Saturday, November 13, 2004
The Mottled Lizard by Elspeth Huxley
Elspeth Huxley spent most of her childhood in Kenya and her earliest experiences are chronicled in her book The Flame Trees of Thika.
The Mottled Lizard picks up Elspeth's life after the War. Elspeth and her family return to Kenya and Thika. Elspeth's parents, Robin and Tilly, work endlessly and yet can't seem to get ahead. Unlike some of their fellow colonists, they fully enjoy the land and their experiences as they live them. Other people become bogged down in the hardships or else let go of all responsibility and party until their lives collapse.
Elspeth writes anonymous reviews of country life and polo matches for pocket money and raises a cheetah and other animals. She is very matter of fact about her hunting for food and the interior dialogue that she engages in after going on hunting safari. She relates much of the gossip that surrounded her with a laugh at herself for having missed most of the implications. I found her description of interations between the colonists, Kikuyu, Wakambi, Dorodo, and Masai very interesting. She is able to see differences in how each set of people understands the world affects their interactions. She also sets forth different views from people around her about civilization and what it really means...from those who feel that the colonists are losing their civilized ways to those who feel that real civilization comes from totally abandoning Western ways. Elspeth's descriptive language is exquisite.
I bought this copy at the thrift store for .60 but as I read the book fell apart. I'll probably buy another copy to keep next to Flame Trees of Thika.
I also recommend No Picnic on Mount Kenya. This is a cross between a travelogue and The Great Escape. Three Italians escape from a British POW camp in East Africa in order to climb Mount Kenya. Their plan is to escape, climb the mountain, and sneak back into camp. Neither the escape nor the climb is as easy as imagined but the strength of human spirit and the boredom and ennui of war camp are brightly displayed.
The Mottled Lizard picks up Elspeth's life after the War. Elspeth and her family return to Kenya and Thika. Elspeth's parents, Robin and Tilly, work endlessly and yet can't seem to get ahead. Unlike some of their fellow colonists, they fully enjoy the land and their experiences as they live them. Other people become bogged down in the hardships or else let go of all responsibility and party until their lives collapse.
Elspeth writes anonymous reviews of country life and polo matches for pocket money and raises a cheetah and other animals. She is very matter of fact about her hunting for food and the interior dialogue that she engages in after going on hunting safari. She relates much of the gossip that surrounded her with a laugh at herself for having missed most of the implications. I found her description of interations between the colonists, Kikuyu, Wakambi, Dorodo, and Masai very interesting. She is able to see differences in how each set of people understands the world affects their interactions. She also sets forth different views from people around her about civilization and what it really means...from those who feel that the colonists are losing their civilized ways to those who feel that real civilization comes from totally abandoning Western ways. Elspeth's descriptive language is exquisite.
I bought this copy at the thrift store for .60 but as I read the book fell apart. I'll probably buy another copy to keep next to Flame Trees of Thika.
I also recommend No Picnic on Mount Kenya. This is a cross between a travelogue and The Great Escape. Three Italians escape from a British POW camp in East Africa in order to climb Mount Kenya. Their plan is to escape, climb the mountain, and sneak back into camp. Neither the escape nor the climb is as easy as imagined but the strength of human spirit and the boredom and ennui of war camp are brightly displayed.
# posted by JJ @ 8:16 AM 
