In this book, Hemingway recounts his experiences as a hunter in Africa.

When I started reading it, I thought the book would explain about the hunting culture in Africa and its importance among the people. However, this book is nothing more than the diary of a hunter, in which he tells you about the places and people he met, as well as the animals he hunted.

Nevertheless, as a hunter, I really enjoyed the book and it managed to excite me even more about the idea of going on a safari in Africa someday.

“Where a man feels at home, outside of where he’s born, is where he’s meant to go”. This quote from the book really stuck with me. It makes me think about the places in the world that I might feel a special connection to, outside of my own hometown. Maybe it's a place I've visited before, or maybe it's a place that I've always dreamed of going to. Hemingway's words make me believe that there is a place out there for everyone, a place where we truly belong.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in hunting or in learning about Africa. It's a fascinating read that will take you on a journey through the eyes of one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.

Where a man feels at home, outside of where he's born, is where he's meant to go.\\"
- Ernest Hemingway





Once, when I was 11 or 12, I pleaded with my father to take me Mule deer hunting in Utah. Growing up in the West, for a certain group of boys, the October deer hunt was like a kind of blood ritual. We would skip school for a couple of days, venture into the mountains with our fathers, take shots at things, and then return home.


At that time in my life, I had an intense blood lust. I yearned to bring something down. To be at the apex of the pyramid, even if just for a moment. To conquer something. I wasn't in a stage where I could explore the origin of these impulses. The desire to carry a gun and shoot. The desire to kill and flaunt my trophy. It was truly a profound feeling. As a child, I think I can best explain it as a way of coming to terms with the realization that I was no longer the center of the universe. I had just discovered that I wasn't a god. So, I behaved like one. I sought to become Shiva the destroyer, the killer of groundhogs and robins, the boy who pulled the stinger out of bees in the window.


Fortunately for me, I discovered (much later in life) that my father, a veterinarian, used to divert me away from the deer. He was happy to go on hikes, camp, and shoot with me. He understood my stage of development better than I did. Perhaps, at 11 or 12, the disappointment of not finding something to kill might have been more beneficial to me than bloodshed.


Even now that I've grown up, as I read Hemingway's 'Green Hills of Africa', all of those early impulses resurface. After finishing this story, I did a Google search to see how much a Safari in South Africa and Zimbabwe costs these days. I know this is absurd. It's one of those things I mock and despise among the rich. Photos of the Trump boys showing off their trophies or the owner of Jimmy Johns standing under an Elephant he has recently killed make me feel both angry and sad simultaneously. But STILL, emotionally, deep within, I find myself thinking about Hemingway and Roosevelt. Thinking about the great tests, the pursuit, the hunt, the blood. It both sickens and attracts me. It's visceral. I truly believe C. G. Poore captured it perfectly when he said this story was \\"about people in unacknowledged conflict and about the pleasures of travel and the pleasures of drinking and war and peace and writing.\\"

Imagine that your long-time good friend has come to the city and you are extremely eager to see him. You haven't seen each other for a long time and have missed each other. The friend has a very busy schedule and the only place where you can meet him, for example, is the compartment of a train. And you are extremely happy to see your friend, hear his voice and his stories. However, you categorically do not agree with what is happening around! That's the kind of mixed emotions I have after reading "The Green Hills of Africa".

On the one hand, it is still Hemingway. His beautiful style, the light melancholy of the story, and sometimes interesting thoughts. On the other hand, damn it, this is hunting big African animals! I don't support hunting in principle, let alone in the wild. Well, I think, okay, I was wrong in choosing the book (as always, I only read the title and the author), but still, naturalists and hunters have a common origin. Through the story of a former hunter, you can learn a lot of interesting things about nature, the behavior of animals, and all that. But, unfortunately, Hemingway hunted animals that he had never seen before, and only the size of their horns excited him. Size has a huge significance. At the end, there is still a nice paragraph of thoughts about how man spoils the new continents with agriculture, but at the same time he does not include hunting in "spoilage".

This is a beautiful thing, with a good tempo, with interesting stories about life - imagine a present-day bathtub in a tent. And yet, I shouldn't have even started it.

Reading Hemingway is an absolute delight. There's a certain charm in delving into a book on a subject you initially assume you won't have much interest in, such as big game hunting or bullfighting, only to discover that you truly do care, and deeply at that. It's both fascinating and inspiring.

