Rating: Summary: Hunting big game and big literature Review: Hem is hunting both big game and big literature in "Green Hills." On this 1933-34 African safari, his jovial, Socratic drinking pal "Pop" is actually Phillip Percival the famous white hunter who conducted Theodore Roosevelt on his first African safari. As a young man, Hemingway owned a copy of TR's book "African Game Trails," and it is undoubtedly one of the reasons he went on this safari, which was financed to the tune of $25,000 Depression dollars by his wife Pauline's uncle Gus, part owner of Richard Hudnut cosmetics. Further evidence of Hem's fascination with Africa can be seen in the way Jake Barnes teases Robert Cohn in "The Sun Also Rises." In chapter two, Jake says, " Did you ever think about going to British East Africa to shoot?" Cohn's lack of enthusiasm for an immediate trek to Mombassa seals his fate as a jerk. "Green Hills" vindicates Hem's real aficion for hunting--filled with long descriptions of the arduous and sometimes futile tracking of game, not just celebratory "kills." Finally, the best preparation for reading "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" and "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" is to hike and sweat through these 300 pages of African "country." The long, crescent-horned sable which Hem was painstakingly stalking at the end of "Green Hills" never turned up. But instead, the experience of his African safari, was distilled into those two incredible stories--one about a coward who gets a chance to redeem himself and the other about a washed-up writer whose approaching death stimulates him to dream about--and the reader to enjoy--the fiction he never got to actually write. Unless you've got a rich uncle or wife, this is as close as you'll get to an East African safari, and it is very, very fine.
Rating: Summary: Green Hills of Africa is more than a hunting adventure Review: Hemingway is a man's man, and rarely, if ever, does he let the reader know he feels. Reknowned for saying so much with so little, Hemingway exposes a little of himself at last. The Green Hills Of Africa is an explanation of emotional investment. Emotional investment in the land and in ones soul. Hemingway understands what it is to be overpowered by emotion. In the tradition of Robert Ruark, Hemingway has told a great story of African big game hunting, but unlike his predecessor, Hemingway makes you care.
Rating: Summary: A Romp Thru Imperial Africa Review: Hemingway takes a trek through an Africa still largely ruled by "burdoned" white men. He tries to explain why assaulting the native creatures of the dark continent is acceptable (he ate what he killed after all!) But the most intriguing parts of "Green Hills" were not stalking wildlife through tall grass. Rather, Hemingway's most poignant recollections lie in describing the interpersonal relations, the ups and downs, between American and European hunters. Throughout the entire quest for game, Papa stresses that time is limited by an impending rainy season as well as available funds. He goes on then to remark that hunters are not the only people whose life plans are upset by capitalism. He points out that artists and writers also fall victim to a world whose interpersonal works ravage most of us.
Rating: Summary: A Romp Thru Imperial Africa Review: Hemingway takes a trek through an Africa still largely ruled by "burdoned" white men. He tries to explain why assaulting the native creatures of the dark continent is acceptable (he ate what he killed after all!) But the most intriguing parts of "Green Hills" were not stalking wildlife through tall grass. Rather, Hemingway's most poignant recollections lie in describing the interpersonal relations, the ups and downs, between American and European hunters. Throughout the entire quest for game, Papa stresses that time is limited by an impending rainy season as well as available funds. He goes on then to remark that hunters are not the only people whose life plans are upset by capitalism. He points out that artists and writers also fall victim to a world whose interpersonal works ravage most of us.
Rating: Summary: A first rate adventure Review: Hemingway wrote this book with a passion. The passion was his love for Africa and the times he had there. I could feel the heat, smell the dry grass, and hear the tse-tse flies as he stalked some of Africas deadliest game. Top notch reading!
Rating: Summary: Easy Read Review: Hemingway's terse but descriptive style is intriguing and provocative as usual, but something is here. The book appears to be nothing more than a journal, and in this case looks are not decieving. This is merely an account of a hunting binge in Africa that captivates the reader but leaves him with virtually nothing to take away. It wouldn't be nearly as successful if it didnt tote the name of America's literature leviathan. All in all, its a quick, easy, fun read.
Rating: Summary: Easy Read Review: Hemingway's terse but descriptive style is intriguing and provocative as usual, but something is here. The book appears to be nothing more than a journal, and in this case looks are not decieving. This is merely an account of a hunting binge in Africa that captivates the reader but leaves him with virtually nothing to take away. It wouldn't be nearly as successful if it didnt tote the name of America's literature leviathan. All in all, its a quick, easy, fun read.
Rating: Summary: Surprisingly good Review: I am a big Hemingway fan, but I did not expect much from this book. After all, Hemingway himself described it as an "experiment". However, the Green Hills of Africa turned out to be a surprisingly good read. Hemingway's description of the landscape, the people and the whole safari is excellent. He could, however made the description of the hunting itself a bit more exciting. His account of the hidden jealousies within the safari is especially interesting, and the passage(just a long sentence actually)about the Gulf Stream is simply amazing. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: Summary: For hunters only Review: I am a huge fan of Hemingway. For whom the bell tolls is among my favorite books ever. But this one just didn't come close to Hemingway's greatest books. The green hills of Africa is a book about hunting. A team of hunters go to Africa to hunt kudu. And we follow in the teams tracks as they search for prey. It manages to capture the reader's interest, but unless you are a hunter yourself, it will not be a great book. There is not enough going on. But the book isn't bad, it's a good book. Just not one worthy of Hemingway. If your're a huge fan of him, read it, but if your're not don't! Read for whom the bell tolls instead, if you haven't already.
Rating: Summary: For hunters only Review: I am a huge fan of Hemingway. For whom the bell tolls is among my favorite books ever. But this one just didn't come close to Hemingway's greatest books. The green hills of Africa is a book about hunting. A team of hunters go to Africa to hunt kudu. And we follow in the teams tracks as they search for prey. It manages to capture the reader's interest, but unless you are a hunter yourself, it will not be a great book. There is not enough going on. But the book isn't bad, it's a good book. Just not one worthy of Hemingway. If your're a huge fan of him, read it, but if your're not don't! Read for whom the bell tolls instead, if you haven't already.
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