Reading (And Viewing) Assignments...

I've let the blog lapse for a few days, but not without reason, and not just because putting this much energy into writing requires a break now and then. The real reason was that I decided to do a little background reading.

The first book I read was "Out Of Africa" by Izak Dinesen (penname of Karen Blixen). This book is the memoir of Karen Blixen, a Danish woman who moved to British East Africa (BEA), now Kenya) with her husband Bror Blixen to start a coffee plantation near the Ngong hills just west of Nairobi. The story is set during the period 1913 to 1931, Blixen's tenure at the Ngong farm, and details her struggles in her personal life, her struggles with the farm (which she wound up managing alone after separating from Bror) and her relationships with the indigenous Kikuyu and Maasai people (and other ethnicities, as well). This is genuinely a wonderful book with clear narrative, deep character development, and striking imagery. I think what I liked about it most, however, was the sense of honesty in the prose. Blixen unashamedly shows that she is as flawed as any other person, and discusses candidly how these flaws turned into both strengths and weaknesses in Africa. There is no doubt that Africa has changed in the last 80 years, but this book is still must reading for anyone venturing to this part of the world.

Next I decided to watch the movie "Out Of Africa", starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. The most important comment I can make is that the book and the movie are completely different. While there are scenes that overlap, the movie is much more a love story about the relationship between Karen Blixen and Denys Finch-Hatton. The visuals in the movie, from the landscapes to the animals, are stunning, but much of the richness of characterization of the Kikuyu, Maasai, and Somali found in the book is lacking in the film. Furthermore, the Blixen/Finch-Hatton relationship, while present in the book, is by no means the centerpiece of the story. Overall, I have to say that I liked the film, but it is important to recognize that it stands on its own; if you expect fidelity between the written and film versions, you will be disappointed.

Finally, I read the book "West With The Wind", the autobiography of Beryl Markham. Markham moved to BEA as a small child and was a contemporary of Blixen's (although several years younger). The book, while good in its own right, is much more about Markham and her adventures growing up in BEA, with a lot of emphasis on her friendships with a few of the Maasai and her love of horses. It iis well written and the prose is lush, but does not deal in any great depth with the local culture except has it contributes to her self-narrative. It is an interesting read, but does not contain nearly the level of sociological and anthropological insight Blixen brings to the page.

I am very glad I read/watched all of these works. My favorite was certainly the print version of "Out Of Africa", and if you want to really learn about the history of the region, this is where to start. The film is worth watching as well, as long as the broad artistic license used by the filmmaker is understood. The visuals in the movie are breathtaking, and in most ways representative of what a bush traveller can expect to see even today. Finally, Markham's book, while an excellent story, has more difficulty capturing the essence of East Africa. It is worth the read, but I would recommend Dinesen's book as the best place to start.