Dennis Finch Hatten was an interesting man but he was not that exceptional in his time.
he did what privileged white men with too much money did in those days, looked for a piece of the Empire to call his own.
by far the most interesting parts of his life story are his relationships with Karen Blixen and Beryl Markham and being a fan of both, this is why I read the book They were truly extraordinary, albeit also privileged, loved their Kenya and their Dennis and led spectacular lives.
I went to see the obelisk marked spot where he is buried, with the view of both Mt Kenya and Mt Kilimanjaro and recalled Karen s words about the lions who made themselves at home on top of his grave It was everything I ever wanted to know about Denys Finch Hatton let s just say that It was a MUCH complete picture of the man than was sketched out in Out of Africa and MORE More British History, British Africa Infomation than I ever would have wanted, characters than Ms Diesen wrote about and More about her It was slow going and hard to get into at first, but the depth of information was overwhelming at times I was forced than once to look up words, so I have to admit that it was not easy reading, but I learned a lot There is a lot out there to read about the people and times and the author s bibliography is quite a jumping off point So many of the people wrote their own books and I will probably look into most of them sometime in the future, if they are still available It was an amazing time period and an amazing place to be and is worth reading about I thought the author Champion Of Africa, Legendary For His Good Looks, His Charm, And His Prowess As A Soldier, Lover, And Hunter, Denys Finch Hatton Inspired Karen Blixen To Write The Unforgettable Out Of Africa Now Esteemed British Biographer Sara Wheeler Tells The Truth About This Extraordinarily Charismatic AdventurerBorn To An Old Aristocratic Family That Had Gambled Away Most Of Its Fortune, Finch Hatton Grew Up In A World Of Effortless Elegance And Boundless Power [ read Online Too Close to the Sun: The Audacious Life and Times of Denys Finch Hatton Ú royal-air-force PDF ] by Sara Wheeler Å In , Searching For Something New, He Arrived In British East Africa And Fell In Love With A Continent, With A Landscape, With A Way Of Life That Was About To Change Forever In Nairobi, Finch Hatton Met Karen Blixen And Embarked On One Of The Great Love Affairs Of The Twentieth Century Intellectual Equals, Finch Hatton And Blixen Were Genuine Pioneers In A Land That Was Quickly Being Transformed By Violence, Greed, And Bigotry Ever Restless, Finch Hatton Wandered Into A Career As A Big Game Hunter And Became An Expert Bush Pilot Mesmerized All His Life By The Allure Of Freedom And Danger, Finch Hatton Was, Writes Wheeler, The Open Road Made Flesh Mixed bag The author s big challenge is that there is very little historical record on Denys Finch Hatton, making it difficult to write a compelling biography What succeeds well are the descriptions and background information on England and British East Africa Kenya during Denys s time Understandably not quite as successful are the descriptions of Denys himself The writing is also occasionally disjointed Particularly some of the footnotes, the author s own experiences, do not seem relevant to the story while it is, perhaps, interesting that she went off the map in Antarctica, would argue that it does not fit the narrative even when describing the contemporary aerial maps of Kenya with their uncharted territories The abrupt ending, although probably intended to mirror the abrupt end of Denys s life, was a bit jarring This is an ordinary story of big guns and small planes, princes from England and sultans from Zanzibar, roulette, a famous divorce case, a Welsh castle and a Gilbertine priority, marauding lions, syphilis, bankruptcy, self destruction, and the tragedy of the human heart Ok so the reason for reading this book Sara Wheeler.
I ve been wanting to read something by Sara Wheeler again and have probably waited too long to do so , since I read and loved Terra Incognita.
So I went about this in a roundabout way, after reading Beryl Markham s fantastic West with the Night some thoughts on this later , and deciding to see what else there was to read about that era of colonial Africa She does mention Denys Finch Hatton in the book.
So this Denys Finch Hatton Who was he Besides being played by Robert Redford in the film version that is.
He was Really enjoyed this I d read Out of Africa years ago and have seen the film a couple of times, but knew Denys Finch Hatton solely through them It was nice to get a complete picture of him He was certainly well loved by his friends and acquaintances He was a person who seemed destined to die fairly young in many ways, he never really grew up.
ä Too Close to the Sun: The Audacious Life and Times of Denys Finch Hatton ä Denys Finch Hatton 1887 1931 may evoke for millions the visage of Robert Redford, who plays this quintessential British adventurer with an American accent in Out of Africa Finch Hatton, the original, had sherry colored hair and topsoil brown eyes, Sara Wheeler reports in Too Close to the Sun The Audacious Life and Times of Denys Finch Hatton Random House, 320 pages, 27.
95 His aristocratic ancestors gambled their money away, and Denys was confronted with two choices become a decadent nobleman in the manner of a Henry James protagonist in search of a rich American heiress, or restore the family fortunes by seeking new worlds to conquer in virgin territories such as Africa, where European powers were slicing apart the continent and setting up their own preserves like so many casinos on the Atlantic City Boardwalk.
Finch Hatton decided to pursu just picked this up from the library 10 01 07A fascinating portrait of a man who became famous despite not accomplishing much of anything A portrait in how charisma and charm can create a legend.
I think what disturbed me most about this book is the obvioius bias the author has against Karen Blixen, otherwise known as Isak Dinesen In the introduction, the author refers to her as a monster , yet little, at least in what is presented, seems to back this up Whether this is due to the author s attempt to present a fair story is debatable The words used to describe her are often negative In fact, descriptions of Beryl Markham, another amazing woman, who had less of a moral center than many seem gentler.
It is obvious that the author had a great affection for her subject Perhaps she even fell in love with him a bit All in all, a biography of a m

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If you liked the movie Out of Africa staring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, then I think you will cherish this book While the book focuses on the relationship of Denys Finch Hatton and Isak Disenstan, mainly, it paints a loving panorama of the beauty of East Africa This was the time of big game hunting Safari s were a great way to see, and slaughter as many animals as possible Finch Hatton came to realize that shoting from a camera and capturing the stunning beauty of the animal, was much better than the sheer killing for trophy.
If you know if the British subjugation of India, then you will relate to the same behaviors in Africa Taking over the land that was not theirs to parcel out and collect tax, making the natives unable to pay, all too quickly they took a continent of those who had been there first and made it as though they would n read this at the same time as reading Isak Dinesen, the Life of a Storyteller by Judith Thurman, and West With the Night by Beryl Markham for a wonderful Out of Africa experience The Felicity character in the film Out of Africa was intended by the screenwriting team to represent some of the independent characteristics of Beryl Markham.