Out Of Africa and Shadows On The Grass - Softcover

9780394742113: Out Of Africa and Shadows On The Grass
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 
502 pp.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:
Out of Africa is Karin Blixen's love letter to the country she called home for nearly 20 years. Arriving in British East Africa (now Kenya) from Denmark in 1914, Blixen--Isak Dinesen was her pen name--was immediately seduced by the landscape of the Ngong hill country, not to mention the animals and people who inhabited it. Her descriptions bring this wonderland alive for readers: out on safari, she recalls the movements of a group of giraffes, "in their queer, inimitable, vegetative gracefulness, as if it were not a herd of animals but a family of rare, long-stemmed, speckled gigantic flowers slowly advancing." Blixen laces into her reverie the account of her coffee plantation--which ultimately succumbed to high altitude, droughts, and tumbling international coffee prices--and tales of her friendships with other colonials in Nairobi. But one should read her memoir for the stories she tells of cooking with her Kikuyu chef (who almost never ate any of the European delicacies he so expertly created), adopting an abandoned infant antelope, flying over the countryside in her lover's plane--"the greatest, most transporting pleasure of my life on the farm"--and watching the children of her tenant farmers collect at her house each day at noon for the spectacle of her cuckoo clock.

Though some of her references to native Africans will likely make today's readers uncomfortable, Blixen can also be perceptive, particularly in her articulation of the differences between European and African culture and her excitement over what she learns from "her" Africans. It is not long before she is attuned to the rhythms of nature: she can foresee when the rains will come, can spot the new moon before anyone else on the farm, and knows exactly what the silence of night should sound like. Though her sorrow is almost unbearably palpable when at last--after the collapse of the farm, the loss of her lover, and the war looming--Blixen leaves Africa, the reader will close the book richer for her sojourn. --Jordana Moskowitz

From the Inside Flap:
simplicity and a painter's feeling for atmosphere and detail, Isak Dinesen tells of the years she spent from 1914 to 1931 managing a coffee plantation in Kenya.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherVintage
  • Publication date1985
  • ISBN 10 0394742117
  • ISBN 13 9780394742113
  • BindingPaperback
  • Edition number1
  • Number of pages502
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780679724759: Out of Africa: and Shadows on the Grass

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0679724753 ISBN 13:  9780679724759
Publisher: Vintage, 1989
Softcover

  • 9780140085334: Modern Classics Out Of Africa And Shadows On The Grass

    Pengui..., 1985
    Softcover

  • 9780816141814: Out of Africa and Shadows on the Grass (G K Hall Large Print Book Series)

    G K Ha..., 1986
    Hardcover

  • 9780816141821: Out of Africa and Shadows on the Grass

    G K Ha..., 1986
    Softcover

  • 9787560020242: Out of Africa and Shadows on the Grass

    Foreig..., 2000
    Softcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Stock Image

Dinesen, Isak
Published by Vintage (1985)
ISBN 10: 0394742117 ISBN 13: 9780394742113
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GF Books, Inc.
(Hawthorne, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Book is in NEW condition. Seller Inventory # 0394742117-2-1

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 25.18
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Dinesen, Isak
Published by Vintage (1985)
ISBN 10: 0394742117 ISBN 13: 9780394742113
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Book Deals
(Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New! This book is in the same immaculate condition as when it was published. Seller Inventory # 353-0394742117-new

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 25.19
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Dinesen, Isak
Published by Vintage (1985)
ISBN 10: 0394742117 ISBN 13: 9780394742113
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldenWavesOfBooks
(Fayetteville, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0394742117

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 21.22
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.00
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Dinesen, Isak
Published by Vintage (1985)
ISBN 10: 0394742117 ISBN 13: 9780394742113
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldBooks
(Denver, CO, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0394742117

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 28.42
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.25
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Dinesen, Isak
Published by Vintage (1985)
ISBN 10: 0394742117 ISBN 13: 9780394742113
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Front Cover Books
(Denver, CO, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # FrontCover0394742117

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 28.69
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.30
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Dinesen, Isak
Published by Vintage (1985)
ISBN 10: 0394742117 ISBN 13: 9780394742113
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
BennettBooksLtd
(North Las Vegas, NV, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! 0.65. Seller Inventory # Q-0394742117

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 57.94
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.13
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds