a considerable amount of time living with and volunteering to work with the tribe before meeting a man and a relationship developing, having a good understanding of the culture and at least a passable smattering of the language. I definitely did not expect this. The author approaches the relationship in the worst possible way, mistaking lust for love, plunging in without finding out about the life, the culture, or indeed the man himself, and sacrificing everything for this man she barely knows whilst convincing herself that her happiness depends entirely upon him. I have to say the author was breathtakingly foolish and incredibly lucky not to end up robbed or dead several times over (as it is she has several life-struggling battles with various nasty diseases that she was lucky to survive). She learns fairly quickly that kissing and physical contact is completely taboo, and the sex is perfunctory, but still when the object of her lust disappears she travels back to the country and alone, not speaking the language, travels into the bush to find him, determined to marry him. It’s only two days before her wedding that she discovers that the ceremony starts with female circumcision for the bride, something that would be expected of her future daughters too, and for the very first time she flat out refuses to sacrifice everything for this man and asserts her own identity. The wedding goes ahead anyway, due to her husband’s quick thinking in telling everyone that she’d already had the circumcision done at birth, and the author sinks all her money into trying to make a life out in the bush. Needless to say, it doesn’t end well; she tries to open a shop but her husband lets people have things on credit, they’re stolen from, her husband develops a bad habit for alcohol and a native drug, and it’s only after she’s married that she discovers that in this culture it’s quite normal for men to be obsessively jealous and suspicious of their wife’s fidelity – though the warning signs were there beforehand, if the author hadn’t been so blind with lust to ignore all the red flags. I must admit I found it difficult to sympathise especially when the author so recklessly and obsessively pursued this man whilst hardly bothering at all to get to know the other people in the community or to learn more of the language and the culture of these people.

Of the writing style, the best I can say is that it is competent and functional. It lacks creative flair, and didn’t grip me, but it’s passable. It felt tedious at times simply due to the repetitive grinding toil that author recounts week on week; I lost count of the number of journeys she had to make in her car to the nearest village to get supplies during which the car broke down yet again. And yet, I have to admit, I did finish the book cover to cover, due to this sense of morbid fascination with the disaster unfolding before me. It will come as no surprise that after turning the last page it was a definite “I told you so” moment.

3 out of 10 ...more

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Apr 12, 2015 Kavita rated it really liked it

Shelves: autobiography, africa, real-women, kenya

The story of a Swiss woman who goes to Kenya, falls in love with a Masai warrior, and moves there to live with him, The White Masai is also a story of love, cross-culture marriage, life in an African village, and domestic abuse.

I started off with disliking the author a little. She was extremely mean to her Swiss boyfriend and dumps him unceremoniously for a Masai man. It is also a little weird how she gets obsessed with a man she knows nothing about. Call her silly and obsessive, or naive and in The story of a Swiss woman who goes to Kenya, falls in love with a Masai warrior, and moves there to live with him, The White Masai is also a story of love, cross-culture marriage, life in an African village, and domestic abuse.

I started off with disliking the author a little. She was extremely mean to her Swiss boyfriend and dumps him unceremoniously for a Masai man. It is also a little weird how she gets obsessed with a man she knows nothing about. Call her silly and obsessive, or naive and innocent, Corinne does manage to find the Masai and he reciprocated her feelings. The other thing that annoyed me is that she continuously refers to Lketinga as 'my Masai' as if he were some object she had purchased. The 'my darlings' also began to grate on my nerves after a point.

But in spite of this, I began to warm up to her. Once the initial lust is satiated, she does genuinely fall in love and tries against all odds to keep the relationship going. She is the only person who actually treats the Masai with basic human respect. Both the white tourists and the local blacks act as if they are automatically criminals, and Corinne gains my respect by standing up for them. She is a wonderful businesswoman and actually started three successful businesses in Africa, only to lose them for lack of a reliable partner. Hofmann is incredibly resilient and nothing fazes her - malaria, hepatitis, living in a small hut and carrying many litres water from the river everyday. Nothing! As the story progressed, I began to sympathise with her and admire her more and more.

While Corinne is busy trying to make a living and make her relationship work, her husband, Lketinga wanders aimlessly about the place, being completely useless. He does not work to feed his family, no sir! Other tribals who herd animals work hard over the day and enjoy with other people in the evenings, but Lketinga seems to spend most of his time attending weddings and doing nothing constructive. That is, when he is not chewing miraa or drinking beer. He is sulky most of the time if things don't go his way. Not to mention, he is as dumb as a brick. No, dumber! He makes illogical decisions in the business, throws tantrums at customers and behaves atrociously at the hired workers. Gradually, he becomes more and more abusive to Corinne and keeps insinuating that she is being unfaithful and going off into fits of rage and disappears for days on end. In short, he is a disgusting and filthy piece of shit.

