Rating: 
Summary: No Capstick or Taylor
Review: Much credit is given 'Papa' for his writings on Africa. I can only attribute this to the fact that he is a famous author and more people have read his Africa books/two short stories more than any others. Much like Roosevelts game trails this book is a chronicle of Hemingways two month safari. And like Teddys book comes across as just that. After all they only both went on one safari. If you are really interested in reading about African big game hunting there are two books that communicate the vibrancy and feel of hunting dangerous game in Africa better than Hemingway or Roosevelt. Death in the long grass by Peter Hathaway Capstick and Pondoro by John Taylor are my two favorites. Both are men who spent their lives living and hunting in Africa. Capstick as a Proffesional hunter and game warden in the latter half of this century until 1975, and Taylor as an Ivory poacher from the 1920-30's(?) to the late 40's. If you are anti-hunting forget it but if you are in-between and looking for something more on Africa then Please take a look. I am not saying that Hemingway is bad, it's just that in my opinion Taylor and Capstick bring African hunting alive in a way Hemingway can't touch in the best parts of Green Hills. Hemingway may be the master when it comes to other types of literature, but when it comes to describing hunting dangerous game in Africa Taylor and Capstick reign supreme.
Rating: 
Summary: "Portrait of a Serial Killer of Wild Animals"
Review: Safe to say this "nonfiction novel" hasn't aged well. Boozy banter from Westerners who view Africa -- its wildlife, its people -- from within a gauzy cocoon of privilege. Ernest & co. chase down majestic animals, admire them and blast away at them with shotguns. I found the descriptions of animals madly circling once shot -- desperately, futile-ly fleeing a danger they can't possibly comprehend -- profoundly sad. I had the sense the narrative was aiming for (and probably achieving for its original audience) a breezy, witty, urbane tone. It seemed to me in 2004 like so much reveling in privilege, power and manly pseudo-attainment.On the other hand, there's no way Hemingway could have portrayed himself, knowing full well that he would come across in certain passages like an egomaniac and a bully, without a great writer's ability to stand apart. He also explores the code of ethics within hunting -- the hunters' intense aversion to shooting females or young, or wasting meat. And his use of this English language is interesting and shot through with passion. But having said all that: read something else.
Rating:
Summary: "Portrait of a Serial Killer of Wild Animals"
Review: Safe to say this "nonfiction novel" hasn't aged well. Boozy banter from Westerners who view Africa -- its wildlife, its people -- from within a gauzy cocoon of privilege. Ernest & co. chase down majestic animals, admire them and blast away at them with shotguns. I found the descriptions of animals madly circling once shot -- desperately, futile-ly fleeing a danger they can't possibly comprehend -- profoundly sad. I had the sense the narrative was aiming for (and probably achieving for its original audience) a breezy, witty, urbane tone. It seemed to me in 2004 like so much reveling in privilege, power and manly pseudo-attainment. On the other hand, there's no way Hemingway could have portrayed himself, knowing full well that he would come across in certain passages like an egomaniac and a bully, without a great writer's ability to stand apart. He also explores the code of ethics within hunting -- the hunters' intense aversion to shooting females or young, or wasting meat. And his use of this English language is interesting and shot through with passion. But having said all that: read something else.
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