Customer Reviews

Under Kilimanjaro

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Hemingway. The very name means great writing. Alas, the man himself died, by his own hand, decades ago. No more great writing from him. But no! Fortune, my friends, has smiled on the book lover this day. It seems the great author squirreled away several manuscripts he wrote in the 1950s, and the Hemingway Foundation has just released the one he called "the African book." UNDER KILIMANJARO isn't just a book. It's an experience.

You'll have to forgive my gushing. I've spent the last few weeks hunting in Africa with "Papa" Hemingway and his fourth wife, Mary. That's what it felt like, too -- like I was out there on the plains of Kenya, sleeping in a tent at night with the roar of a lion rumbling through the dark air. The book's pace is deliberately slow, which gives the reader a sense of the timelessness of the camp by the plains under the great African mountain. So we listen in on the talk around the campfire and watch birds soar overhead almost in real time. When the hunt is on, we follow both the hunter and the hunted.

The book purports to be fiction, but it is every inch a memoir. Papa and Mary are, after all, the main characters. There are several levels to enjoy -- the pure literary quality, the exciting adventure, the enjoyable travelogue, the often humorous commentary. And it's a love story, but not what you'd expect; it's a tribute to his beloved Africa: "In Africa a thing is true at first light and a lie by noon and you have no more respect for it than for the lovely, perfect weed-fringed lake you see across the sun-baked salt plain. You have walked across that plain in the morning and you know that no such lake is there. But now it is there absolutely true, beautiful and believable."

In some of my favorite passages, he remembers his old writing pals, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ford Madox Ford, Ezra Pound and others. He recalls how much he loved Paris in "the old days" and talks about Havana, Key West and the Spanish Civil War. These references pop up when you least expect them.

He goes from self-effacing to arrogant, sometimes in the same paragraph. His prose is at the same time gritty and elegant. Sometimes it's moving, sometimes it's funny, always it's fascinating.

The book itself has an introduction that explains the details of the posthumous publication. In back, the reader can find a glossary of Swahili terms, a list of characters and notes on the editing of the text. On the inside covers are reproductions of actual manuscript pages in Hemingway's own handwriting. Nina Smart has provided simple, almost iconic African drawings for each chapter heading.

Readers should be aware that this "last" book by Hemingway is not really new. In essence, it is just another version of the previous "last" Hemingway title, "True at First Light," published in 1999. Both are based on the same unfinished manuscript, but edited by different people & put out by different publishers - "True at First Light" was edited by Hemingway's son Patrick and published by Scribner. Of the 2 accounts, "Under Kilimanjaro" is significantly longer, clocking in at over 100 pages more than "First Light."

Under Kilimanjaro was Hemingway's last book and was an autobiographical novel about the country he knew and grew to love when he spent several months in Kenya between 1953 and 1954 - but it was completed in 1956 and is the last of his manuscripts to be published in its entirety. No definitive Hemingway collection could be without Under Kilimanjaro: co-editors Robert Lewis and Robert Fleming have aspired to produce a complete reading text of Hemingway's original and their work makes for an important, definitive polishing of Hemingway's final creation.

My first Hemingway experience, ironically, his final work? Halfway through my 4th of his offerings at this time, I am inspired to read his entire catalogue. The characters were varied, rich and endearing. The settings, their "campi"(camp) and surrounding areas, warmly described. One could sense the congenial yet mildly tempestuous dynamic maintained between the various tribesman and the employees of the British colonists and Hemingway. A familiar, symbiotic relationship of convenience. Takes a little while to become acquainted with the characters and their surroundings because of the frequent Swahili based references, but this should not deter one from moving forward or beginning this novel. In time, this becomes a non issue and actually contributes to the unique flavor of this work. When my wife started to read this novel, I suggested that she take note of the glossary at the back. In retrospect, I would have done so after reading the introduction, prior to beginning chapter one and perhaps used it as an occasional guide throughout the reading. A thoroughly enjoyable visit to early 1950's East Africa with a unique individual.