No problem, Corinne. You have another man, Corinne. No problem, Corinne, I am an asshole, Corinne, no problem. I am a complete waste of oxygen, Corinne, no problem. No problem Corinne, I am useless beyond belief. Oh Corinne, no problem, you a whore, Corinne?" - Just me being nasty about Lketinga because I was frothing at the mouth at some point in the story. I wanted to reach into the pages and give him a hard slap.

Corinne excuses Lketinga by claiming that it was a culture difference. No, my dear. Abuse must never to be swept away as a culture difference. 'Your Masai' was a jealous and abusive person, but that does not necessarily mean that other Masai men are the same. Maybe this is the only way she is able to deal with her trauma, and I was horrified at how much she showered on this utterly useless man and how much she still cared. I also was a little offended at her implication on how he should find a Sambaru wife - yes, because she would be taught to submit to domestic abuse and not raise a voice? Not right, Corinne!

The book is really compelling and kept me hooked till the end. I was rooting for Corinne as she went from strength to strength. Apart from Corinne, the other people I really liked in the book are Lketinga's mother - a wise and wonderful woman. James, Lketinga's brother, is an example of a Masai man who is nice, and I really liked him. It would be interesting to know he he fared in life. I also liked Father Guilio though I generally don't have much time for missionaries. Forget Lketinga, read the book for these other people. There is much to learn and enjoy in here! Don't read this book if you are expecting a love story. Read this book if you want a gritty account of life in Africa under extreme conditions of poverty. Read it for a description of how domestic abuse starts and spirals out of control without your even realising it.

I did cut off one star because I really did not understand some things because there is no background given, especially at the beginning. The story starts almost abruptly and is a little confused. I felt the author left out some details about meeting Lketinga.

In closing, I just want to mention that I read a few other reviews and am completely horrified at the amount of victim blaming happening, while the man gets clear away with his abuse. Just because a woman is naive or innocent, does not mean it is okay to mistreat her or abuse her! With this attitude, no wonder we are still in a nascent stage when it comes to respect for women. ...more

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Jul 12, 2008 Agreenhouse rated it it was ok

I found this book while perusing the non-fiction shelf at the East Windsor Branch of the Queens Public Library. I first noticed the word Masai, and thought back to some comments my friend Penny had made after her trip to Kenya where she visited a Masai village. She was shocked at the poor treatment of women. I opened the inside cover and read that the book was an autobiography about a Swiss woman who fell instantly in love with a Masai man and gave up her life in Switzerland to live with the man I found this book while perusing the non-fiction shelf at the East Windsor Branch of the Queens Public Library. I first noticed the word Masai, and thought back to some comments my friend Penny had made after her trip to Kenya where she visited a Masai village. She was shocked at the poor treatment of women. I opened the inside cover and read that the book was an autobiography about a Swiss woman who fell instantly in love with a Masai man and gave up her life in Switzerland to live with the man in the African bush. As a woman who also fell head over heels in love with a man from a completely different culture, I was curious to see what would happen.

I actually knew what was going to happen. Like a person who jumped out of an airplane without a parachute and knows what kind of hell it feels like to hit the ground without one, I couldn't help peeling my eyes towards the sky and watching her hit the ground. This is not out of evilness, but out of loniliness, to see that I was not the only one foolish enough, stupid enough, naive enough, to make such a mistake. Reading the book was like watching a horror movie, where you are like, "No, don't go into that dark forest at night all by yourself. You're gonna get yourself killed." I was shouting out her, "No, don't go after this man who comes from a completely different culture. You're going to ruin your life. His life. IT WON'T WORK!!" I also began to read with a little satisfaction that I found someone who had even worse judgement than my own. At least, I did not give up everything for the man I loved and moved to his country. I don't think I would have done that. Also, there was some communication between him and me. For Corrinne, it seemed to be based entirely on looks. Yes, I can pat myself on the back, I am not the stupidest person out there. It brings up the issue of making judgements when in love. Isn't love very dangerous? Doesn't it lead us to situations we shouldn't be in? Is love ever clear? What separates those of us who make rash judgements for love and those who don't? Was her love with Lketinga ever real or was it just infatuation? Why doesn't she see all the warning signs of how they are incompatible?