I adored the interactions between Hemingway and Pop, Hemingway and Karl, Hemingway and M'Cola, and Hemingway and the dramatic one. I relished the ability to clearly envision my location at all times. I was captivated by Hemingway's thoughts on writing, but above all, I loved Hemingway's depictions of Africa and America.

That's his secret, the very reason we hold him in such high regard. His truths are so profound and genuine that before reading them, you're almost naïve enough to believe that you're the sole individual who has ever felt those emotions. Hemingway has this unique gift of making us realize that we're not alone in our feelings and experiences, and that's what makes him such a remarkable and beloved author.

“The Green Hills of Africa - Hemingway
I didn't enjoy it - that is, I didn't enjoy hunting animals.

Hemingway's work, "The Green Hills of Africa," takes readers on a journey through the African continent. However, the author's admission that he didn't enjoy hunting animals adds an interesting layer to the narrative. Hunting has long been a part of African culture and history, but Hemingway's perspective challenges the traditional view. Perhaps he was more interested in the beauty and wonder of the African landscape than in the act of killing. Or maybe he had a change of heart as he witnessed the majesty of the animals in their natural habitat. Whatever the reason, his words remind us that there is more to Africa than just its wildlife and that our relationship with nature is complex and multifaceted.

Green Hills of Africa is the first book of Hemingway that I read. Now, after half a year of reading less than 200 pages, I realize that it was a big mistake to start with it exactly.

In essence - the reason why I give 2 stars instead of 1 - Hemingway is a master of words. His prose has a magical captivating power that I haven't encountered anywhere else before. The descriptions are vivid and colorful - they grab you and transport you into the world that he unfolds so fascinatingly.

Why didn't the book appeal to me at all, and even disgusted me at moments:

- There is no real storytelling - the book simply describes several of his hunting trips in Africa, as well as the people he met and the conversations he had. I expected something different to happen by the end, but... alas.

- I'm not a fanatical environmentalist, but... this book shocked me! So many killings of animals - literally dozens in every chapter! All these killings are described too detailed and with such indifference to the life and suffering of the animals that in many places I just couldn't continue reading.

- Hemingway's hypocrisy regarding hunting and taking lives! In one of the chapters, he shoots at an antelope but hits it in the flank instead of the neck. What follows are horrifying descriptions that I won't repeat, but in the end, he reasons that he is guilty because he should have been more accurate in the shot to prevent, as much as possible, the suffering of the animal and that you shouldn't do to others what you don't want them to do to you... Maybe in this way he wants to say that he would like someone to hunt him in the savannah with a scoped rifle while he is defenseless and shoot him in the head so that he doesn't suffer much??? Disgusting!

- Literally in every other paragraph, there is a description of how Hemingway and his wife get drunk. Day or night - it doesn't matter! Alcohol is elevated to a pedestal. Who needs these descriptions of his drunken inclinations?

- Overall, a rather boring narrative, and the conversations themselves - even more so! Nothing interesting or remarkable happens (if you don't count the next killed animal), the characters are aimless, and the conversations can put the reader to sleep without any problem.

- The toxic atmosphere that reigns in the group is a constant factor - everyone bickers, envies each other for who has the bigger trophies or just doesn't get along. I understand that the reality is described, but this definitely doesn't contribute to the interestingness of the story.

- In one passage of the book, there is a conversation about the revolutions and massacres that the heroes witnessed. Such indifferent and cold-hearted comments regarding the killings of tens of thousands of innocent people... simply shocking. It even goes so far that Hemingway's wife describes how she watched - as if at a show - how they execute civilians, and her children urged her with great eagerness to go to the square and watch the killings... I think no comment is needed.

As a final note - it took me more than half a year to read Green Hills of Africa, and although I regret my choice, I will still continue to read Hemingway's other works, hoping to find the valuable literature that I know has come out from under his pen.

He went into his lair, strangely tense, walking in the darkness as if he were a wound-up spring and afraid to unwind.

He moved slowly, his eyes adjusting to the dim light. The lair was cold and damp, and he could feel the moisture seeping into his bones.

As he made his way deeper into the lair, he could hear strange noises. Was it just his imagination, or was there something else in here with him?

He stopped and listened intently, his heart pounding in his chest. But there was nothing. Just the sound of his own breathing and the drip of water from the ceiling.

He continued on, determined to reach the center of the lair. There, he hoped, he would find the answers he was looking for.

