Out of Africa (Modern Library)

Instead, "Out of Africa" is a storytelling book woven in the imaginative Danish style. Dinesen's finely tuned sensitivity is revealed here, as well as her (again typically Danish) well-developed gift for friendship with many kinds of people. In her case this gift extends to African animals as well, like Lulu, the beautiful gazelle who graced her plantation for years.

Her descriptions of the Kenya of her day are exquisitely written, factual and magical at the same time. Africa is the star of the book, not Dinesen herself, not the tribespeople or the colonials, not her struggles with raising coffee in land "a little too high", nor her political dealings with the government officials. Her writing evokes the Africa she knew well and loved deeply.


A beautifully written love affair of Africa   February 4, 2001
doc peterson (Portland, Oregon USA)
30 out of 32 found this review helpful

Isak Dinesen, nee Karen Blixen, lived in East Africa for almost twenty years making a living as the proprietor of a coffee plantation. Out of Africa is a memoir of her experiences there. But the book is so much more.

The stories are interesting to be sure. They relate to the plantation or the people and events that one way or another impacted her life there. But it is Blixen's writing that I found so sublime. I have never read anything like it. The way Blixen turns a phrase is both lyrical and enchanting all at once - you become literally swept up in the words and imagery. It is obvilious that Blixen loved Africa - something about the continent got under her skin. In a similar fashion her words have gotten under mine. I have read Out of Africa several times; each time I marvel at the beautiful language she uses. Read this book and I am sure you will feel the same way.


FORGET THE MOVIE   March 7, 2000
23 out of 25 found this review helpful

Forget the movie and read the book instead. Isak Dinesen's love for Africa and her adopted homeland shines through every page as she helps us to vicariously experience like on a Kenyan farm. The book is loosely plotted and Dinesen is not shy about expressing her personal views, so expect some opinionated writing from this lady. She doesn't romanticize Africa, as many writers do. She tells it like it is, which is great, as far as I'm concerned. If you're looking for King Solomon's Mines, foget it, but if you have any interest in Africa, past or present, you're sure to like this book.


A hymn of praise and love for what was once Africa   August 6, 2003
Peggy Vincent (Oakland, CA)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

Out of Africa is the very best of many memoirs of Africa in the early part of this century, the era before two World Wars changed that continent completely. For 15 years, between 1914 and 1931, Baroness Karen Blixen ran a coffee plantation in Kenya. Her unhappy marriage and her much happier, though tragic, love affair are not prominent subjects in her book, as they were in the movie of the same name (excellent, with Meryl Streep and Robert Redford so excellently cast). Isak Dinesen (Blixen's pen name) is primarily a story-teller, and this lovely book is a collection that elevates her stories to mythic, poetic, and epic levels. While one of the first of the era's feminists, she was also gifted with sensitivity, the ability to form deep and lasting friendships, awareness of what was being lost in Africa, and an appreciation for both the mundane and the magical. It all comes through in her writing.


A beautiful description of a different world   January 8, 2006
Ollokot (Utah)
9 out of 11 found this review helpful

Out of Africa is the author's own narrative of her years spent on an eventually unsuccessful coffee plantation near Nairobi, Kenya, during the early years of the 20th century. It is obvious that the author's goal in writing this book was to express her sincere love of Africa to her audience. She succeeds beautifully.

While I was hoping this narrative would be little more educational and/or exciting than it actually was, I was still left with a very notable and lasting impression upon reading this book. My overall image and perception of Africa during this era will now forever include scenes and images described by the author.

Readers should recognize three things before reading this book. First, political correctness was not an issue at the time the author lived in Africa. Second, the number one reason to read this book is to enjoy the beautiful language the author so masterfully employs. Third, be prepared to either ignore the foreign language references (all of them untranslated) or take the time to learn their translations and their significance.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable book which I highly recommend to anyone who has interest in Africa or excellent literature.