Status
Available
Description
Schweizeren Corinne Hofmann (f. 1960) fortæller om de 4 år hun som gift med en masaikriger levede blandt masaier i Kenya, om ritualer, familiestrukturer og barske levevilkår og om de kulturelle sammenstød.
User reviews
LibraryThing member LyzzyBee
05 Jun 2009 - Sensible Bookshop, Hay on Wye
A salutory lesson in "marry in haste, repent at leisure". It's a bit hard to identify with the author - yes, I know you don't have to identify fully with every narrator/character to enjoy a book, but with a memoir or travel narrative it's nice to be able
There are some harrowing stories of life in a small village with accidents and births gone wrong, and the book seemed to me to be sad without being moving, perhaps as the author's actions seemed so very alien to me. Not sure why - but it was interesting and the insights into the culture were of value.
A salutory lesson in "marry in haste, repent at leisure". It's a bit hard to identify with the author - yes, I know you don't have to identify fully with every narrator/character to enjoy a book, but with a memoir or travel narrative it's nice to be able
Show More
to understand the characters' motivations and thoughts. This lady goes to Kenya on holiday, sets eyes on a Masai Warrior and decides he is the One. She kind of pursues him, I'm afraid to say, and while it is admirable to have that kind of stamina, single-mindedness and persistence, it's a shame that the cultures are so different, and the differences seem so insurmountable. Mama is the character in the book who comes out best, and I hope her life continued well - she does her best to embrace her strange new member of the family. There are some harrowing stories of life in a small village with accidents and births gone wrong, and the book seemed to me to be sad without being moving, perhaps as the author's actions seemed so very alien to me. Not sure why - but it was interesting and the insights into the culture were of value.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Clueless
A Swiss woman is on holiday in Kenya and falls truly, madly deeply in love with a Masai warrior. She goes home sells her business and all her possessions, returns to Kenya to set up housekeeping with the Masai.
I’m sorry but this relationship had no chance. The power difference between the two was
I think a great deal of this book is revisionist. She’s telling the story in retrospect which certainly must contain abridgments. I think the word I’m looking for here is ‘denial’. In the sense that Corinne rewrites her personal history to her liking.
I’m sorry but this relationship had no chance. The power difference between the two was
Show More
so great. Maybe she felt she was in love, and she certainly was. But not with the man but her idealized idea of him. If she had truly loved him she would have never pursued him. Because even an idiot could see that a relationship with her would destroy him. When the reality turns out to be incontrovertible the relationship falls apart. He was dazzled by her -- by her Westerness and seemingly endless wealth. There was no way her could ever feel confident of her fidelity with such vast disparity between them.I think a great deal of this book is revisionist. She’s telling the story in retrospect which certainly must contain abridgments. I think the word I’m looking for here is ‘denial’. In the sense that Corinne rewrites her personal history to her liking.
Show Less
LibraryThing member bookworm12
A Swiss woman travels to Africa with her boyfriend for vacation. While there she meets a Masai warrior, decides she’s in love, breaks up with said boyfriend, and pursues a relationship with a man with whom she doesn’t even speak the same language.
I read this for my book club. I only mention
I don’t think anyone would be shocked to find out that there are huge cultural differences between the two. The way the men and women relate in their different cultures, the way food is made, the way weddings occur, etc. You name it and it’s different from what she knows. She also spent most of her time in Africa near death from different diseases or broke down on the side of the road.
BOTTOM LINE: I hated it. I just wanted to slap the author for all of her naïve and dangerous decisions. She didn’t take her life or the situation seriously until the very end. There were dozens of red flags, but nothing seemed to matter except her blind infatuation. Ugh.
I read this for my book club. I only mention
Show More
that because if it hadn't been for book club then there's no way I would have finished this. The writing is pretty awful, the actual events are infuriating and the end result is not surprising.I don’t think anyone would be shocked to find out that there are huge cultural differences between the two. The way the men and women relate in their different cultures, the way food is made, the way weddings occur, etc. You name it and it’s different from what she knows. She also spent most of her time in Africa near death from different diseases or broke down on the side of the road.
BOTTOM LINE: I hated it. I just wanted to slap the author for all of her naïve and dangerous decisions. She didn’t take her life or the situation seriously until the very end. There were dozens of red flags, but nothing seemed to matter except her blind infatuation. Ugh.
Show Less
LibraryThing member pipapip
This was a great story but the translation from German into English lost a bit.
LibraryThing member storkbyte
A frustrating read. I can't believe someone would take the chances she did. Was she out of her mind or simply in love? To be so unaware of the health risks of living in Africa and to give herself completely to a man she really didn't know. There were times I wish I could reach into the book and
Show More
shake some sense intor her. Of course, I had to finish reading it out of curiousity. Not a book I'd highly recommend. Show Less
LibraryThing member dianemb
Very interesting book a book a Swiss woman's experience of marriage to a traditional Masai warrior.
LibraryThing member Liciasings
Fascinating, couragous memoir. Felt like I was there, in Kenya, with the Swiss and the Masai. Sad towards the end, very curious about her next 2 books. I love Africa, have been to Kenya and am always interested in cross-cultural relationships, so this book was perfect for me. Even though the
Show More
writing was a little bit tedious at times, the story was intimately told and irrisistable. Show Less
LibraryThing member rohetherington
I started Chapter 1 and five hours later I'd finished. An extraordinary true love story, fun anthropology lesson and gripping adventure rolled into one.
