Out of Africa and Shadows on the Grass by Karen Blixen (pen name Isak Dinesen)

 Out of Africa was written by Karen Blixen, pen name Isak Dinesen, and it was originally published in 1937, by which time the author had already left the African continent. (It was made into a 1985 movie starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. The movie won seven Oscars including best picture.) This is an epic story of Blixen’s life in colonial Kenya. She wrote about the details of her social interactions with the Kiyuku people, the Masai, the Somalis, and others. Meanwhile, she dealt with the widelife, life as a coffee farmer, the harsh droughts and locusts swarms, and her eventual need to sell the farm and move back to her homeland of Denmark. She watched the enormous herds of animals become decimated by sportsmen and poachers, and she herself transformed from being a shooter to being a conservationist. Her incredible details of her social engagements really brings her life there into a rich focus.

 I once had an incredible professor, Dr. Desmond Bittinger, who was a contemporary of Blixen, although he was living in Nigeria during the 30s. His stories are incredibly consistent with Blixen’s writing. They had incredible adventures at a time when there were few white men about. Although it was not an intended focus of the book, one can see the problematic results of England’s colonial rule.

 

This book is often published with Blixen’s book Shadows on the Grass. This book is essentially a sequel to Out of Africa and it was written not long before her death in 1962. She had obviously loved her time in Africa and she regretted having to leave, but her stories in this second book described how her thoughts and feelings about her time there had matured.

 

As I continue my effort to read as much about Africa as I can before my planned trip there in 9/25, I certainly agree that this book belonged on my reading list. Now, 40 years later, I’ll have to find the movie of which I have many clear memories of having seen it in 1985, which was not so long after my first trip to that continent.

 

I chose to consume these two books in audioformat. It was a 17-hour effort, and I judge that time to have been very well spent.