Elspeth Huxley
Paperback | Pages: 281 pages Rating: 4.12 | 5132 Users | 258 Reviews
Point Out Of Books The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood (Elspeth Huxley's Childhood Memoirs #1)
| Title | : | The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood (Elspeth Huxley's Childhood Memoirs #1) |
| Author | : | Elspeth Huxley |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 281 pages |
| Published | : | February 1st 2000 by Penguin Classics (first published 1959) |
| Categories | : | Cultural. Africa. Autobiography. Memoir. Nonfiction. Biography. Eastern Africa. Kenya |
Commentary Toward Books The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood (Elspeth Huxley's Childhood Memoirs #1)
In an open cart Elspeth Huxley set off with her parents to travel to Thika in Kenya. As pioneering settlers, they built a house of grass, ate off a damask cloth spread over packing cases, and discovered—the hard way—the world of the African. With an extraordinary gift for detail and a keen sense of humor, Huxley recalls her childhood on the small farm at a time when Europeans waged their fortunes on a land that was as harsh as it was beautiful. For a young girl, it was a time of adventure and freedom, and Huxley paints an unforgettable portrait of growing up among the Masai and Kikuyu people, discovering both the beauty and the terrors of the jungle, and enduring the rugged realities of the pioneer life.Declare Books In Favor Of The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood (Elspeth Huxley's Childhood Memoirs #1)
| Original Title: | The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood |
| ISBN: | 0141183780 (ISBN13: 9780141183787) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Elspeth Huxley's Childhood Memoirs #1 |
Rating Out Of Books The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood (Elspeth Huxley's Childhood Memoirs #1)
Ratings: 4.12 From 5132 Users | 258 ReviewsAppraise Out Of Books The Flame Trees of Thika: Memories of an African Childhood (Elspeth Huxley's Childhood Memoirs #1)
Firstly: the only horse in this book seems to be on the front cover. That's why I bought it, but it's not a horse book in the slightest.This autobiography tells the story of 6 year old Elspeth and her early years in Africa before World War 1. Her parents (who she calls by name) travel to Thika where they begin a farm by utilising locals for labour. The story is very slow, and it took me a long time to get into it, but once I did I loved it. It's descriptive about the things around her, andThe Flame Trees of Thika, a tale in which said trees are barely mentioned and also not native to the land of Thika. I must preface the only reason I read this book was because Im obsessed with the 1981 miniseries which I recently stumbled upon at our local library. I watched the episodes several times and then realized I must own my own DVD set followed by reading Elspeth Huxleys story. I will be honest in saying, if I didnt love the series so much I wouldve never bothered with the book. Even
This is meant to be a memoir. Unlike other memoirs/diaries/correspondence that some GR readers think are novels, this one really is a novel presented as a memoir. We are told it covers the years when she was aged five to eight. How could a child as young as Elspeth supposedly is during the action, hear those detailed adult conversations and remember them, let alone comprehending what was going on? It's excellently well written, and one could argue that the author talked to people as an adult and
This book reminded me a little bit of Little House on the Prairie with some adult bits thrown in. The main character is a young girl who comes to Kenya with her parents so that they can do the pioneering thing: working with the Kikuyu and Masai, planting coffee, grafting fruit trees, swapping spouses. Meanwhile the little girl waxes poetic about killer ants that can only be avoided with ashes, her pony, buffaloes, war dances, murder, and snippets of the adult world. Her view of Africa is
A memoir of the author's childhood in Thika, a farm area outside Nairobi in colonial Kenya, just prior to World War I in 1913 when the author was six years old. Her quirky parents traveled from England to Thika to start a coffee plantation. In the early 20th century, the area was a mosaic of English, Scottish, and Dutch settlers trying to carve out a place among the native Kikuyu and Masai tribes. Sometimes the two worlds intersected, but rarely did they blend.Huxley looks back on her family's
I spent some time in Kenya in 1996, when I was just a teen, on a mission trip with my church. We spent most of our time in a tiny village called Kibwezi without electricity (but we had running water!), and we lived in tents for a month while we helped out at the polytechnic we sponsored and helped build new classrooms from native brick. It's one of my most cherished memories, and so I love to read books on Kenya throughout its history.I absolutely wanted to love this book. I don't know whether
I enjoyed this memoir very much. I did think it odd that Huxley referred to her parents by their first names. I also have reservations that at 6 or 7 she remembered things that clearly but I suppose every good book depends on good research.
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