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Rating:  -
I did volunteer work at Kuki's Ol Ari Nyrio in 11/07 and it was the most amazing experience of my life. I also had dinner with Kuki and she is an artist- attentive, creative, intelligent, and misses nothing. Africa is a place like no other-you cannot expect the norm - truth is always more interesting & stranger than fiction, remember. Kuki is an amazing person and the work she has done for the people & animals in the area, without spoiling the natural habitat or trying to change the people's ways, is well told. The death of her son and husband, so tragic, has led her to different levels in life, where so much work has been done for the good of generations to come. Read her books-they are wonderful!
Rating: -
I Dreamed of Africa is a fascinating, compelling story of an indominatable, larger than life individual, Kuki Gallman, and her life's journey from aristocratic beginnings in Italy to settling in the Great Rift Valley area of Kenya, Africa, with her adventuring, glamorous second husband, Paolo and her son Emanuele. The book is a personal and touching story of discovery, transformation, overcoming major tragedy, and the land, dreams and hopes of Kuki's Africa.
Rating: -
It was a heart warming story and its one of the things where the book is better than the movie. And it is so sad that it makes it good. I love it and going to get the movie when it comes out and also I'm going to save the book for a long time.
Rating:  -
I Dreamed of Africa is a ponderous, meandering book about a woman's experience setting up a ranch/home in Africa. Along the way, she loses both her husband and son to totally avoidable accidents. I have read many, many books about Africa and this one clearly falls under the guise of "European Aristocrat Who Values Nature and Other Aristocrats More Than Africans." There is countless name dropping, frequent references to noble lineages, and absolutely no mention of how this woman can maintain an extravagant lifestyle including multiple servants, a sprawling estate in a region known for sprawling estates owned by White colonialists, an airplane (if they are such a necessity in Africa - why don't all Kenyans own one???), and a graceful home in Nairobi. She and her husband pick up and move to Africa on a whim...nice gig if you have the cash and lack any real commitments. Her life seems to be a neverending circle of cocktail parties, interspersed with tragedies that wear thin - especially when her family members have a reckless streak that begets an early and untimely death. Africans are relegated to the role of anthropological relics, while the author cavorts with the really strange cast of white folks that are long-term Kenyan residents (such as the Dellameres - one of whom is on trial in 2005-2006 for murdering a Kenyan game warden and facing the death penalty). Much time is dedicated to expounding upon the wonders of her son (a genius, psychic, great with the ladies, budding scientist, etc - you get the idea) - who she lets raise poisonous snakes that eventually (SURPRISE!) kill him. If one did not know any better and judged all Whites in Africa by this book, they would erroneously think Robert Mugabe took just action confiscating White-owned farms in Zimbabwe, after reading this book. Spare yourself the trouble and stay clear of this book.
Rating: -
While Kuki Gallman may not be this way in real life, she does come across in her book as a self-indulgent privileged white woman. Although she speaks about her fascination for Africa starting from her childhood, it is never presented to the reader in tangible or inspirational terms. Okay, a few of the hunting scenes and descriptions of the wildlife were vivid, but the land and the people are never really made interesting enough for the reader. The reader should be aware that this book is a very personal account and one made to show the writer in the best light. I think many important things were conveniently glossed over. Such as, how did her and her husband Paolo buy the ranch? Her affair with a married man and the unspoken 'complication' that ended their relationship to name a few.
She has, undoubtedly, suffered many horrible tragedies in her life and I did feel sad reading about them but towards the end it was like, 'enough already'. I felt like she was just running off lists of the latest person to die. The good work she has actually done in the area of conservation almost gets lost amongst all the tales of woe.
The way she talks about Africa and the Kenyans also reminded me of the 19th century 'noble savage' cliche. While her family and friends are portrayed for their inate specialness, we never get to know much about the African people, other than their role as her servants. In fact, it seems that her staff have no other life than the one that revolves around her, her parties, and the tragedies she suffers. The only one she really gives much praise to is the cook and that was only because he was apparently 'clever' enough to learn the European style of cooking that would impress Kuki's VIP guests. Given that this book is set in the 1970's and 1980's these parts just made me cringe.
I wouldn't recommend this book at all, unfortunately.
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