Note: this is not 'well written' in the traditional sense, but that seemed unimportant to me due to the strength of the story. (It's more like
Note: this is not 'well written' in the traditional sense, but that seemed unimportant to me due to the strength of the story. (It's more like
Show More
reading a diary than a novel.) Show Less
LibraryThing member mrn945
I was fascinated by the people in this book, though at heart it speaks to the feeling in all women that love will defy all boundaries, and that we can change our men. This is, for the most part, wrong. Don't try.
However, it was the descriptions of the country that made me yearn for Eastern Africa
In any case, despite the beautiful way Corinne Hofmann describes the country, the way her husband treats her and the manner in which she is forced to live is horrific to those of us living in the Western World. I don't want to give too much away, but she puts up with far too much before she finally escapes. In the end, while I was happy that she got away, the book ended so abruptly that the ultimate conclusion wasn't entirely satisfying.
However, it was the descriptions of the country that made me yearn for Eastern Africa
Show More
in ways you cannot imagine if you haven't been there yet. There is simply something about that continent that grabs you by the heart. When she wrote in the first few chapters about the way in which the country immediately took her and wouldn't let go, I couldn't stop thinking about the way Tanzania did the same thing to me.In any case, despite the beautiful way Corinne Hofmann describes the country, the way her husband treats her and the manner in which she is forced to live is horrific to those of us living in the Western World. I don't want to give too much away, but she puts up with far too much before she finally escapes. In the end, while I was happy that she got away, the book ended so abruptly that the ultimate conclusion wasn't entirely satisfying.
Show Less
LibraryThing member pmarshall
I was expecting great things from this book, “The White Masai” but it fell flat and turned into a broken romance, battered woman story. Corrine Hofmann, a successful young business woman in Switzerland, travels to Kenya with her boy friend for a two week holiday when she looks across a room and
She starts a village store, which carried foodstuffs, used clothing and other essentials to daily living. It is a success until her husband takes over and fires the staff and moves in his own people. Then she is robbed blind. As her life crumbles around her she moves to Mombassa in an attempt to put a physical distance between herself and Lketinga, which ultimately leads to her, leaving Kenya with her daughter.
In the 1980’s for a successful businesswoman to make such a major change in her life seems so improvable. The ending is written into the beginning when she accepts him as he is and makes all the changes in her life. It is poorly edited and repetitious and I found this slowed down my reading of the book. It still is an interesting book to read.
Show More
sees a Masai warrior dressed in a red loin cloth with painted face, chest and hair. She is immediately smitten and tries to find him again, which she does. She pretty much gives up all aspects of her white cultured life to live with her warrior, Lketinga. Hofmann lives in a Masai village, sharing housing with her mother-in-law for the next four years. She has a daughter about halfway through this period of time. She starts a village store, which carried foodstuffs, used clothing and other essentials to daily living. It is a success until her husband takes over and fires the staff and moves in his own people. Then she is robbed blind. As her life crumbles around her she moves to Mombassa in an attempt to put a physical distance between herself and Lketinga, which ultimately leads to her, leaving Kenya with her daughter.
In the 1980’s for a successful businesswoman to make such a major change in her life seems so improvable. The ending is written into the beginning when she accepts him as he is and makes all the changes in her life. It is poorly edited and repetitious and I found this slowed down my reading of the book. It still is an interesting book to read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member BookConcierge
This is a memoir of a “hit-by-a-truck-in-LUV” Swiss/German woman and the Masai warrior she lusts after. Despite her protestations of love (both she for him, and he for her), there is no love here. Love requires knowing one another and mutual respect. She’s just infatuated.
She spends the
PUHLEEZE!
Yet, this horror is strangely compelling. I give it 2 stars for keeping me turning pages.
She spends the
Show More
first third of the book telling us over and over how handsome “my Masai” is, despite his occasional bouts of moodiness. She spends the middle detailing all the problems they have getting the paperwork done for … a car, a shop, a passport, a marriage. The last third is her bemoaning her own stupidity as she realizes she has married a lazy, alcoholic, mental case and is reduced to sobs every other page. PUHLEEZE!
Yet, this horror is strangely compelling. I give it 2 stars for keeping me turning pages.
Show Less
LibraryThing member VhartPowers
It's fragmented in the beginning, I think this works out with the fact that she was learning English, but it does start to flow better as the story continues. I think the author wrote this to be a love story, but it's a train wreck all the way through and I couldn't help thinking, "noooooo, what
Corinne goes to Kenya with her boyfriend, sees a Masai and thinks she's instantly in love with him. She ends her life in Switzerland to be with this Masai.
In this culture the men own their wives and children. The women do all the work and when she buys a car, the tribe feels it belongs to them all.
I'm not sure if the author wrote the book as a love story, but as an independent woman it was hard for me to grasp why she would do what she did and didn't feel it was a love story at all, but more like a train wreck.
Show More
are you doing?" And apparently everyone else told her this too. Corinne goes to Kenya with her boyfriend, sees a Masai and thinks she's instantly in love with him. She ends her life in Switzerland to be with this Masai.
In this culture the men own their wives and children. The women do all the work and when she buys a car, the tribe feels it belongs to them all.
I'm not sure if the author wrote the book as a love story, but as an independent woman it was hard for me to grasp why she would do what she did and didn't feel it was a love story at all, but more like a train wreck.
Show Less