Hemingway in Africa [Hardcover]

Christopher Ondaatje (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The gap of Hemingway's African excursions in books about "Papa" is partly filled by this copiously illustrated if casually written work from British explorer-biographer Ondaatje (Journey to the Source of the Nile). Hemingway went on only two safaris in a lifetime of traveling (1933-1934 and 1953-1954), but both were vivid, pivotal experiences. The first inspired his famous stories "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" and "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" and his bestseller Green Hills of Africa; the latter trip inspired two posthumous works, the less well-received The Garden of Eden and True at First Light. Ondaatje follows the faded trail of Hemingway's safaris in Kenya and Tanzania (then Tanganyika) and puts them in the context of his works and those of other African writers, such as Isak Dinesen and Beryl Markham (whose work Hemingway championed). Although Papa's tracks are fainter in contemporary Africa than in Cuba and Paris, Ondaatje, an old hand on sub-Saharan Africa, has as observant an eye as Hemingway's for the land's beauty and a better one for its residents-which he complements with his photography. By the time of Hemingway's second visit, the era of the traditional colonial safari was closing, just as his own career was. While the opening description in "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" of a leopard carcass on the mountain's highest slopes concluded, "No one has explained what the leopard was seeking at that altitude," Ondaatje possesses a sympathetic insight into what Hemingway was without falling prey to the myth. 98 color photos, 3 maps not seen by PW.
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From Booklist

Ondaatje, author of seven books (including Sindh Revisited, 1996, and Journey to the Sources of the Nile, 1998), follows in the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway's two African safaris, undertaken in the mid-1930s and mid-1950s in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, to uncover new insights into Hemingway's life and writings. Thanks to a wealth of photographs of Hemingway on safari as well as of modern photos of East Africa, the reader is offered glimpses of the ambience and environment with which the great author surrounded himself in his egotistical quest for manhood and for artistic immortality. He was always dependent on and jealous of more accomplished hunters on his safaris--such as Bror Blixen (Isak Dinesen's husband) or Philip Percival, who was coaxed out of retirement to guide Hemingway's second safari in 1954. Ondaatje is as much of a romantic as his subject, and in uncovering various letters and early influences, he fleshes out a picture of the great author as an adventurer in spirit, though flawed by his own ego and alcoholism. Allen Weakland
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Hardcover (June 17, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585675393
• ISBN-13: 978-1585675395
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,431,151 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Journey, October 17, 2006

By 

Jacob Lawrence "Jake" (Minneapolis) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hemingway in Africa (Hardcover)

Ondaatje is one of my favorite writers. In Hemingway in Africa he takes the reader on a journey that Hemingway himself did not reveal. The photographs are wonderful and the writng is engaging. I truly enjoyed this unique book. Highly recomended.

Also Recomended: Woolf in Ceylon, Traces of Eden

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Ondaatje's no Hemingway, June 2, 2006

By 

Thorne Kelly - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hemingway in Africa (Hardcover)

The best thing about this book are the repro photos of Hemingway and his contemporaries. Sadly, the author's own photos, scavenged from his previous trip files, are mostly poor stock. The same can be said of his writing. There are no new nor creditable insights into Hemingway here, in fact you will mainly learn about author Ondaarje's own quirks and predelictions, ad nauseum. Ondaatje is not a hunter, knows nothing of hunting, and yet presupposes his ability to dissect "Hemingway in Africa" when in fact hunting was the sole motivator for Ernest's 1933 trip to the dark continent. It's like a medical biography penned by a chimney sweep. You will get very little insight into Ernest Hemingway as the book wanders hither and yon. Even worse, the book is full of factual errors and shaky assumptions as Ondaatje waddles over the landscape searching Hemingway's trail. Ondaatje had previously been in Africa for a book on British explorers Speke and Burton. It is apparent he decided to capitalize on that experience and become a literary critic. He has failed miserably. Buy the book for the pictures, nothing else....

3.0 out of 5 stars not my cup of tea (or whiskey)., July 11, 2011

By 

Gregory Hope - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hemingway in Africa (Hardcover)

Readers of literary biographies will likely find more of interest in this book than I did. I am not qualified to comment on the author's analysis of Hemingway as a literary figure. The author of the book did not strike me as being qualified to delve deeply into the motivations of Hemingway as hunter. As a hunter myself and an avid reader of safari books penned during the colonial era in Africa I found this book to be a disappointment. If your interest is African safaris or hunting in general I would pass on this title. If your interest is in Hemingway as a person and particularly as a writer then you may appreciate the book. One minor point: I found the glossy pages of my hardcover edition to be a trial to read due to the glare. Better to have put only the photos on glossy pages.