Besides all the love issues, the book did provide some fascinating insight into the life of the Masai people. Life sure ain't easy there. Corrinne suffers from malaria and then hepatitis, life threatening diseases that we never think about in our comfortable American lives. She also has to deal with everyday hardships like keeping clean, using the toilet and having a comfortable place to sleep. I was amazed at what a difference her store made in the lives of the people in the village. At first, I thought that nobody would have money to buy any of the items in the store, but the bigger problem was transporting the goods to the remote area. I do give her credit for being so brave in driving through the jungle back and forth. It was amazing that even in the African bush, relationship problems often come back to money. She was working hard, while her husband was wasting money on drugs and beer.

One of the interesting parts of the story was how he changed because of her, and not in the best way. She pulled him away from his tradition and culture, leading to come conflict within himself. Before her, he never drank or kissed a woman's face. He probably would have been better off never having met her. Comprimising on tradition and lifestyle is not an easy task, especially when a person feels like they are giving something up of themselves.

Every time she called Lketinga "my darling," I wanted to vomit. Didn't she see how he was treating her? How come everyone can see a train wreck coming except the people on the train?

Also, I found it disturbing how she always talked about his looks, and how she liked how he did his hair and decorations. I did not really see why she fell for him or stayed with him beyond his filling her fantasy of the "noble savage."

Well, the question is "Should you read this, too?"

If you want to learn more about the life of the Masai people -- yes.
If you want to warn somebody about the real dangers of love at first sight -- yes. ...more

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Feb 20, 2016 Cristina Boncea rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, swiss

Da, prima reacție firească e "de ce ar face o femeie atâtea pentru un bărbat primitiv?". Unu la mână, e mai mult decât evident că autoarea e perfect conștientă de toate comentariile posibile pe această tema and she doesn't give a flying fuck și doi la mână, nu e doar vorba de masaiul ei, Lketinga, ci și de întreaga cultură kenyană. Deși ne este rezumată cam toată cartea pe cele două coperte exterioare, povestea stă cam așa: Corinne lucra în Elveția la un magazin de haine și avea un profit frumuș Da, prima reacție firească e "de ce ar face o femeie atâtea pentru un bărbat primitiv?". Unu la mână, e mai mult decât evident că autoarea e perfect conștientă de toate comentariile posibile pe această tema and she doesn't give a flying fuck și doi la mână, nu e doar vorba de masaiul ei, Lketinga, ci și de întreaga cultură kenyană. Deși ne este rezumată cam toată cartea pe cele două coperte exterioare, povestea stă cam așa: Corinne lucra în Elveția la un magazin de haine și avea un profit frumușel. Într-o vacanță, s-a dus cu iubitul ei Marco în Kenya și s-a îndrăgostit la prima vedere de Lketinga, un masai. Acel lucru a determinat-o să renunțe la întreaga ei viață europeană și să-și dorească să se mute în Kenya, pentru a fii împreună cu acest bărbat. Deși cei doi abia se pot înțelege cu limba engleză, iubirea se manifestă cu adevărat la începutul relației lor. Corinne trece prin multă birocrație pentru a se putea stabili în Kenya, în tribul samburu. Ajunge să se căsătorească cu Lketinga și să facă un copil, pe Napirai. Corinne se îmbolnăvește treptat de malarie apoi de hepatită, suferind de diverse probleme de sănătate care îi pun în pericol sarcina. Pe lângă acest lucru, ea trebuie să doarmă pe pământ, împreună cu mama soacră, să sufere de foame, frig și inconfort, să trăiască fără lucrurile care erau la ordinea zilei în țara ei natală. Impulsul de a o judeca vine foarte repede, căci multe dintre deciziile acestei femei sfidează rațiunea... Dar nu suntem în măsură să facem așa ceva. Pentru că finalul este deja destăinuit în descriere, bineînțeles că la un moment dat, Corinne nu mai reușește să îndure toate aceste lucruri, nu mai poate face parte din lumea care la început i s-a părut fascinantă și a renunțat la tot pentru marea ei iubire. Lketinga o acuză mereu că îl înșală, că a făcut copilul cu altcineva, îi pune diverse interdicții și îi îndepărtează pe toți de lângă ea. Deși la început relația lor mergea bine, după nașterea fetiței lucrurile se schimbă. Corinne plânge și e nefericită, bolnavă, ajunge să aibă nevoie de marijuanna pentru a se putea confrunta cu soțul ei și crizele lui de gelozie, nu mai poate găsi niciun pic de sens în viața printre oamenii din Kenya, deși epuizează toate variantele și nu se dă ușor bătută. Deși sunt și multe părți bune și frumoase în această cultură, Corinne nu poate trece peste primitivismul lor și negativitatea venită din partea soțului... Nu își dorește ca Napirai să fie supusă la mutilare genitală sau să fie vândută de la o vârstă fragedă vreunui bărbat sambur și consideră că poate avea cel mai bine grijă de fiica ei înapoi în Elveția. Corinne deschide două magazine, unul de alimente iar altul pe coasta de sud, de suveniruri. Deschide și o discotecă iar profiturile sunt bune însă soțul ei consumă bere și maraa mult prea des, cheltuind banii aiurea și nemuncind pentru câștigarea lor. Situația este foarte ușor comparabilă cu societatea din zilele noastre, din țările mai dezvoltate. Aici mi-am pus întrebarea "ok, Lketinga e un bărbat care efectiv trăiește în junglă și nu a mers niciodată la școală, bărbații din jurul nostru ce scuză au să gândească așa?". Este o carte destul de traumatizantă, grafică, dură. Consider că e important să privești dincolo de propriile prejudecăți, căci și Corinne vede destul de bine că situația nu mai e deloc una roz atunci când Lketinga o lovește, o jignește și tot tacâmul. Cel mai bine este ca povestea ei de viață să fie citită în mod obiectiv, pentru a ne putea forma o idee cu privire la viața din Kenya. Ador așadar această colecție și vreau tare mult să urmăresc filmul The White Masai și să citesc și cealaltă carte scrisă de Corinne, în care cred că se întoarce în Africa după vreo douăzeci de ani. Recomand cartea celor care vor să-și deschidă cu adevărat ochii și mințile spre alte culturi, cărora le place să-și pună întrebări și să observe diferențele dintre două continente atât de diferite. Mi-a făcut plăcere să citesc povestea Corinnei, chiar dacă ea nu are deloc un final fericit și e mai degrabă o confesiune a unei victime decât o poveste de dragoste ca în basme. ...more

