5 comments about Made From Scratch: A Memoir.

1. At our local library you can request new books online. As the library has funds, books are ordered. I waited in anticipation for several months; the reviews were wonderful. I will write a check to our library for the price of the book $24.95 ,what a waste to have such a book in our public library.
   
   From her pathetic reverence to Danielle Steele & St. Tropez to her reaction to Princess Diana's death this poor woman is a star obsessed name dropper. "Sensing my discomfort Charlie Sheen walked up to where I was standing, put his arm around me, and told the drunken guy I was his girlfriend"
   
   
   The book is rampant with grammatical errors, ie; a photo caption "Me and Richie shooting the close of ..." There are many pictures, of Sandra with "famous" people, it's like a "worship me, look at me" book. Counseling will be worth it Sandra, get some help.
   
   As for the quotes throughout the book, I don't believe she would understand or know how to use any one of these. Perhaps the ghostwriter looked these up on the net and inserted them where plausible?
   
   Here are a few quotes for poor Sandra: "You Might Move Out, but You Can't Move On" and "You can take the trash out of the trailer but you can't take the trailer out of the trash".
   
   To be fair, I quit reading halfway through as I could not stomach any more, she is too into herself. I wish there was an option for a ZERO star rating.



2. I read the book first in our home, I wanted to tell my wife about it and each chapter. My wife put her hands over her ears, so she could not here me. She read the book.We enjoyed every aspects of each chapter.We would recommend this book to every one.Once you start reading this book you can't put it down until it is finished



3. Sandra has a very good TV show, but the story of her life is even better. If you want the back story to fill out what you already think you know about Sandra Lee, buy this book.



4. This is an excellent inspirational book for women of all ages and backgrounds. It is easy reading and Sandra has a wonderful story-telling
   style. I never read biographies, but I'm glad I read this one!



5. Maybe I'm not being fair here; I'm giving this book five stars based on a long excerpt I read in one of the women's magazines. I enjoyed the excerpt and like the author's television show. I wanted to buy the book, but since my income is limited, I like to check out reviews. They are usually helpful. However, the reviews for this book are so inconsistent -- from great to grim -- that I suspect something is going on. I checked the "see my reviews" from several of the bashers. Interestingly, one had reviewed ALL of Sandra Lee's book (four or five) and given ALL of them a horrid review. My question: If you hate her books, why read and review all of them? Several others had no other reviews. It looks like a campaign to disparage this book or this author or perhaps the publisher. As for me, I was greatly impressed and inspired by the excerpt I read and do intend to buy the book anyway. I have no connection to anyone involved, so it's just my opinion that something smells fishy -- and it's not in Sandra Lee's kitchen. Am I being paranoid or perceptive? Something to think about . . .

5 comments about Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail (Oprah's Book Club).

1. Meet the Oufkir family. This is the printed condensation of their amazing survival.
   
   Malika Oufikir, aided by writer Michele Fitoussi, recounts the plunge from the heights of an extremely privileged, if secluded, life, mostly lived at the Royal Moroccan court, and a life which later landed herself and her family into gaol, in 1972. A drastic change for everybody -but "drastic" is almost a diminishing adjective for what they went through-, including the two family retainers who had volunteered to share their fate. This was the result of a failed military coup against King Hassan II, led by Malika's father, General Oufkir, who was shot immediately after. Wife Fatima and their six children, aged between 19 (Malika) and 3 and a half (Abdellatif) were sent to prison. Deprivations, humiliations, isolation -even among themselves, they were not allowed to see each other for many years- lack of hygiene, food, water, medicines and contending their space with various rodents, cockroaches, scorpions, in the chilling cold or the most stifling heat, inability to see the light -they were kept in almost total darkness-. Up until the day when, 15 years later, with the resilience of the totally desperate, some of them managed to escape, Malika included. The tale of their evasion is chilling from beginning to end. But it also led to the liberation of the others left behind. Nobody could believe that the Oufkir children had reemerged from nothingness, but they managed to alert the relevant authorities, international press and word went out. They were all subsequently moved to a different location where they were still imprisoned but at least with more dignity -if one may use this term in the circumstances-. This went on for another 4 years. And then... freedom finally knocked at their door. Almost twenty years had gone by.
   
   Forget for a minute about politics, religions, different countries, traditions, beliefs. Sufferings do not bear different classifications depending on whom we are, what we do. To suffer is to suffer, anywhere on this planet, and no one is immune. But. To pay up in such dramatic way for something beyond your control is just inhuman. Malika's voice, plain yet effective, summarizes details which induce cringing sensations.
   
