Something of Value
by Robert Ruark
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Description
Peter McKenzie is a professional hunter in colonial Kenya whose idyllic life is disrupted by the Mau Mau Emergency. The emergency puts a severe strain on the lives of farmers in rural areas, including McKenzie and his new bride, and he and his fellow farmers and hunters are forced to kill Mau Maus rather than buffalo and elephant.Tags
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Member Reviews
I first read this book as a 17 year old matric student and have subsequently re-read it twice more. Amazing how he had the foresight to predict the violence and desire for land which the white man had "stolen"from the local population. What has changed today? The local population is still violent and fighting to take back "
stolen" land, farmers are still being murdered and gender violence is rife. Well written, Robert Ruark.
stolen" land, farmers are still being murdered and gender violence is rife. Well written, Robert Ruark.
This book is well written, but I would not recommend it unless a person is really interested in the Mau Mau uprising. Much detail is given to provide the reader a picture of Kenya, and the dynamics between the British and African peoples, and even between the various tribes themselves. Rightfully so, and necessary; but for me the interest was not that great - I expected more action, I suppose, but that is not the author's fault.
Again, well written, but I got a lot of the background from Ruark's "Horn of the Hunter" which I read previously. It was what led me to this book, and I would recommend it.
Again, well written, but I got a lot of the background from Ruark's "Horn of the Hunter" which I read previously. It was what led me to this book, and I would recommend it.
A harrowing but broadly accurate retelling of the Mau Mau emergency. Very well written and chilling in the extreme.
A difficult read and amazing it has been re-released in 2009. Reading in the 1960's who would have believed the struggle for Africa would be just as important now.
A frightening fictionalized account of the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya. This story has stayed with me since I read it well over a decade ago.
Fictional account of the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya in the 1950s
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Something of Value
- Original publication date
- 1955
- People/Characters
- Peter Mackenzie; Kimani
- Important places
- Nairobi, Kenya
- Important events
- Mau Mau Uprising
- Related movies
- Something of Value (1957 | IMDb)
- Epigraph
- If a man does away with his traditional way of living and
throws away his good customs, he had better first make
certain that he has something of value to replace them.
-------Basuto proberb. - Dedication
- This is for
Virginia Webb Ruark,
with all my love. - First words
- Peter McKenzie stripped off his faded shorts and his green drill shirt and reached for a bowl of ocher mud which had been softened to a pliant paste with water.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)But he would certainly have to feed the baby something pretty soon.
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Statistics
- Members
- 287
- Popularity
- 111,677
- Reviews
- 7
- Rating
- (4.07)
- Languages
- 6 — Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Swedish
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 14
- ASINs
- 16