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May 13, 2011 Nancy Schober rated it did not like it

Shelves: autobiography

A Swiss woman is on holiday in Kenya and falls truly, madly deeply in love with a Masai warrior. She goes home sells her business and all her possessions, returns to Kenya to set up housekeeping with the Masai.

I'm sorry but this relationship had no chance. The power difference between the two was so great. Maybe she felt she was in love, and she certainly was. But not with the man but her idealized idea of him. If she had truly loved him she would have never pursued him. Because even an idiot co ...more

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Aug 30, 2014 César Lasso rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: travel-literature

This is not great literature – just a woman’s memoir of her African experience.

Nevertheless, that experience caught my interest. On the one hand, I am very interested in Africa myself, and have a penchant for narratives of intercultural exchange. On the other hand, I admired the author.

I really think Corinne Hofmann made a very big mistake. She fell head over hills in love at first sight with a Samburu warrior. She was 26 at the time. The last time I fell in love at first sight was at 15. At my This is not great literature – just a woman’s memoir of her African experience.

Nevertheless, that experience caught my interest. On the one hand, I am very interested in Africa myself, and have a penchant for narratives of intercultural exchange. On the other hand, I admired the author.

I really think Corinne Hofmann made a very big mistake. She fell head over hills in love at first sight with a Samburu warrior. She was 26 at the time. The last time I fell in love at first sight was at 15. At my present age, I carefully consider if I could have a satisfactory relationship with a woman I am fond of.

Secondly, the author let herself drift in that passion and didn’t consider the vast gap between her Western world and the world of a humble Samburu from deep Kenya who had not even gone to school. I myself promised marriage to a North-African woman but, after second thought and getting to know her better, I gave up. I would not have been happy.

That said, I have to admit that Corinne was consequent with her option and gave everything for her love. She cancelled a promising future in Switzerland, sold everything she had and went to Kenya. Her beloved one had vanished and she was able to find him 1,460 km away from Mombasa. She started living in a humble hut in the Samburu district. She married the man under the Kenyan law and gave everything to make a nice future for both of them. She married him. They had a daughter. She caught malaria and later on, hepatitis. She worked like hell…

But the man was unable to understand her, not even to appreciate all she had done.

The rest, and how life is in Kenya for a white, you’ll read it for yourself. On my part, I have to praise the woman because she was a fighter and, even when she had not been able to be reflective, she showed courage and a strong emotional intelligence. I’m happy she was later on able to become rich by telling her story, and sometime in future I’ll read her second book.