   Some reviewers comment on Malika's self-centeredness, sensing a certain degree of superiority, no doubt deriving, in my opinion, from the imprint of her privileged upbringing, which might have added a somewhat unsympathetic nuance to the story. Others remark that there are inconsistencies. It is true in some instances. From a personal point of view, I myself never quite understood why Malika was adopted into the royal family. It could be Moroccan customs or traditions of which I am not aware, but it was never really explained.
   But. Never mind. Let's face the facts, get to the gist. Prisoners for twenty years for something they didn't commit? Children raised into squalor and fear, without an ounce of dignity? Let us keep things into perspective and grant Malika and the others the deserved praise for enduring their adverse fate and unfathomable conditions, never letting go, organizing their great escape against all odds. Without her, who dug and bled, bled and dug for months, relentlessly, this could not have happened, and none of us would have read this book.
   
   A single, soaring voice raising above a twenty-year-long cry in the dark, reminding us that for one who manages to survive, many other faceless, nameless beings perish silently, in many different countries, for many different reasons, their weeping unheard, obliterated by enforced silence.
   Read this book and count your blessings.



2. This book touch me so much i every it so much. This book inspire and enlighten me and show me a little of what goes on in other part the world and what women and people have to go through. To see the strength and desire one have to endure and survive and show that world. THis book touch my life. Good book. I love Oprah so much as she has allowed me to open a new world and that is reading i love Oprah book club and i try to read as much of Oprah book. She is my idol i worship her. I love you Oprah you are light in the dark night.



3. This was a very touching story. As some people have mentioned it is very simply written. But I believe it gets the story across even though it is written in this manner. She tells of the conditions she and her family and a family friend endured when imprisoned for 20 years. Going from a luxury jail to prison conditions that are beyond what anyone can imagine. It is not a story you read for fun but one to make you see what others go though. I am glad Malika shared hers and her familys' story with us. I will never forget this book. I would definatley recommend this book for all to read.



4. I recommend this book if you want to escape from your normal daily life to experience the trials and tribulations of the author. I felt as though I was her at times and felt her pain and joy. It is an excellent read and also informative of a different culture.



5. As some other reviewers have said, this book is sometimes difficult to read. There were times when I had to make myself keep reading, not because the story wasn't good but because the book is somewhat of a laborious read. It's often difficult to continue to pay attention, but it is certainly worth the commitment. It's a unique story that makes you appreciate everything you have.

5 comments about Why I'm Like This: True Stories (P.S.).

1. I've been there and I know these people! As a Jewish woman, a former actress and a mom, I can relate to Cynthia Kaplan's life and the many characters mentioned in her book. She has a gift for taking every day life and finding the humor in even sad, frightening and bittersweet moments. I picked up the book and never put it down until the last page, at which point I wished I knew Cynthia's phone number so that I could call her and tell her some of my stories. Can't wait to read her other book.



2. I'm here to rave about this book. It's a gem! Cynthia Kaplan writes in an unpretentious style that makes you want to invite her for coffee and a good chat. I'm afraid my copy of this book is "flagged" because I couldn't put it down. I related to many of her stories, from the pain of a loved one slipping away with Alzheimer's, to the brief insanity brought on by the presence of a moth, to the experience of living with migraine, and most of all, the all-consuming love you have for your children. I'm going to read her other book (books?) and hopefully she'll write lots more.



3. A number of negative reviews of this book stem from what appears to be a set up. Cynthia Kaplan didn't compare herself to David Sedaris after all. When I depend on reviewers to choose books for me, I'm most often sorely disappointed. I know what I like and I had only to read the intro line, "The eyes are the windows of the head," to figure I was going to enjoy this one.
   
   Most likely, the reason I laughed out loud as well as felt Kaplan's pain, is because I've been there. So much of what she wrote reminded me of experiences in my younger life and in fact, her book lit a spark in me to do some writing about my own early adventures.
   
   Yes, Kaplan is self-absorbed. This is memoir! It's the self-absorption that makes the book amusing. She's able to poke fun at herself and her own foibles and experiences which is something most people find very difficult to do.
   
   I'm not saying this is the best book ever written, but if you like to laugh, take a day trip into Kaplan's world and see what happens.



