Green Hills of Africa

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  • Last Post 11 December 2022
RicinYakima posted this 10 December 2022

Green Hills of Africa + 60 years

I first read this when I was in Junior High School 60 plus years ago. I hated it! Boring, no shooting, no details of what they did and nothing about guns! Then a copy of Hemingway’s Guns found it way to my house. And found an Easton copy of Green Hills of Africa that I thought would be a good addition to my hunting collection. I found out it was excellent!

This is Earnest Hemingway's book on his 1935 safari to East Africa. In the sixty years since I first read it, I have found out the there is a lot more to hunting than the shooting. While there is a lot of discussion on the relationship between the hunters and the professional, the most interesting part was the developing relationship to the African guides, trackers, his wife, and workers.

When you are 14 years old, females are only about sex. At 74, they also have some interesting points about life and comic conversations. Philip Percival, his professional hunter for both his safaris, was the most famous of the 1920’s and 1930’s. His conversations between his wife and Percival and Hemingway are a delight now that I have been married for 55 years. 

It is going to be a long winter here in the north country, so you may want to put this on your reading list.

 

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Larry Gibson posted this 10 December 2022

Excellent book.  Like you I read it when I was in Junior High.  I also found it boring.  I read it again about 30 years ago and found it very interesting.  Guess I'll pull my copy out of the book cabinet and read it again over several wintery days.

LMG 

Concealment is not cover.........

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Aaron posted this 10 December 2022

Literature is wasted on youth. It takes decades of life experience to appreciate literature and, dare I say, poetry. I found my "Complete Poems of Robert Frost" book my father gave to me in 1956 in the attic. I had completely forgotten about the book to be honest with you. I never read it because I don't have an ear for poetry. Surprisingly to me now, there is some great stuff in there. One has to have lived life a little to glean the meaning.

Also found up there is "The American Heritage Book of The Revolution" which my parents inscribed and gave me in 1958. Again, as a youth, it was boring history chock full of dates and useless stories. Now I realize what a gem it is because it tells of raw, unedited history. It's full of bad things, good things, pivotal events, and calculated choices made by true heads of state and people of CHARACTER.

I will be sure to save this cloth bound book for my granddaughters and grandsons so they will have exposure to true American history and not this filth and propaganda they teach now. Hopefully I can secure it so it will not be burned when the black-shirts appear and burn all "incorrect" books.

I have, over the years, read lots of other good works like Moby Dick and Tom Sawyer to name a few. Simply amazing works.

With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.

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Aaron posted this 10 December 2022

Like in the OP, books of adventure to the "Dark Continent" were immensely popular. We knew very little of the workings of the African Continent and even less of the peoples there. Tales of adventure and of hunting were very good reading to adventurous young male minds. Two of my favorites were these two by Charles Lindbergh. As a boy, I was taught by MEN to be a MAN with all of the attending values, discipline, courtesies, roles, and concessions needed to be a societal and familial contributor. Times sure have changed.

With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.

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hporter posted this 10 December 2022

Ric,

Thanks for sharing that title.  I have read many of Hemingways works, but not that one.  I looked it up on Amazon and they have the kindle version available.  So I will have to get a copy.

It is unfortunate and a pity that I don't seem to have much time for reading lately.  As I would much rather read than watch TV or other things.  It seems the only time I can pinch, is right before lights out, on the Kindle in bed.

But I do enjoy listening to them in Audible format, on the commute to and from work.  So that is another option for reading this one.

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Mfitz717 posted this 10 December 2022

I became very interested in reading about safaris/big game hunting for a bit, I still need to finish Elmer Keith’s autobiography, which is very hard to find. Are any of the books by Capstick good? I will have to look into some Hemingway books and get back to reading rather than watching mindless tv.

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RicinYakima posted this 10 December 2022

Before or after he was sued for plagiarism? I didn't think much of them, as he was on a ego trip the whole time. However, I have friends that love all of his books and think they are wonderful. Start with "Death in the Tall (Long?) Grass" and see if you like it. Some folks like Jack O'Conner more than Elmer Keith, and others don't. 

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Mfitz717 posted this 10 December 2022

I’m an Elmer Keith fan, what got me into hand loading was the 44 mag, and I do have some books by Jack. I didn’t know Capstick was sued for plagiarism.

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beagle6 posted this 11 December 2022

I think the best books on African Hunting ( and I think I've read them all) are by Finn Aargaard. Unfortuneatly they are now very expensive.

beagle6

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RicinYakima posted this 11 December 2022

 I was always surprised that Ernest Hemmingway's son Patrick, who spend 20 years as a professional hunter in East Africa, never wrote about his life. I guess he didn't feel he could write as well as his father. 

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muley posted this 11 December 2022

i have a number of Capsticks books, mesmerizing

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Lucky1 posted this 11 December 2022

As long as you understand that several of Capsticks' book are somewhat like a Readers Digest highlights of hunting books most of us don't have access to.... it's great. One of my favorites are Jim Corbett's Man Eaters of Kumaon, India Stories etc. The man's descriptive prose is captivating and he has enough hair raising adventures for a dozen people. Time to dig through my library again.

Scott Ingle

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