But, for the time being, I want to go back to real literature. ...more

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Sep 06, 2013 Susie Fox rated it did not like it

Hated it. Only finished it to see if the author grew a brain, but she didn't.
You can't own another person, but she continually refers to her husband as 'my Masai'. If you want to endanger your own life by getting malaria and leaving it untreated, that's your own silly fault, but don't bring a baby into the world if you don't even have basic food and sanitation to care for her.
The whole idea of falling instantly in love with anyone is just silly, and completely ludicrous if that person can't spe ...more

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Jan 19, 2011 Everly rated it really liked it

With all the negative reviews for this book, I felt the need to comment on my thoughts on the book.

I found the reviews were mainly based on people's feelings of the author herself as opposed to the actual book.

While I also didn't agree with everything (if anything?) that the author did, that really has nothing to do with the story itself.

I think it's fair to remember, English is not her first language and I am assuming she wrote it in German and it was then translated? - So there are a few sa ...more

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Apr 17, 2013 Melissa rated it did not like it

Shelves: nonfiction

A Swiss woman travels to Africa with her boyfriend for vacation. While there she meets a Masai warrior, decides she’s in love, breaks up with said boyfriend, and pursues a relationship with a man with whom she doesn’t even speak the same language.

I read this for my book club. I only mention that because if it hadn't been for book club then there's no way I would have finished this. The writing is pretty awful, the actual events are infuriating and the end result is not surprising.

I don’t think a ...more

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Sep 26, 2008 Marcia rated it it was amazing

Oh I loved this book. Especially because it's a true story. This book made me more aware of all the luxury that we have here in The Netherlands. Made me appreciate all the little things that are so "normal" to me, like drinking water from our faucet, a warm bed every night, clothes to ware, healthy food every day......
Everybody should read this book!

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Feb 03, 2016 Alina Cătărău rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Despre cartea Îndrăgostită de un masai (Die weiße Massai), scrisă de Corinne Hofmann, am auzit numai aprecieri din partea prietenelor mele şi cunoştinţelor de gen feminin. Astfel, mi-am propus să o citesc pentru a-mi satisface curiozitatea. Acest roman este primul dintr-o tetralogie autobiografică, prin care parcurgem pas cu pas evenimentele neobişnuite din viaţa autoarei, de la călătoria ei în Kenya, viaţa pe care o duce acolo, stigmatul ei ca femeie albă într-o ţară cu populaţie negroidă şi de Despre cartea Îndrăgostită de un masai (Die weiße Massai), scrisă de Corinne Hofmann, am auzit numai aprecieri din partea prietenelor mele şi cunoştinţelor de gen feminin. Astfel, mi-am propus să o citesc pentru a-mi satisface curiozitatea. Acest roman este primul dintr-o tetralogie autobiografică, prin care parcurgem pas cu pas evenimentele neobişnuite din viaţa autoarei, de la călătoria ei în Kenya, viaţa pe care o duce acolo, stigmatul ei ca femeie albă într-o ţară cu populaţie negroidă şi decizia dureroasă pe care o ia pentru binele ei şi al copilului.

Iniţial am avut intenţia să citesc doar acest prim volum, însă îmi doresc să aflu ce se întâmplă în continuare cu protagonista, cum se readaptează la lumea civilizată şi ce se va întâmpla atunci când se va reîntâlni cu fostul ei partener peste ani. Această carte este diferită de tot ceea ce am citit până acum, mai exact este vorba de viaţa unei femei elveţiene obişnuită cu traiul din Vestul Europei, care se hotărăşte brusc să se mute în zona tradiţională a Kenyei. Naraţiunea este relatată în detaliu, într-o paletă largă de culori, de la roz, la gri, până la negru. La început, povestea are un văl de romantism ilustrat de dorinţele Corinnei, însă acest sentiment va dispărea complet pe parcurs, lăsând loc realităţii dure reprezentate de rigorile unei societăţi în care bărbatul are întotdeauna dreptate, iar femeia nu are de ales decât să i se supună în totalitate. Corinne se va lovi de multe ziduri şi va fi neînţeleasă deoarece ea se obişnuise să fie o femeie independentă, cu iniţiativă.