4. I loved this book so much that I have given it as a gift to all my friends!



5. Wow, this book was excellent. I loved it as much as I loved "Running with Scissors" and that says a lot. Perhaps it's because I'm just as neurotic as she is (I've been known to fear "mountain men" from time to time), or maybe it's because this book is just extemely heartfelt and entertaining. It's totally worth a read.

4 comments about Come, reza, ama / Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia.

1. This book is amazing. I bought it cause one person in my family is going through something similar and it has really helped me to give her advice. I haven't finish the book but i can't stop reading it. Definitely something that happens to many women.



2. El relato de Elizabeth, permite no solo acompañarla en su viaje a través de Europa, Africa e Indonesia por un año, sino ser además testigo de lo que suele acontecer dentro de la cabeza y en el espiritu de mujeres de este tiempo. Nos vamos formando para ser exitosas, para vivir vidas emocionantes. La falta de propósitos más profundos nos llevan a decisiones cortoplacistas y descentradas. Sublevarnos entonces contra nosotras mismas y decidirnos a cambiar nuestro rumbo se convierte en una travesía como la de Elizabeth, dolorosa y larga, en la que el verdadero propósito es alejarnos de la persona que nos fuímos convirtiendo y dejar que aflore un ser, con un centro mejor establecido que nos permita empezar de nuevo y ser capaces de tomar decisiones y caminos diferentes.



3. Este libro es para cualquier mujer, de cualquier edad y condición, porque todas encontrarán en él algo con lo que identificarse.
   Gilbert aborda con cierto humor y con inteligencia temas como el amor y el desamor, la vida, el éxito, el fracaso, la espiritualidad, el auto-conocimiento y mucho más.



4. Con humor y realismo Elizabeth Gilbert explora su esencia espiritual llevando al lector a encontrarse con ella cara a cara en su camino. Cada mujer que lee este libro puede identificarse con muchas de las experiencias de crecimiento personal y espiritual. Esta es una comedia divina que todas vivimos y pocas podemos articular.

2 comments about Inside the World of Warren Jeffs: The Power of Polygamy.

1. I could not put this book down. I ordered it in a time where polygamy was all over the news. A ranch down in Texas was raided & 400+ children taken out of there, with only 100+ mothers. I thought this book really gave you a great idea of what it was like to live believing in this horrible religion of FDLS. It is sickening. I found it to be horrifying that young boys are tossed out of the community as to not be "competition" with the old men for the child bearing women!! I can't even believe there are people in the world that would believe this type of thing, but this book really gave me an understaing first hand of what it really is like. As a woman, you are basically stuck, you have no rights of your own, your children can be taken from you & raised as someone else's & you can be given to another husband if someone else sees fit. The "first wife" keeps track of the "sister wives" menstrual cycles, as to know when to let them sleep with her husband to produce as many children as they can. Children are abused, as are sister wives most times. Sometimes only the MAIN family eat well, dress well, etc, depending on the views of the husband. The sister wives & children eat scraps & ketchup sandwiches & wear rags, sewn together, while the first wife & their children together eat like royalty & wear new clothes. All to get a good spot in Heaven. I love this book, it is a bizarre religion, so I was in AWE alot, but it is a great inside view of their life. I read this book in 3 days flat. It was wonderful!



2. Dear Professor Western:
   
   I LOVED YOUR BOOK. My teacher says it was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
   I have read a lot of books on polygamy, but I liked yours the best of all because it talks about all kinds of polygamous groups in America. It really is a different "world". I intend to do my research paper on your study. I was sorry to hear that some polygamous people are giving you a hard time for telling the truth. I THINK THE MEDIA AND EVERYBODY SHOULD READ THIS BOOK BECAUSE IT SO DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHER 'ESCAPE' TYPE BOOKS. It explains why polygamist men behave like they do, and all their different doctrines--fascinating. Keep up the good work, I learned a lot. - Thanks Rick.

5 comments about Life and Death in Shanghai.