Finally, he emerged into a small chamber. In the center of the chamber was a pedestal, and on the pedestal was a small box.

He approached the pedestal slowly, his hand trembling slightly. What was in the box? He took a deep breath and opened it.

Inside the box was a single key. He picked up the key and examined it closely. What was it for?

With the key in his hand, he turned and made his way back out of the lair. He had a feeling that this key was going to change everything.

It was good. It's like another episode of the Grand Tour show, which I truly enjoy.

Travel and adventure, nature and locals, a touch of humor and rather serious conversations all blend together. The sense of relief that can only be achieved with a breath of fresh air and the danger that can only emerge in a new environment. Self-reflection and self-realization are concealed behind the beautiful landscapes and a glass of whisky after a tiring day.

However, there were several differences. The obvious ones, such as Hemingway himself instead of Jeremy Clackson, could perhaps be regarded as advantages. But the emphasis on killing animals was the difference that made this book a rather revolting read. Taking pictures with the killed animals, collecting trophies... The author has a very strange attitude towards all of this. And also towards killing people, which he mentions at the end. And that's not something that attracts me.

This book has its charm in terms of the travel and adventure aspects, but the elements related to killing animals and the author's attitude towards such things really detract from the overall experience for me. It makes me question whether I can fully appreciate and enjoy the work despite its other interesting features.

I have a confession. I didn't actually finish this book. I got about two-thirds of the way through it. I stumbled upon this book on accident (as seen in previous updates). This was my first Hemingway, and I really enjoyed the way he writes. However, a girl can only read so much about hunting, and that was about 50 pages ago. LOL!

I enjoyed his vivid imagery of Africa and his profound thoughts on writing. His descriptions of the animals that he killed, though, were a little too graphic for my taste. It made me feel a bit uncomfortable.

In the end, I'm a mom with very limited time and energy. I only want to be spending it on books that I truly love and that I would rate as 5 stars. While I appreciate Hemingway's writing style, this particular book just didn't quite make the cut for me. Maybe I'll give it another try someday, but for now, I'm moving on to other reads.

Green Hills of Africa by Ernest Hemingway

"No one knows how to behave in America... Most uncivilized."

Ernest Hemingway, the Nobel Prize winning author in Literature, presents us with this somewhat fictionalized account of a month-long hunt in West Africa. The story trails Hemingway and a group of people, including his then wife, Mrs. Hemingway, also known as P O M, on their adventure to take down the coveted big game of West Africa. The story itself is decent, albeit rather repetitive, and features Hemingway's classic dialog, which can be either appealing or not, depending on one's preference for his dialog style.

What intrigues me the most is his jabs and praise towards other writers. If he had dedicated more time to discussing literature, I would have promptly rated it four stars.

The hunting aspect is acceptable, but it quickly becomes tiresome for me as I haven't engaged in hunting since I was very young. If you have a passion for big game hunting, this is a must-read. However, if you are not a hunter, you can skip it without missing out on anything profound.

Not bad.

It is probably a better read for someone who has a passion for hunting.

For those individuals who are truly enthusiasts of the sport, this piece might hold a certain allure.

It could potentially offer insights, experiences, or perhaps even tips and tricks related to hunting.

The content might be presented in a way that engages the reader and keeps them interested throughout.

Whether it's stories of successful hunts, descriptions of different hunting techniques, or discussions about the gear and equipment used, there could be something in it for the avid hunter.

However, for those who are not into hunting, it may not have the same level of appeal.

Nonetheless, it still has its merits and could be an enjoyable read for the right audience.

Overall, it's a piece that caters to a specific niche and might provide valuable entertainment and information for those who fit that description.

First book this summer vacation. I love Hemingway's writing style. Even though this book is about shooting animals, it was an enjoyable book that also depicted untouched nature and good conversations. It's a great start to this year's summer reading!

Hemingway's works are always captivating. His简洁的 language and vivid descriptions bring the story to life. In this book, although the theme of shooting animals might seem a bit controversial, he manages to present it in a way that makes you think about the relationship between humans and nature.

The descriptions of the untouched nature are simply breathtaking. You can almost feel the fresh air and see the beautiful landscapes through his words. And the good conversations between the characters add an extra layer of depth to the story.

Overall, this book is a great choice for summer reading. It not only entertains but also makes you reflect on important issues. I'm looking forward to reading more of Hemingway's works this summer.