Pe scurt, Corinne Hofmann, o tânără din Biel (Elveţia) merge într-o vacanţă de două săptămâni în Kenya, împreună cu iubitul ei Marco. Sentimentul puternic de apartenență al protagonistei la această țară africană şi îndrăgostirea ei la prima vedere de un războinic masai, Lketinga, vor declanşa o poveste uimitoare, plină de aventură, dragoste şi de probleme cauzate de ciocnirile dintre două culturi diametral opuse şi incapacitatea fiecăruia de a-l înţelege pe celălalt. Brusc, Corinne face numeroase gesturi imprudente, greu de înţeles de o persoană cu capul pe umeri: îl invită şi dansează cu Lketinga la discotecă, se desparte de Marco, își vinde afacerea și tot ce posedă în Elveția pentru a se muta în Kenya, merge prin oraşe şi sate în căutarea masaiului și acceptă să trăiască într-o colibă, într-o sărăcie lucie, fără apă potabilă sau mâncare diversificată.

Pentru a citi întreaga recenzie, vizitați: http://www.alinasbookishhideout.com/r...

http://elitere.ro/indragostita-de-un-... ...more

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Dec 11, 2011 Jolanta25 rated it it was amazing

This book is often described as an ultimate love story between a White woman and her Masai. As a love story it had very little to offer, but what I found most fascinating about it, is its Cultural context.

It was one of the most engaging anthropological journals I've ever read. From the very first page I just couldn't put it down. It described in details the everyday life of Samburu people occupying the dry lands of Kenya; their odd beliefs, daily struggles for food and water as well as the sign ...more

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Aug 13, 2010 Denise rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: anyone who likes to read about different cultures

I am a bit conflicted about this book. It does not get four stars because I think the prose is beautiful or profound. This book is essentially the memoir of a Swiss woman who is on holiday in Kenya and 'falls in love' (I'd call it lust) with a Kenyan Masai warrior. The book takes place over approximately 3 years of the author's life, in which she breaks up with her Swiss boyfriend, sells everything she owns (car, apartment, dress shop) in Switzerland to live a very difficult life in Kenya. Her ' ...more

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Jun 17, 2012 Marilyn Maya rated it did not like it

Don't think I can finish this. The woman is tres out of touch with reality.

I brought this book by mistake to a long appointment and am so angry today. If I have to say one good thing about it to give it one star, the writing isn't bad, but I don't know if that is the translating but I will give it one star for that, Now to the anger part.
The woman is so self centered, so stubborn and so man centered and shallow it made me sick. She falls in love with a man for his looks alone. If you read the w Don't think I can finish this. The woman is tres out of touch with reality.

I brought this book by mistake to a long appointment and am so angry today. If I have to say one good thing about it to give it one star, the writing isn't bad, but I don't know if that is the translating but I will give it one star for that, Now to the anger part.
The woman is so self centered, so stubborn and so man centered and shallow it made me sick. She falls in love with a man for his looks alone. If you read the whole book, it is his looks alone that she thinks she loves and maybe her imagination of what a Masai warrior is and anything at all about the culture.
She calls love, putting her life in danger numerous times, almost dying, putting her childs life in danger and not believing what anyone else tells her about another's culure. She slowly and I mean slowly finds out that what she is in love with is not the person she wants him to be but a man with his own culture who is being himself.
I have a degree in intercultural communication which maybe tells why I dislike this woman so much. She cries a million tears for herself, doesn't really want to know other people except "Her Masai" talks about them only as they have to do with him. This shows a self absorbed dum dum. She complains about learning English, or Swahili and disregards other's needs. Then at the end she complains about her mistreatment by "her Masai" when she should have known the man and his culture first before finding out in the worst possible way.
I wanted to fall sorry for her but couldn't. She cries so much for herself it doesn'[t leave room for the reader to feel it. She takes such chances and says "I don't do anything half way. " She is a good business person but in my opinion, not a good person. Love at first sight indeed.
She is a "piece of work" and I couldn't believe my eyes and what she goes through for "love' Her daughter could have been in danger of female circumcision and being married off as a second wife if she couldn't get her out of the country. If she had read about the culture she would have saved herself a lot of problems but then she did sell 4 million copies of her book. As I said she is a good business woman. Hated it........
...more

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Oct 18, 2012 Jo rated it liked it

Shelves: memoir

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 22, 2008 Janet rated it it was ok

I almost gave up on this book - I didn't find the writing all that good, and the premise of lifelong love at first sight (literally!) seemed a little silly. But the adventure part caught me up - and her travels in the Land Rover were especially interesting.

Living in Hawaii, with its many ethnicities, I could relate to the misunderstandings and the frustrations of dealing with another culture.

