 | | |
| The White Masai: My Exotic Tale of Love and Adventure | 
 enlarge | Author: Corinne Hofmann
Publisher: Amistad
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $5.27
You Save: $9.68 (65%)
Buy New/Used from $5.05
Avg. Customer Rating:  (9 reviews)
Sales Rank: 84906
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0061131539
Dewey Decimal Number: 920
EAN: 9780061131530
ASIN: 0061131539
Publication Date: October 1, 2007
Release Date: October 2, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The runaway international bestseller is now an American must-read for lovers of adventure, travel writing, and romance. Corinne Hofmann tells how she falls in love with an African warrior while on holiday in Kenya. After overcoming severe obstacles, she moves into a tiny hut with him and his mother, and spends four years in his Kenyan village. Slowly but surely, the dream starts to crumble, and she hatches a plan to return home with her daughter, a baby born of the seemingly indestructible love between a white European woman and a Masai. Compulsively readable, The White Masai is at once a hopelessly romantic love story, a gripping adventure yarn, and a fine piece of meticulously observed social anthropology.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Interesting but hard to take at times July 23, 2008
I found this book to be quite interesting - interesting to learn about the Masai people, the struggles involved in accomplishing ANYTHING in a place like Kenya, and the love relationship itself. I was eager to see how it all turned out but I did find myself frequently annoyed at Ms. Hofmann. I understood her quest for adventure, the willingness to toss out her old, stable life for something totally different, but found it hard to believe she was willing to sacrifice so much for so little in return. As some of the other reviewers mention, she seemed somewhat naive, thinking that this relationship was really going to work despite the vast cultural differences. I had a hard time understanding why she loved this man so much, when he treated her so poorly and frequently ruined every attempt she made to build them a stable life - their cultural differences just seemed too vast and why she didn't figure that out sooner was a mystery to me. She often jeopardized her own health to stay in this relationship, as well as her financial security. I found myself very angry at her for jeopardizing the health of her child (before and after birth).
I don't think she complained a lot as some of the other reviewers mention - I think she overcame extreme hardships to try to make this relationship work and was very resourceful at times. As far as the writing, perhaps it was in the translation but the "my darling" references did get old and the language was a bit flowery.
I think if this book had been truly fiction instead of a memoir, I would have thrown it aside in disgust because I would have found it too far-fetched. However, I don't have to agree with someone's choices to find their stories interesting, and I think this book is exactly that. I gave it four stars because I did find it so interesting - not because the writing is spectacular or because I thought Ms. Hofmann had done something admirable.
A great read about Africa and finding love July 20, 2008
I just returned from Tanzania and picked up this book because I wanted to know more about the Masai Tribe. The book was an excellent read and gave me a greater insight to the living conditions and how people managed. You have to have an open mind to read the book and absorb the information, but it is a quick easy read, and will make you think twice about your own life and how far you will go for love.
Very nice book, read with one breath May 31, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have just finished rading this book. I really liked it, although I could never do what Corinne did. I think the bad reviews for this book do not take into accountance that Corinne was prepared to stay with the man she loved and sacrificed everything for - literally. I would call her anyhting but selfish. It was HIS fault she had to run. His jealousy destroyd everything. He was lazy and spent the money SHE earned on beer and some euphoric chewing plant. He did not want to discuss anything at any time. Do not blame her, but a man who was ill and obsessive. I admired Corinne for her courage and her creativity. They could have lived together very well because of her business mind set and hardworking nature. Her relationship with Lkentiga's mother was touching even though they could communicate. Thanks to this book I could learn more about the Masai culture. I do not have a feeling at all that she in any way undermined the Kenyan culture. She loved it and that is why she wanted to live there. Poeple get divorced because od jealousy evrywhere. She suffered more than any woman could ever take. I cannot wait to read the sequals.
 Boring, stupid trash. Read it if you want to hate the moronic April 28, 2008
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
OK, I admit: I fell for the catchy advertisement on the back cover of the book and now I'm out of $[...] and two hours of my life. The book is about a spoiled, uninformed, unsophisticated, and very stupid Swiss woman who went to Kenya on vacation, got horny and ended up in a mud house with a man from the stone age. The story is so unbelievable and moronic that it would be almost readable just for the curiosity's sake if it weren't so poorly written and translated. It is hard to believe this trash is an international bestseller - can it be that everyone else was as stupid as I was and fell for the cheesy advertising? Anyway, waste your money if you wish - by the end of the book you will wish that Ms. Corinne Hofmann got eaten by her Masai lover.
Trite, poorly writen and lame April 7, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Want to read about a rich white woman who makes poor life choices in Africa? Want to read the most dispassionate "love story" since my parents? Want to read a book about a 27 year old woman who is totally unlikable from page 1? Well, then this is the book for you.
This book was highly recommended from a friend of mine so I gave it a go. Right from the start I knew I was in trouble. I mean, she uses phrases like "Strange and alien as this man is, he attracts me like a magnet." Seriously? Are we in first year creative writing class here? The whole book is full of little gems like that. Most of them demeaning to African people. She keeps calling the man "my Masai". That's not romantic, it's just wrong. People are not property lady. And um, not in Africa.
And, quickly let me point out how unlikable she is. She begins the book with a boyfriend, dumps him for a man she literally sees once, marries the guy, has a baby, complains a lot and then...moves on. Whatever. If she were my friend I would b-slap her for acting like that.
If you want a GOOD travel romance read "EAT PRAY LOVE. It is excellent.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| | |