A review by foggy_rosamund
Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen, Karen Blixen

3.0

This is a novel about imperialism, written by an imperialist so informed by racism and imperialism that she doesn't know that's what she's writing about. Karen Blixen owns a large coffee farm close to Nairobi: she lives there from 1914 - 1931. She describes the native people who live on her land as "squatters", though they are clearly the people who own that land, and she is implicated in taking it from them. For me, a few factors saved this book. Firstly, it's Blixen's love for and devotion to the landscape around her, and her beautiful prose about the landscape she loves. Secondly, the book's historical qualities: that she captures people, and a way of living, and places and animals, that are now gone. Thirdly, that while her attitude towards African people is patronising, she is respectful of the people she writes about, and clearly wants to capture accurately her impressions, so a modern reader can look between the lines, and gain insight into the world about which she writes. There is something hauntingly sad about her writing: that the place she loves so much is vanishing, and that the richness of Kenya is constantly being brutalised by destruction of habitats and farming practices. To me, it's about how destructive white imperialism is, and while it's written by someone who is a white imperialist, she still captures injustice and profound loss in a way that feels accurate and important.