While I am still suspect of the whole romance angle (love or just lust?), the adventure story was worth ...more

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Apr 12, 2017 Vivone Os rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: i-didn-t-like-them

Prvo, žena apsolutno ne zna pisati!
A drugo, i ono još važnije, treba ju biti sramota! Došla je u Afriku, pristala otići živjeti s Massai ratnikom, došla u njihovo selo i onda ih cijelo vrijeme pokušavala promijeniti, nametnula im je svoj način života, nije držala do njihove tradicije već je stalno silila da se oni prilagode njoj. Pa draga moja, što onda nisi ostala u svojoj Europi, u komforu i civiliziranom društvu, uštedjela bi svima (uključujući i meni!) puno muke.

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Feb 04, 2019 Nica Oana-Alexandra rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

„Îndrăgostită de un masai” de Corinne Hofmann este genul acela de carte pe care îl parcurgi cu sufletul și care te ține puternic ancorat între paginile sale. Autoarea surprinde tocmai prin exotismul poveștii și prin extraordinar și neobișnuit. Este o carte autobiografică prin care Corinne își prezintă experiența ei de viață într-un colț uitat de lume de care s-a îndrăgostit: Kenya, Africa. Este europeancă la origini, născută și crescută în Elveția, însă, o simplă vacanță alături de iubitul ei pe ...more

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Jul 25, 2013 Louise rated it really liked it

Shelves: biography, kenya

She "responded to her inner child." She "made herself vulnerable"... and all the other talk show guru advice. You have to hand it to her... she did it. She married a warrior who couldn't count (numbers, money, etc.) and tried to make it work. She almost died in the process, but kept at it.

I can't get over her spunk! She had ran 3 different businesses in Kenya. There was a ton of red tape, translation problems, unreliable transportation, and her own malaria and difficult pregnancy. Despite these ...more

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Apr 28, 2015 Alayne rated it liked it

I found this book incredibly annoying! The author not once used her brains to think through situations and consequences, instead always acting on feelings and impulses. After awhile, as situations occurred which could have been foreseen had a little thought gone into them, I just started to feel depressed. I read it because it had such hype a few years back, and because I love Africa with a passion. It was educational to me as well, because I never would have believed that someone could make lif ...more

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Apr 18, 2010 Nikki rated it liked it

This book was recommended by a friend who recently spent two weeks in Tanzania with the Masai people. It is the true account of a Swiss tourist who, while traveling in Kenya, falls in love with a Masai warrior. She gives up everything and moves to Kenya where she marries him and has a child.

Reading this book was extremely frustrating...it's like the car wreck that you know is going to happen and you wish you could close the book but you just keep reading...of course it doesn't end well--it would ...more

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Jul 01, 2017 Iryna Khomchuk rated it liked it

Мені здається, що європейців можна, грубо кажучи, поділити на категорії щодо їх захоплення чимось далеким та екзотичним: є люди, яким мила Африка, є ті, котрим близький Схід, а хтось шаленіє від Латинської Америки. Я однозначно належу до перших, тому книги про цей континент, культуру та історію його народів мене дуже приваблюють (тут гріхом буде не згадати про "Половину жовтого сонця" Чімаманди Нгозі Адічі — найкращий роман про Африку з усіх, що мені до цього часу траплялися). "Біла масаї" цінн Мені здається, що європейців можна, грубо кажучи, поділити на категорії щодо їх захоплення чимось далеким та екзотичним: є люди, яким мила Африка, є ті, котрим близький Схід, а хтось шаленіє від Латинської Америки. Я однозначно належу до перших, тому книги про цей континент, культуру та історію його народів мене дуже приваблюють (тут гріхом буде не згадати про "Половину жовтого сонця" Чімаманди Нгозі Адічі — найкращий роман про Африку з усіх, що мені до цього часу траплялися). "Біла масаї" цінна, поміж іншого, ще й тим, що описує життя однієї з корінних народностей Кенії з точки зору білої (не порахуйте за расизм, так у заголовку книги написано))) людини, котра з головою занурилася в побут і не тільки.

Отже, сюжет: молода жінка зі Швейцарії, приїхавши до Кенії у відпустку, так закохується в юнака-масаї, що вирішує не тільки вийти за нього заміж, а й оселитися з ним у маленькому й геть далекому від цивілізації селищі. Як ви гадаєте, що з цього вийшло? Ні-ні, я не вас, романтиків у рожевих окулярах, запитую, а тих, хто, з огляду на досвід, а чи на цинізм, здатен реально оцінити ситуацію. Так отож, як кажуть: фінал стосунків можна було передбачити з самого початку роману, і я наприкінці книги аж зітхнула з полегшенням — не розчарувала авторка, бо у випадку повного геппі-енду я їй не повірила б.

