Denys Finch Hatton - Out of Africa

[scotrace]

Just finished this a half-hour ago. It had been lying around, overdue twice from the library, and this weekend was the time to finish it or else.

I've nothing to add to the other reviews. It was a great read, and I enjoyed the stretch about Karen Blixen more than I should have. I know someone quite like her.

The ending was indeed quite abrupt.

The best part for me was this author's prose. She's wonderful at constructing sentences in surprising ways and finding just the right obscure phrase, and she is often wonderfully indiscreet. It's one of the best-written modern bios I've ever read.

Anyone read Beryl Markham's West With the Night?

Final impression: I wish I'd known him.

 

[Mark G]

"Anyone read Beryl Markham's West With the Night?"

Yes, I read it 25 years ago and picked it up again a couple of months ago. I actually liked it better than Blixen's "Out of Africa". It's very much worth a read. You might try reading "The Man-Eaters of Tsavo" by James Patterson. The real story of "The Ghost and the Darkness." Also a very good read. There is a great appendix in the back on what you should take and who to contact for a safari, 1900 style. It's pretty entertaining.

 

[Feraud]

"Anyone read Beryl Markham's West With the Night?"

Yes, I read it 25 years ago and picked it up again a couple of months ago. I actually liked it better than Blixen's "Out of Africa". It's very much worth a read. You might try reading "The Man-Eaters of Tsavo" by James Patterson. The real story of "The Ghost and the Darkness." Also a very good read. There is a great appendix in the back on what you should take and who to contact for a safari, 1900 style. It's pretty entertaining.

Great stories. I have read both of these title and particularly like Man Eaters of Tsavo.

Let me add Big Game Hunting In North-Eastern Rhodesia by Owen Letcher to the list of "must reads".

 

[Mojave Jack]

I agree, Scott; it was Wheeler's excellent writing that made it so enjoyable though the sources were often so thin.

I also have to echo the recommendation on Maneaters of Tsavo. The episode with the lions was really almost a side note to everything else Patterson did while there, and while certainly the reason I read the book, I found the rest of it equally enthralling. Incidently, I've heard that the lions as they are displayed in the Field Museum are much smaller that they would have been in real life, due to the poor condition of the hides by the time they were mounted. Just the same, though, knowing that they were prowling around, looking for a meal would certainly make for some sleepless nights!

Mark, would you mind starting a thread on Markam's bio? I was thinking about starting that one, and would like to see some thoughts and reviews. It looks like that may interest others, too.

 

[Nick Charles]

how about I married Adventure by Osa Johnson I have it currently but haven't finished a different finch Hatton bio I;m reading yet. Anyone read the Johnson book???

side note about the lions is that they don't look like the ones in the movie at all they are two males but they are maneless.

http://www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibits/permnature_exhib.htm#animals

 

[Mojave Jack]

how about I married Adventure by Osa Johnson I have it currently but haven't finished a different finch Hatton bio I;m reading yet. Anyone read the Johnson book???

side note about the lions is that they don't look like the ones in the movie at all they are two males but they are maneless.

http://www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibits/permnature_exhib.htm#animals

Well, if the opening pages are any indication, that Osa Johnson book should be pretty good, Nick, although I would have liked to have seen that first picture that Martin took of Osa's little brother, Vaughn. Here's a preview for those interested in reading a few pages:

http://books.google.com/books?id=zL...hnson&sig=k178quqXIFKdv8y4bOwfaSPBGAI#PPA3,M1

Here's one for The Maneaters of Tsavo, too:

http://books.google.com/books?id=4x...tsavo&sig=XeKpgnCNNMtiYNOwv9oZBUYvG8E#PPP1,M1

 

[Mark G]

Nick, There is another book (non fiction) called the "Lions of Tsavo" by another guy named Patterson (no relation). It gives possible reason's for the maneless lions. One thought is that the thorn thickets have torn them away, but the prevailing theory is that they have more testosterone than other lions and that causes a form of male pattern baldness.

Mojave, at the time the Field Museum took the pelts, they couldn't find forms big enough to fill them out.

Starting a thread on African books might be a good idea in general. I think that maybe we could have a separate category for books, ala "Hats", "News" etc.

 

[Sequitorian]

Not So

Re: Denys Finch Hatton

This man, or I should say this type of man, is long gone.

His life, ... was a passionate life.

This was a time when men were manly, but they could dance a waltz with grace and elegance while still being men. They just don't make em' like they used to.

Not so, Daisy; there are plenty of men like that (though it's no secret that their numbers have been declining in recent times).

Over the past 40 years or so, people have been losing a sense of what it means to be a man. They have paid a price; women and children have paid a price; society has paid a price.

There are indications, however, that we, as a society, are beginning to realize what has been lost and are seeking ways to return to those values. Hopefully, it will become a movement.

There are even a few websites devoted to that cause; "Art-of-Manliness" being one.

However, there's still a lot of disagreement, (even confusion), as to what, exactly, those values are. Maybe a few of the guys here could add to the debate (or learn something). And the women could give their perspective.

Anyone, given the desire, can become that kind of man. But it takes a lot more than dressing like him.

 

[Story]

Great stories. I have read both of these title and particularly like Man Eaters of Tsavo.

Let me add Big Game Hunting In North-Eastern Rhodesia by Owen Letcher to the list of "must reads".

Along the same lines (and I think we've discussed this before), but over on the Indian subcontinent: Jim Corbett's THE MAN EATERS OF KUMAON.
http://www.amazon.com/Man-Eaters-Kumaon-Oxford-India-Paperbacks/dp/0195622553

I picked up a first edition w/ dust jacket at the Strand in Manhatten for $9!

 

[cookie]

http://artofmanliness.com/2008/07/06/vintage-charming-mens-fashion/

 

[Feraud]

Along the same lines (and I think we've discussed this before), but over on the Indian subcontinent: Jim Corbett's THE MAN EATERS OF KUMAON.
http://www.amazon.com/Man-Eaters-Kumaon-Oxford-India-Paperbacks/dp/0195622553

I picked up a first edition w/ dust jacket at the Strand in Manhatten for $9!

Another fine read!