1. Nien Chang's account of her encounter with the Cultural Revolution is the best book of this kind that I recall. Many others have written about their experiences, some in memoir form, others in fictionalized form. NC's is the most accessible to the Western reader, she can relate to our expectations better than some of the others, and she writes more specifically for a Western audience. Her personal background made that easier for her than for many others, she had this working history with a large foreign corporation (no product placements in my reviews!).
   The sad fact is that the subject interests non-Chinese or 'Overseas Chinese' substantially more than the population of the People's Republic. Books like NC's are often talked down because they are successfull in the West. That fact seems to be a negative mark. This applies also to Jun Chang's Wild Swans, while her later bio of the great helmsman is taboo.
   The desire to forget about the past is so overwhelming, that many shut their eyes and minds to the recent past. (Actually not that recent any more.) With this strong wish to close the chapter, and in a situation of overwhelming success and progress for the country as a whole, the ruling elites find it very easy to put the Cultural Revolution into a kind of frozen state of taboo: it is not denied, but it is not visited with the purpose of understanding and digesting it. The man who provoked it is sacrosanct, he can not be touched by criticism. The negative things are assigned to others, like the Gang of Four.
   (Who was it who wrote here recently that history does not change?)



2. This book is a good Focused Look at Detainment in Cultural Revolution. Most of the book is told while she is in a detainment camp (not prison, she never actually was sentenced to anything). Basically, all her problems were owing to the leftists in the communist party lead by Jiang Qin and the gang of four, who wanted to elicit a confession from her that she was a spy, which in turn would have to the downfall of several of their political opponents (zhou enlai if i am not mistaken). I most admire her persistence in never admitting fault even after 6 years and some mild torture. It reminds me a lot of Joseph Smith who persisted in claiming that he had spoken with God in person, even when many many people called him a liar or a false prophet. I have always admired those who are true to themselves and don't give into the social pressure to change just because they face persecution.



3. Nien Cheng's admirable book, with its lucid and objective account of her dreadful ordeal during the Cultural Revolution, deserves to be widely read. This brutal and destructive period of Chinese history began more than forty years ago, but many of its tormenters and their victims are still alive; people like the "militant female guard," who makes Cheng's life so miserable, must be senior citizens today, watching, or even participating in, the victory of the "capitalist-roaders." Other readers have already bestowed every form of praise on "Life and Death in Shanghai," so I'll merely offer this additional insight. To more fully understand the scope of the Cultural Revolution, I think it's useful to read other accounts of it as well. Cheng's account is from the perspective of a well-born, highly educated, affluent woman, one who chose, with her husband, to return to Shanghai in 1949 because they felt that the Communists had the capacity to reform and restructure Chinese society. In short, they were patriots. An interesting and very different perspective is presented in Anchee Min's "Red Azalea," as it is the account of a young woman whose family has little money and no connections. As a result, she is buffeted by forces she often cannot control, and she grasps at opportunities for release from the collective farm and for an education as if she were being swept down a powerful river, occasionally grasping at a branch that pulls her out of the current. Then there is Jung Chang's "Wild Swans," which is quite different. To my mind, the most interesting story in her memoir is that of her parents, true believers in the communist revolution. Their gradual fall and bitter disillusionment is the central story of "Wild Swans." Read "Life and Death in Shanghai," then read the others, and you'll gain a complex and complicated picture of life during the Cultural Revolution.



4. A true life personal account of the experiences suffered by Nieng Cheng, during the horrors of the Cultural Revolution in Communist China in the 1960s.
   It gives us some scope on the total madness and cruel destruction of the Maoist regime which was responsible in 27 years for the death of over 50 million people and the destruction of countless lives.
   
   The type of speech railing against "reactionaries", "counter-revolutionaries" and "running dogs of imperialism" is chillingly close to the rhetoric still used today left wing regimes today, and on left wing university campuses around the world.
   The same mass hysterical hate rampages described during the Cultural Revolution remind me of the hysterical "anti-war" rallies (in truth pro-Saddam Hussein rallies) that gripped world when the USA liberated Iraq from Saddam Hussein in 2003.
   
   Nien Cheng was a cultured and educated lady who had worked in Shell's international offices in shanghai after the death of her husband from cancer in 1957.
   In 1966 the Maoist Red Guards who held China in their grip of terror, swept into her house and destroyed all she had, before she was thrown into a Chinese prison, tortured and beaten and starved for six and a half years, by the Maoist authorities who tried to force her to confess to being 'an imperialist spy'.
   She refused to relent and maintained her innocence until her release in 1973, and her rehabilitation in 1976.
   When she was released from prison she discovered that her daughter had been beaten to death by Revolutionary Guards.
   Ultimately her struggle to survive allowed her to alert the world to the horrors of Communist China, through this true life classic, "Life and Death in Shanghai", a must for anybody who is interested in human rights or in the indestructibility of the human spirit.
   Millions of innocent people were forced into "cowsheds"- gulags where they would be dehumanized and often die, by the hands of the Chinese Communists.
   Note both the destruction of human life and of China's ancient culture, where all that was good and beautiful was destroyed in a campaign to correct the "four olds"- old culture, old customs, old habits and old ways of thinking.
   Today despite the economic liberalization that has taken place, Red China still remains one of the greatest tyrannies on earth, with no sign of political liberalization, and in which thousands of political and religious dissidents still languish and die in laogai prisons, where today there organs are harvested in a sick and evil industry directed by the Chinese Communist Party.



