Out of Africa (Modern Library)

• Hardcover - 05 September, 1992 - Modern Library
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• By: Isak Dinesen
• ISBN: 0679600213

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Reviews by readers

Denisen's Mastery of the Memoir

Denisen's ability to take you into Africa and make you know it as she did is astounding--she captures feelings very difficult to describe, and makes you want to see Kenya for yourself, the Hills of Ngong. She is a story-teller, yes, but she does not tell her stories in any way conventional; much of the time you have no idea as to the chronological order of things. Yet it doesn't matter, because she is conveying feelings and emotions which are not limited by time. And when time does come to play a role in her stories you are informed of it as is necessary. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to experience life as it should be experienced, confusing the primitive life of the Natives with the sophisticated Europeans come to visit Isak on her farm. Through the course of the novel, conflicts arise, celebrations take place, nature's best is described in full detail, and living things die as is natural. Denisen ends her work as beautifully as she began it, and you feel as though you have been through something really important when you finish.

A Breathtaking View of a Vanished World

I've long been fascinated by Isak Dinesen's life and with this book she lovingly describes the very heart of it, her sixteen years running a coffee plantation in the African highlands. She tells the reader almost nothing personal; but her descriptions of this vanished place and time are nothing short of magic. By "erasing" herself from the landscape, you are really and truly experiencing her life there. It was a mesmerizing experience and I hated to finish the book. Fortunately, it's now mine and I can re-read it any time I want to!

Interesting Observations......

Out of Africa, once read, is not easily forgotten. Karen Blixen writing under the name Isak Dinesen tells the story of the 17 years on her coffee plantation in Africa. This is a book written from the heart and my emotions were moved more than once by the prose and thoughts on the written page. What I did find very disconcerting was the flat out racism toward the native people of Africa, acceptable among Europeans at that time but so strongly outdated in this time as to be offensive. She has a most superior attitude, towards all peoples other than Europeans and even towards most Europeans. In additon the total disregard for wild life and the environment would make many of us cringe today. This is her true experience, those were her beliefs and feelings and Karen Blixen makes no excuses or apologies for her life but simply states what was and how she felt about it. If taken for what it is; a wonderful collections of vignettes of a life loved and well lived, it is an excellent addition to any collection

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