Out of Africa

I realize this book's timeline is a century old, but I'm currently into the "classics". I got this book because in Hemingway’s “A Moveable Feast”, he was talking to the bartender at a Paris bar, 20-30 years after he lived there, about their mutual friends during the 1920s. During the conversation, Hemingway and he discussed Baron Blixen-Finecke (he and Hemingway were sailing/drinking pals) and Hemingway mentioned that Blixen’s ex-wife Karen wrote an excellent book on Africa, titled ”Out of Africa”. I decided to go for it. Original 1937 edition.Sad to say, this is a poorly written autobiography that deals with much irrelevant minutiae. I assumed it would be literature, as I have read numerous classics over the past two years, especially those of the 1930s. It is not literature. It is a haphazard non-linear journal/memoir. Also, though Blixen was amazingly multi-lingual, she wrote this in English that was her (I am guessing) 4th or 5th language. The writing is loaded with dangling metaphors and participles (think: “throw me down the stairs, my robe”). Bizarre phrasing, punctuation, mixed with sentences beginning with prepositional phrases and I was about ready to give up. I did not.Pros:1) In 2023, this book begged me to research, as it gives a solid view of the pompous, elitist, decadent New Imperialists of the time. Note: That is not the book’s intention. Termed the “Happy Valley Set”, they were Lords, Ladies, Barons, and Baronesses that overused their inheritances, lost money on their hair-brained schemes, used drugs and alcohol to extremes, and reportedly swapped wives. In short, the lunatics in their own asylum wrote their own rules. This is fascinating to learn, especially after reading Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness”. One can see how and why the Africans became to loathe their “protectors” and kicked out all the Imperialists in the 1950s and 1960s. Check out the BBC 5-part documentary on Kenyan History on You Tube. Also, Eddie Izzard’s 2000 “Dressed to Kill” standup is spot on;2) From an historical context (again), the English merely “took” the country (termed a “protectorate”) and made it a playground for their rich, thereby pushing the natives into servitude and to the brink of destitution. By 1916, after killing thousands, burning countless villages, razing crops and confiscating hundreds of thousands of farm animals, the English controlled 5 million acres of rich farmland (the “White Highlands”), controlled by 1000 Europeans. They further forced the natives to carry ID cards (think: Germany in WW II (Jews) and China today (Uighurs). Belgium, of course, did even worse with the Congo, and France with Cambodia and Vietnam;3) In spite of history, which was not her doing (but her life choice), Blixen does come across as humanly sensitive, kind, often perceptively brilliant, attuned to nature, African culture and the native peoples;4) Written in the 1930s, I am sure it found a great audience of “wow seekers” as a lone woman, albeit very wealthy and privileged, living alone, albeit with 100s of slaves…I mean servants…was a unique thing in pre-war America and/or Europe. Indeed, a different read for the time;5) I found her stories of the Dane (Knudsen) and the Swede (Emmanuelsen) to be very interesting, as well as her discussion of the Somali and Masai customs, the grasshopper infestation and the ritualistic funeral of the chief;Cons:1) To repeat, “Out of Africa” is rambling and sometimes nonsensical with no flow, order to dates, form or style. It is not literature, as I thought, but a boring non-linear babbling of various topics (“Oh yes…..I did this. Oh yes…I knew this guy and we did that…..”);2) Simply poorly crafted. Yes….the style is archaic English, but Blixen appeared to write the thing with an English/Danish or English/French Dictionary by her side constantly;3) This is the opposite of a page burner. I could put this thing down and leave it for a month. Memoirs can be like that, but Hemingway’s “A Moveable Feast”, written between 1925 and 1955, is absolutely fascinating. Blixen is not Hemingway;4) Though obviously dated by 100 years, the viewpoint is not humanly gentle in scale, but comes across a bit pious, righteous, omniscient and often lecturing. Especially given that Blixen got the 6000-acre farm through her wealthy husband, and continued losing money, took excessive free time for pleasure, ran off to Europe frequently for vacations, drank and smoked to excess and was a card-carrying member of the Happy Valley Set. The word “hypocrite” comes to mind.I learned a lot reading this book, specifically about New Imperialism and the British in Africa and India (the Raj). It struck an historical chord with me. I recommend skipping this book, or speed reading it, and watching Redford and Streep. The book has great tidbits for a movie script, but the movie was “loosely based” on the book for a reason. Read Blixen’s short stories from later in her career (the 1950s). That is her craft and she excells at it. “Babette’s Feast” is superb, as is the movie.

I happened upon a scene of a old book shelf laden with aged hardback editions that promised some exciting exploration, and decided to read one, Out of Africa! What a wonderful encounter. Once started to read could not put it down till finished. Story telling at it's best!!

West with the Night is far superior but this perspective of Eurpean Africa is certainly interesting. It has a place in understanding colonialism as well as the intricacies of colonial living.

Some of the most beautiful prose I've ever read. A special view of Kenya as it once was. Wonderful story.

Beautiful book, but unreadable due to the small type face. I got audiobook instead and enjoy the book a lot… But no one could read the book I got.

Really enjoyed this book. I had experiences in Kenya yearly for almost 25 years. Karen's story telling is so exciting. Wonderful book!

Karen Blixen gives a sense that surrounding natural elements embody and reflect back her own depths of feelings and joyous love for them. Throughout her autobiography, she seems have the uncanny ability to enter other people’s consciousnesses and virtually become the that other person, tracing their otherwise inscrutable thoughts and feelings back through their lives as though she had lived those lives herself. Rereading Out of Africa after many years is a magical experience. I feel as though I know the minds of other white folks she met on her farm in Africa and surprisingly of the native people working and living on the farm. Leaving was heart wrenching.

Rich in the most eloquent description. Amusing, gripping and, at times, heart-rending. One is tempted to learn some passages by heart for their beauty. No book has ever brought me the immediacy, the sense of being in the moment, at the location, as this book has.

Bought this on Kindle for my partner, who is very interested in the events. Was baffled when she told me it was only an introduction, of very short length! Puzzled, I checked the listing and spotted that it is only 15 pages long. Other than the Print Length note, there is nothing to differentiate this from the 288-page book of the same name, by the same author. This is really deceptive. I've returned this "book" for a refund and ordered the actual book, Out of Africa, instead. The description should be amended to avoid others making this mistake.

I agree with the previous reviewer that the image advertised is very misleading. I chose the book on the basis of that image as I wanted a beautiful illustrated copy. What I received was an uninspiring plain looking cover. Please Amazon do not advertise images if it only relates to one copy from one type of seller. As a busy person I haven't time to trawl through dozens of book seller's descriptions. I think it is fairly reasonable for a customer to presume that the image advertised is the same that you will receive once you ordered the book unless it is clearly stated that it only applies to one copy and is CLEARLY SEEN AND STATED.Also, I wish book sellers would be far more precise or even upload photos of the actual book so you can see what you are actually getting.I think photos of images should be required as a standard condition by Amazon. It is not as if we live in the stone age - uploading an image takes minimal amount of time.However, Out of Africa is a wonderful story told by a wonderful storyteller. So recommend the story but make sure you read the description and be fully aware of what you are getting for your money!

The KINDLE version is only 15 pages and is NOT written by Karen Blixen. It is some else's background notes on the book. False advertising. A complete con.

I thought I was downloading the book to my Kindle, but was very disappointed to discover that it was only a 15 page introduction to the story. £2.99 for nothing!

Love this book. Hardback version is so much better than paperback. Beautifully illustrated which I didn't expect.