Joe Jessome

I have always been skeptical judging the books published after his death and whether they really could be called Hemingway books since they were unfinished and unsigned by the author for publication.If a writer writes a story and that story is unfinished and considered for that reason by the author to be unpublishable, can you really include it the canon of his works?Will his reputation be affected by it as these books have undoubtably affected Hemingways? Have they at least created a perception in the value of his work from beginning to end?The Old Man and the Sea was the last book he authorized for book publication and anything that was published after (his death) should be judged as a curiousity and not a finished work to base a reputation on. Under Kilimanjaro is a work in progress. It was first published in a shorter version and called True At First Light . It is not a great book but it is entertaining and an interesting curio to have and to read.Now lets see the "The Garden of Eden" without the cuts(if you are going to publish these manuscripts do it the right way!) and the letters being collected written by the most influential literary stylist of the 20th century.Note added 08/2010; 1st vol of penn state letters project Vol 1 submitted and to be published next year.

"Under Kilimanjaro" is a welcome addition to the volume of work done by Hemingway and others on his two major African safaris- one in 1933 and then 20 years later in 1953. We're taken along with him and the native guides stalking lions, wildebeest and other dangerous, yet beautiful animals out in the wild, through dense underbrush, along rocky cliffs and down hazardous embankments to watering holes rimmed with zebras, hyenas and vultures, all in their native habitat. Hemingway loved Africa- and it comes out clearly in this book, which is a near literal transciption of his notes from the last safari which almost cost him his life in plane crashes on the return trip.

Striking in this story is how easily Hemingway turns a travelogue into a novel- something that is not easily done even by accomplished writers. The reader is taken along for the ride into the back country, far from any city or town, removed from the comforts of civilization- and endangered by neighboring warring tribes bent on capturing new territory and robbing anything they can get from hapless tourists. One is reminded of the travesties which have occurred in recent years to people travelling to these and other dangerous places around the world, where ruthless bandits have harmed and killed visitors in senseless acts of violence. In this book, you feel as if you're sitting there with Hemingway, waiting for the target to come into range... and knowing that your own life could be in danger.

"Under Kilimanjaro" is an interesting read- and a nice supplement to "The Green Hills of Africa" and also "True at First Light". In his final days, Hemingway often said in interviews that he had a cache of unpublished material which would support his wife and other heirs after he died. Well, his widow Mary Walsh died in 1986, 25 years after he committed suicide, but mankind is enriched and supported in our reading with this fine work.

-Gene Pisasale
Author, "Lafayette's Gold- The Lost Brandywine Treasure" and
"Vineyard Days"

I prefer this version to 'True at First Light', the other posthumous fiction/autobiography published from Hemingway's manuscripts. There is more to wade through, but the prose is so beautiful he even makes his snarky comments about other writers a joy. This isn't the best of Hemingway by any stretch; his short stories along with 'The Sun Also Rises' and 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' are the best in my opinion. At this stage, Hemingway is dealing with issues surrounding mortality and the writing is much more petulant.

It is fun to see him rip a critic (an unnamed reader from Iowa), but at the same time it is the sort of retribution somone of his stature should rise above.

But these are small quibbles. Overall, the book is worth reading on its own, and I highly recommend it

Hemingway left his memoirs of his African safari in a Havana bank vault. These memoirs were stored away as insurance for future publication. Hemingway had requested that these rough drafts never be published after his death. The Authors of this book should have respected his orders.
Under Kilimanjaro is an attempt to resurrect the ghost of Hemingway's great writing skills, and in so doing, it fails miserably. Part of Hemingway's trademark was to edit a work to its bare essentials. This book fails in this regard as well.
The plot essentially revolves around his wife's obsession to kill a lion. Her obsessive-compulsive temper tantrums are a common occurrence throughout the book. In other events, Hemingway is in a continues killing and drinking spree. There are, however, some entertaining moments, mainly when Hemingway's reflects on his past adventures in France and Spain.
In short this book should have been left in a vault in Havana. . For a more accurate account, one should read "the Snows of Kilimanjaro". Under Kilimanjaro amounts to a poor representation of a great man's skill. It is an attempt by his family to profit from his legacy by trying to resurrect his ghost.