Opua: WEST WITH THE NIGHT
Opua: WEST WITH THE NIGHT
Although the weak front had passed by noon, leaving behind a sunny and breezy afternoon, I stayed aboard and finished reading WEST WITH THE NIGHT, thus completing an impromptu Kenyan Trilogy. Reading all three of these books in succession--the other two being OUT OF AFRICA and TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN--has been a very enjoyable experience.
I came across WEST WITH THE NIGHT many decades after OUT OF AFRICA.
Beryl Markham became briefly famous after making the first solo non-stop flight from England to North American in 1936, and the book, which is mostly about her life in Africa, was a best-seller when it was published in 1942.
1942 was also the year of Midway, Guadalcanal, and Stalingrad, and both book and Beryl Markham were forgotten for about twenty years, until one of Ernest Hemingway’s sons praised it to a friend, who republished it and it has deservedly sold well ever since.
Regardless of who actually wrote the book, Beryl Markham was a remarkable woman, a tom boy who ran with the Masai, she grew up to become a skilled horse trainer as well as a pilot, with a probably deserved reputation for promiscuity, although as someone said, “If all the rumors about Beryl were true, she wouldn’t have risen from a reclining position between the ages of fourteen and eighty-four.” Her lovers included at least one member of the British Royal Family, Denys Finch Hatton, and probably Karin Blixen’s ex-husband, Bror. Fitch Hatton is mentioned fondly in the book, as is Bror. The British Royal is not, nor or any of her three husbands.
I’ve read OUT OF AFRICA and WEST WITH THE NIGHT several times each. Sometimes I think one is the better book; sometimes the other. This time I probably preferred OUT OF AFRICA. But only just. Both are beautifully written, and in life, Beryl Markham was certainly the more accomplished woman.
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The photo was taken early one evening last week of the moon rising over the mountain to the east. Naturally it is dark. Adjusting the angle of your screen or your angle to your screen may help you see it better.
Thursday, March 27, 2008