5. I borrowed this book, not being really shure of what I was going to find in it. However as soon as I started reading it I just couldn't put it down. I was hooked by Nien Cheng's account of her own experience in communist China. How she lost everything that mattered to her. How she survived the abuse and violence of the revolutionaries. How she coped with everyday situations during that time. She's a true survivor and a live witness of China's history in the 20th century. The book is well written. It's moving, touching ,way interesting, and invites us to reflect on what freedom ir really about. The best asset we humans can have in our lives is freedom, without a doubt. It's a book really worth reading if you want to know more about what communist china was for some people.

5 comments about Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic.

1. I tried reading this book--I believe--twice and each time I didn't get very far. I didn't like it at all. I would have rated it a 0 if that was one of the choices. Don't waste your time. I should add though my really good friend did like this book..



2. I almost wish I hadn't found out more about Martha Beck's life before writing this review. If I hadn't I'd say this is a very good book, with some great messages and inspirational content. I thought she was bit rough on Harvard and seemed to stereotype people who seemed to wrong her. On the other hand, I really liked the message to live your life simply, enjoy the little things, and know there's more to life than just the workaday narrow view.
   
   I had some problems with how much she talked about the morning sickness, and how Harvard people are, etc. Give the reader more credit. I got the picture pretty quick, and it just seemed to drudge on. But it was worth it, because Beck's a very good writer, with an excellent sense of humor and wry wit. All in all, I'd recommend the book.
   
   Now, back to her personal life. I won't go into details, but it sort of detracts from the credibility of this book. Sounds like she might have fabricated other stuff in her life, covered it up, or maybe exaggerated it. Too bad, because I'd really like to believe what she went through. There are just too many bizarre and questionable things in her bio for me remain in total acceptance of the book's contents.



3. As the mother of an inspirational young son overcoming a rare musculoskeletal condition, I first ran across Expecting Adam excerpted in Exceptional Parent Magazine. I went on to read Martha Beck's memoir, which I found intriguing, thought-provoking, and full of the consolations of humor. Beck's book prompted me to write my own son's story, a book endorsed by Isabel Allende, Anne Lamott and others known for chronicling life's twists and turns with humor and hope. I am hoping that readers familiar with Martha Beck's memoir might consider reading Finding Magic Mountain: Life with Five Glorious Kids and a Rogue Gene Called FOP, a book meant to share hope, faith, humor, and raise disability awareness.
   
   Carol Zapata-Whelan



4. My wife insisted that I read this book. I would not have chosen it myself. Martha Beck tells a story about her son with Down's syndrome, a child that she was advised to abort. Her story is one that many will not believe. She has dreams that predict the future. She gets messages from her son through a medium. She receives aid from angels, or something very like angels. Through all of this, she remains down to earth, and freely admits the difficulty that she has with belief in such things. I, who am not inclined to believe in such things, believe Martha Beck.
   
   Her writing style is fluid and clear. She is a good storyteller. This book is easy to read, and not easy to put down. She tells their story with tremendous verve, and with love. The description of life at Harvard is accurate. I spent four years there. She writes well enough to make me suffer flashbacks.
   
   This is the story of a chance taken, a decision that the world disdains as foolish. In Beck's narrative it is a life affirming move. I responded to this book in an emotional way that surprised me. Her son teaches her more about living than Harvard ever could. If you read this book with an open mind, he will teach you too.



5. She makes me laugh out loud - she is a fantastic writer.
   
   I read this book while I was pregnant - by accident - it really got me into my pregnancy. Her experience "carrying Adam" was AMAZING.
   
   I HIGHLY recommend all of her book. ALL OF THEM!

5 comments about Out of Africa and Shadows on the Grass.

1. I came to this book expecting to read one woman's personal experience of living in Africa, and that's what I found. There is no sociology here, and very little historical context. She does not illuminate THE African experience. She records HER African experience. Certainly that is all she owes the reader? One woman's experience, one woman's life in a time very different from our own.
   
