Hem In A Dress

Just finished "Under Kilimanjaro" this weekend.

Well, this is both of them in 1928. Karen Bixen (Isak Denison) was 43, Hem was 29. "Out Of Africa" was published in 1937. "The Green Hills of Africa" in 1935. "Under Kilimanjaro"  by Hem was written in the 50s. Reading "Out of Africa" and "Under Kilimanjaro"  back to back, one realizes that the structure, the componants, the relationships and details are strung together in the second book as if he was dreaming Karen's book. The difference is that hers is about farming, his is about hunting. The rest could be dismissed as cloning. They both give medical treatment to the natives, they both go kill lions or leopards that killing livestock. They discuss the quaint customs and behavior of the natives they know well. They are both assuming parental roles with the natives. They both go on about their relationships with friends and loved ones without any real resolution. Even the late part of both books about flying over the African countryside. The version that Hem's son edited "True At First Light" tried to make it into a novel about infidelity, etc. but it didn't really work, because there is little conflict in either version about his wanting the native girl, other than his own guilt about it. Mary, his wife, doesn't seem to care. The native girl doesn't care. I'd recommend the Hemingway book to someone who was a passionate hunter. Otherwise, I'd tell folks to read Karen's book and not to bother with the other one. (Unless, of course, you are still trying to learn to write- there's a lot to be learned from reading unfinished works as well as notebooks and published copies of transcripts of editing in progress)