"I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong Hills."
So goes the opening line of Isak Dinesen's celebrated memoir, as well the first words spoken in the motion picture of the same name, Out of Africa. I've been thinking about the book all week and how much I enjoyed reading it nearly thirty years ago as I rode the train into Center City Philadelphia on my way to rehearsals at the Walnut Street Theatre for a play In which I was performing. (Performing is a generous description as I was actually moving furniture around the set while wearing a French Restoration costume.)
The book took me out of myself and away from a bleak, grey winter. It's funny how I don't remember a lot of detail from the book, but I completely remember the feeling of transformation, of being happily lost a midst the tall grass, and the joy of vicarious exploration.
The film version did much the same thing for me this past Tuesday when I happened upon it while channel surfing as I waited for the State of The Union address to commence. I never did flip back to CNN until after the movie was over. It's just as well. I get far too anxious watching these annual addresses, and especially the opposition responses. I was much better off luxuriating in John Barry's lush score, the picture perfect cinematography and costumes, and the ill fated romance between Meryl Streep and Robert Redford.
The book took me out of myself and away from a bleak, grey winter. It's funny how I don't remember a lot of detail from the book, but I completely remember the feeling of transformation, of being happily lost a midst the tall grass, and the joy of vicarious exploration.
The film version did much the same thing for me this past Tuesday when I happened upon it while channel surfing as I waited for the State of The Union address to commence. I never did flip back to CNN until after the movie was over. It's just as well. I get far too anxious watching these annual addresses, and especially the opposition responses. I was much better off luxuriating in John Barry's lush score, the picture perfect cinematography and costumes, and the ill fated romance between Meryl Streep and Robert Redford.
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