   Do some of her observations shock the modern reader's sensibility? Oh certainly. There are things one simply does not SAY, and back when she wrote, she did. On the whole, her love and respect shine through when speaking of the people who entered her life as neighbors, employees and friends.
   
   Dinesen brings to life a physical landscape that most of us will never get to see. She takes passionate delight in her work, her companions, and her surroundings. Even her setbacks are embraced, as they compose part of a life she knew was slipping away from her.
   
   I was intrigued by what she didn't write. The book maintains almost complete silence about her husband, her health, and her relationship with Denys Finch Hatten. It is only in writing of his death that we understand how deep her feelings were. She writes around that love. Her discretion made my heart ache.
   
   Very highly recommended.



2. Now eclipsed by the Streep-Redford film presentation that appropriated its title, Karen Blixen's memoir of life on her Kenyan coffee farm speaks movingly of the more benign side of colonialism in Africa and of one European's self-evident love for the land she had made her own.
   
   Sadly, Blixen's lush descriptions of 'her people' are often judged too quickly by modern criteria of racial attitudes, a game that is like asking this early twentieth-century writer to wrestle with one arm tied behind her back. If it can be granted that there was anything good about Europe's colonization of Africa, then Bliksen (Isak Dinesen was her pen name) is its face.
   
   She loved the land and its people, entering about as far as was plausible in her time into the remarkable rhythm of both. What more can be asked of any of us, all children of our moment and enveloped in its limitations?
   
   This is a book for lovers of Africa, no matter whence they come. Blixen not only pushed an eloquent pen, she was herself shaped in the biblical and classical language of educated Europeans in a way that prepared her to bridge Africa and Europe in a day when few were equipped to do so.
   
   Blixen's Africa no longer exists, as she already realized within the window of her writing of OUT OF AFRICA and SHADOWS ON THE GRASS. Yet the Africa Blixen knew has children, not to be disinherited for the generations that have passed and the unsavory disease that a legacy of failed leaders has wrought upon this great continent. Though the primary fruit of reaching behind the celluloid to *read* OUT OF AFRICA is the satisfaction of the read itself, it is also true that today's Africa and today's Africans can be glimpsed in the great-grandparents who knew and lived in proximity to this enigmatic and uniquely gifted Danish colonist in a land she mistreated only by calling it hers.



3. I find most autobiographies to be masterbatory exercises in which the authors attempt to explain themselves.
   
   But in Out of Africa, Denison does no explaining, no apologizing. It is love poem to the Africa she knew, and while she does display racist views, it is as she unashamedly shows her heartbreak over a world she loved and was lost.
   
   Denison also wrote some very powerful short stories, most notably the ones in "Winter's Tales." "The Sorrow Acre," is technically one of the most masterly presented short stories I have ever read. Despite her later skills, though, Out of Africa sets itself apart as a masterpiece for its ability to elegantly show an individual's gushing sense of loss.



4. Underlying Blixen's tale of early 20th century Africa is the presumption that there was such a place; that is, a people or nation of peoples existed to which she went and from which she was forced to depart by economic circumstances. This presumption a priori allows her to reminisce about Africa the way it was or was supposed by her to have been.
   
   As she observed, Africa was, in a sense, leaving her. Peoples were being moved around, new laws restricting tribal behavior were being passed, and the Ngong Hills were being laid out as a suburb of Nairobi. She was there, she professed, before all these changes began.
   
   But was she? Was there a time and place, "Africa", or is this concept mainly her and the European view of the times? Blixen's Africa in fact was not any sort of original. Europeans had already produced vast changes: the tribes were by then being herded into reservations and European ways and goods prevailed. European reporters never reported Africa the way it was or had been. That information remained "dark."
   
   The informational darkness is not entirely their fault. An observer always alters that which he sets out to observe. It is only a presumption that his observations are an approximation of the reality the way it would be without him observing it. That presumption is least justifiable in human affairs. We will never know what the original Masai or Kikuyu were like, or the exact configuration of flora and fauna among which they dwelled, or how they reacted to their environments or each other.
   
   Similarly Blixen's little white light doesn't shine very far. We get some ethnic generalities as the vehicle of which she devises some stock identities, "the Kikuyu", "the Masai" and the like, which, on closer examination, turn out to be of European origin. Blixen manufactures masks and tries to get the Africans to wear them. Sociological and anthropological data are nearly entirely in deficit from these supposed traits. She probably is not alone in this process of inventing peoples. It accounts, perhaps, for why the Mau-mau insurrection caught the Europeans totally by surprise, as though you were to paint doodles on a sleeping man's body and he were to awake suddenly and demand angrily to know what you were doing.