Хоча не вірити Корінні Хофманн важко, адже твір — зовсім не художній. Маю на увазі як його біографічну, цебто геть не вигадану, основу, так і відсутність інших ознак того, що зазвичай називають художньою літературою: глибоких образів, красивих метафор та описів, занурення у щось більше, ніж побут... Однак згадайте успіх "Вуличного кота Боба" — книги, точнісінько такої ж за згаданими мною вище ознаками, — і ви зрозумієте, чому "Білу масаї" читають і навіть екранізували (фільму ще не бачила). Це — справжнє життя, без епітетів і прикрас. Подобається чи ні, а героїня перейнялася пристрастю до чорношкірого воїна і, теж подобається чи ні, обламалася. Вона схильна пояснювати це різницею в культурах та ментальності — нехай буде так. Я ж — здоровим глуздом жінки, якій набридло приносити себе в жертву чоловікові (а це ми схильні робити, незаважаючи на те, якого кольору шкіра в коханого і де він пропонує нам жити: в маньяті чи палаці).

Відкриваючи книгу, я хотіла в Африку. Прочитала про ті труднощі з бюрократією та хабарями, водою і їжею, автобусами й дорогами, заробітком та витратами і... так само хочу в Африку. Бо хіба нас, українців, можна налякати тим, із чим ми постійно стикаємося?))) Мене, як авторку, швейцарський рівень життя не розбалував))) От тільки заміж за масаї точно не піду, і не просіть))) ...more

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Jul 07, 2017 Stephanie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017, borrowed-book, non-fiction-cultural-studies, non-fiction-memoir-autobiographical

I won't speak to the personality, character, or -perhaps- mental health of the author in this review. I believe memoirs should be rated based on how they engage the reader and how well they are written.

On both counts, I think this book is a solid four.

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Apr 11, 2013 Liralen rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: africa, nonfiction, z-2013, reviewed, travel

In a way I think this book's strength and its weakness are one and the same: there's no analysis. It's all in the present tense, written as though she had not had ten years between her time in Kenya and the book's publication in which to reflect and draw new conclusions. It's a strength because the reader is able to experience things (sort of) as she did, without outside clutter; it's a weakness because, well, there's a lot that could have used further explanation.

To some degree I admire the aut In a way I think this book's strength and its weakness are one and the same: there's no analysis. It's all in the present tense, written as though she had not had ten years between her time in Kenya and the book's publication in which to reflect and draw new conclusions. It's a strength because the reader is able to experience things (sort of) as she did, without outside clutter; it's a weakness because, well, there's a lot that could have used further explanation.

To some degree I admire the author quite a lot: packing up and moving to a country, and a culture, you know almost nothing about? That takes courage (and possibly less-desireable traits, but let's stick with courage for the moment). She doesn't seem to spend much time being homesick, and she puts a lot of effort into making things work.

But the title is misleading. She might have lived among the Maasai, but she never fully integrated; her good friends in Kenya were white; even had she stayed longer she was always going to be, to some degree or other, an outsider. As far as I could tell the only Kenyans she felt particularly close with were Lketinga's mother and the vet's wife (who was Kenyan, right? I'm not 100% sure).

It's clear fairly early on that this was a relationship that was going to, at best, struggle. Without a common language, they couldn't communicate effectively, and neither would be happy unless the other changed significantly. (I will note that while she was the one to move to his country and his culture -- of her own volition, and without much by way of encouragement from, well, anyone -- most of the changes in viewpoint and so on were ones that she expected him to make.)

But, right, questions. There was some really interesting stuff in this book that I wish had been explored in more depth (and which of course wasn't, perhaps owing to the aforementioned lack of analysis). There's a tremendous amount of racism displayed, for example: nobody can understand why she wants to marry a Kenyan; hotels and restaurants are for tourists only; Lketinga is looked down upon for being a Maasai warrior; etc. I don't know how true this still is in Kenya, but a little more thought on that would have been nice. (Also, a sense of exoticism/romantic view of other cultures from her, although I am undecided on how I feel about how she presented that. I wish she'd said more about what appealed about Lketinga, because the only thing that's obvious is that she had physical attraction to him.)

The other big question -- what did she expect to happen long-term? She (understandably, from a western point of view) didn't want her daughter to be circumcised, but did she expect her daughter to grow up and marry a Maasai man? To go to college? If so, in Europe or in Kenya? How would the author herself have felt if she didn't have her Swiss bank accounts to fall back on and could not so easily make it home to visit or to stay?

Interesting book. Problematic, but interesting. ...more

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