tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3958492963483272678.post2540549968787320267..comments2024-03-28T11:17:43.586+00:00Comments on Read-warbler: The Overloaded ArkCathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371069000185280668noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3958492963483272678.post-797925490468607492014-07-21T23:14:42.425+01:002014-07-21T23:14:42.425+01:00Margaret: Well it's a start at any rate. LOL I...Margaret: Well it's a start at any rate. LOL I read My Family just a few years ago and thought it was magical. <br /><br />Part of the reason for doing this is to increase my knowledge, even if only a little bit.<br /><br />Jeane: I had realised how many he wrote until I checked FantasticFiction. You wouldn't have thought he'd have had the time.<br /><br />Bibliobio: I'm hoping... 'planning'... to read all kinds of books, so yes there will be books 'from' Africa as well as about. Modern as well as historical. In fact I fully realise that the best thing to do would be to read several books about each country to get a proper perspective. Whether that'll happen is hard to say but I hope so eventually.<br /><br />Realistically, all this book has provided me with is a snapshot of a country within a limited time-frame and from a certain pov. I got a good idea of the landscape, the flora and the fauna and an idea of how native populations were treated in the 1950s. No way is this modern-day Cameroons but then I didn't expect it to be and was aware going into it that the perspective would be of a certain kind. My late father-in-law was in Rhodesia as a young man (1930s) and talked about his experiences in very much the same manner as Durrell. I don't tend to struggle with it, to be honest. I don't always like what I'm reading but it is what it is, it happened, and I find it all very interesting to read about. <br /><br />Cathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06371069000185280668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3958492963483272678.post-22029030137353612182014-07-21T10:05:32.929+01:002014-07-21T10:05:32.929+01:00This sounds like an interesting outsider's acc...This sounds like an interesting outsider's account, and also from the actual nature side of things. I'm curious though (and this is absolutely not meant in a judgmental or snarky way!) if you plan to mostly read books <i>about</i> Africa as opposed to books <i>from</i> Africa. As you say yourself, there's a problematic angle of Durrell very much being a product of his time, and very much of his background as well. How do you think this influences your impression of the country? And how may it ultimately influence your African "travels"? I often find myself struggling with two opposing sides when I read books from problematic perspectives, I'm curious to know how other readers deal with it...Meytal Radzinskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15805413335735169073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3958492963483272678.post-22924291446346603542014-07-20T23:00:42.659+01:002014-07-20T23:00:42.659+01:00I'm very fond of Gerald Durrell's books- a...I'm very fond of Gerald Durrell's books- and he wrote so many, and I've read so few of them! I just ordered four more from book mooch so I hope to read more soon.Jeanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02270303640902731044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3958492963483272678.post-19123400079827023252014-07-20T18:41:56.875+01:002014-07-20T18:41:56.875+01:00You've made a great start! I read My Family an...You've made a great start! I read My Family and Other Animals when I was at school and remember it was very entertaining about his childhood on Corfu. <br /><br />You're going to be know so much about Africa soon! I'm still thinking about doing something similar but as I want to concentrate on reading from my TBRs it's proving a bit difficult.BooksPleasehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08721650104596705715noreply@blogger.com