5. I'm another reader who comes to Out of Africa by way of Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye; and it became recommended reading before I visited Kenya for myself in the early 90's. So, having just finished it and now half way through Shadows on the Grass, my overall impression is a pleasant one. I enjoyed Dinesen's writing style very much, and would agree with many readers that Out of Africa deserves a place among the classics in English literature. It's Karen Blixen's memoirs of her time in Kenya around WWI, living and working on her coffee plantation near Nairobi. Her descriptions of the Natives, her European friends, the land, the animals, flora and fauna are incredible. The chapters shift back and forth in time, some focused on specific events and individuals, some more whimsical and anecdotal. Reading Out of Africa transports the reader into early 20th Centrury colonial Kenya, and more concretely, onto Ms. Blixen's farm at the foot of the Ngong Hills. Years later she takes up her time in Africa again in Shadows on the Grass, talking more about her loyal Somali servant & right-hand man, Farah, taking a more philosophical tone regarding "masters & slaves", Native superstitions, manners, and so on. Shadows is inferior in many ways to Out of Africa, and it feels more like an "addendum" to the main work, which is poetry by comparison. By the time she writes it, she seems to have grown slightly more distant, and well, Colonist European.
   
   As for Out of Africa, if you've seen the movie version and are looking for it here you're in for a surprise because the book contains no overt romance between Karen & Denys, nor mention of siphylous, nor much in the way of Karen's own personal life. Her ex-husband, Bror is almost non-existant. That makes sense seeing that she wrote under a pseudonym for whatever reaons. Still, I was slightly disappointed not to find more personal thoughts or emotions from her, or discussions regarding the politcal, historical, or economic backdrop of Kenya. Or the workings of the coffee business there. (I have yet to read it, but from what I gather "Uhuru" by Robert Ruark is an excellent novel dealing with these types of affairs in Kenya in the next generations after Blixen, in the 1950's & 1960's). Also, Blixen is very much a product of the times and her colonial attitudes and mindset sometimes come across as condescending or negative towards the Africans (mostly in certain passages in Shadows though). However, I do believe that in her frequent comparisons between the animals, land, and Natives Blixen is actually praising and admiring the people, not being racist or mean, as one reviewer here claims. She frequently praises the Kikuyus, Masai, and Somali she lives with for their numerous attributes (as well as the European settlers) and for their simplicity and harmony with nature, versus the repressed and "civilized" Europe she comes from. One other thing that's different from the movie is her attitude towards hunting. In the movie it's as though she doesn't hunt at all, but in the book she specifically mentions her intitial desire to shoot one of every kind of local game (though she does later express some distaste for hunting, she remains enthusiastic about shooting lions, comparing it in Shadows to "a declaration of love" and hunting to being a sort of "love-affair"). She means respect, but oh how the times have changed now with all the big game enthusiasts shooting game with . . . cameras from pop-top mini-vans!
   
   Once I let go of the movie (its own masterpiece of beauty & cinematography) and my intellectual curiosities, and came to accept Blixen's memoir as it is, I enjoyed it more and more as I read on. I took my time reading it, savoring it, and reflecting upon my own safari experience (with a camera) in Kenya not too many years ago, and found much to admire and contemplate in her writings, even if from a different era. While Out of Africa isn't especially deep or philosphical, nor dramatic or emotional, it somehow comes across as a grand novel, and there are moments when all of the above hit you. This is due primarily, I think, to Blixen's having lived a fascinating life in a unique period and place, and knowing how to tell a story without overdoing it - she just writes her own experiences. One good example of this balance can be found in one of my favorite chapters entitled, "A Fugitive Rests on the Farm" from Part III. In it, a Swedish immigrant and traveler named Emmanuelson stays briefly on Karen's farm, discusses his lonely and peripatetic life with her, and eventually walks off into the Masai reserve all alone, putting his fate into God & the Masai's hands. The sparse detail and images are great. Likewise, her rememberances with Denys Fitch-Hatton are wonderfuly scenic and memorable as well, and subtly romantic. All the vignettes she relates are mostly undramatic, straight-forward, and though unforgettable. Out of Africa is a unique literary memoir and journal of a diverse group of people come together in one specific place and time, bonded together by the very soil in which the coffee trees they lived for were once planted, and live on in these organic pages.

5 comments about Under a Wing: A Memoir.

1. Reeve Lindbergh gives a most interesting overview of her very famous parents - her father with his eccentric behavior - her mother with her focus on life through the eyes of a true poet. Her parents would be proud of her writing skills and her father would probably have given her rare praise for this particular book as well as her others. Kathleen Wyatt



2. I really have enjoyed reading Reeve's memoir of her family. She has an amazing memory and can describe details of any past situation like it just happened minutes ago. I am always amazed by people who can do that (especially since I am not one of them). I come from a famous family too and enjoyed reading this book because I have always been fascinated at hearing about someone elses recollections of the past. Reeve's family experience isnt much different than my own family's and in some cases I laugh because some of the stories she has told (i.e. burping a fountain pen) is the same as my familys. My grandfather, who's stories are much the same as Charles Lindberg's, was also raised in Minnesota (St. Paul & Hallepin) so I was delighted to hear Reeve inform the reader of her father's recollections of this same period and place.
   
   Reeve writes her book in a way which makes you feel like your her best friend. She opens her soul to you and pours out all that makes her happy and sad. Although I am confident that this book will be considered one of the best memoirs of its time, I am sure that her family will be very glad she wrote it because she has unearthed the legends of her family's past and how it made them who they are. This is truly a great book...



3. What I especially like about Reeve Lindbergh's memoir is its candid and utterly sincere tone. This is not a dusty historical treatise; it is a simple sharing of thoughts and experiences. The reader is drawn into the life of a young girl with remarkable and famous parents. We already had an idea of what it was like to live with Charles Lindbergh from the diaries of his wife, Anne Morrow. Now Reeve's book gives another view, helping to round out the picture. Along the way she presents us with snapshot images that offer glimpses into his character. Charles Lindbergh wasn't an easy man to understand; and if he is difficult for us adults to get a handle on, what was it like for his offspring? Reeve tells us in her straightforward and heartwarming manner. This book should be an essential part of any Lindbergh fan's library. I highly recommend it.
   
   Richard Salva--author of Soul Journey from Lincoln to Lindbergh [UNABRIDGED]



4. Reeve Lindbergh tells stories that we want to hear about everyday life with her famous, complicated father and her intelligent, artistic mother. Reeve's delicate, precise prose is reminiscent of her mother's style of writing. A reviewer said of Anne Lindbergh that she "combed" her life for meaning and the daughter seems tuned into that same compulsion. It helps that she writes with as much insight as did her mother. The passage that describes the hours mother and daughter spent together after the death of Reeve's child is heartbreakingly revealing of the private Anne and her anguish after the kidnapping and death of her own child. Reeve's reminiscences of flying with her father (she was not an enthusiast) and her longing for her enigmatic father are poignant. She does not avoid discussing Lindbergh's perceived anti-Semitism; she does not attempt to defend him but rather keeps her emphasis on the effect this controversy had (and has) on her connection with him. I challenge any daughter to read Reeve's account of her visit to her father's childhood home without weeping.



5. There can be no doubt that Reeve Lindbergh's memoir is the most touching book about that family that I have read. Through her eyes we go beyond the covers of other books and see what it really meant to be a Lindbergh.

   They were almost a closed society onto themselves, yet they still experienced the same joys and sorrows as the rest of us. We find the man who was depised as an isolationist to be a concerned and loving father who read to his children.

   We dine with the children at their grandmother's house and we soar above the Connecticut house on Saturdays. The famed aviator at the controls and a bored child in the rear seat.

   After reading this book I felt very attached to this famous family. Being the same age as Reeve herself, my only knowledge of the Lindbergh's was the famous flight and the kidnapping as I read in history books. Now, after this book, I feel as though I have become part of them.

   It can only be summed up in one word, wonderful.

5 comments about Sickened: The True Story of a Lost Childhood.

1. I loved this book! I couldn't put it down! It really showed how this disease affected one family. The pictures in the book made it all very real!



2. Horrible story and yet inspiring that this little girl who suffered such abuse and missed so much valuable education came out the other side to become an educated, talented writer, and a normal, healthy person.



3. I was hoping for a better-written, more insightful story. It was okay, but not a keeper.



4. I couldn't get through this book fast enough, always wanting to know what was happening next. Would recommend this book.



5. Incredibly written book taking you through this journey of a sickness not well know or understood. Julie's grace towards her mother despite it all and poetic recollection makes this book a must read. What a courageous girl.