Book Notes | ‘West with the Night’
West with the Night is a memoir by Beryl Markham, who is mainly known for being the first person to fly across the Atlantic from east to west. The last chapter of the book covers her non-stop, solo flight, which took place in 1936. Her plane had no radio, and she had to fly over unbroken ocean for 2,000 of the total 3,600 miles.
The rest of the book, first published in 1942, covers her career as a horse trainer and then a bush pilot in Kenya, known at the time as British East Africa. Markham also tells about her childhood growing up in Africa, her adventures with her native African friend, running barefoot through the jungle, getting attacked and bitten by a lion, and visiting the dances of the local native tribe. An excellent introduction added to the 2018 reissue of the book tells more about Markham’s risqué personal life in England.
Figurative language, including personifications of animals and inanimate objects, give the book a poetic quality. As Ernest Hemingway said, “…She can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves as writers—it really is a bloody wonderful book.”
Reminiscent of Isaak Dinnesen’s Out of Africa, Markham’s memoir describes flying with Denys Finch Hatton, who appears in both books and died in his mid-40s in a plane crash.
Markham also spent time elephant hunting with Bror Von Blixen-Finecke, a Swedish big-game hunter who was like a superhero to her. He taught her that an airplane could be used to spot the elephants. Her friend Tom Black, who taught Markham to fly, never approved of her flying for Blixen, saying it was too dangerous because the places she had to go to had nowhere to land the plane, if necessary. She disagreed, went against Black’s advice, and the only time she had to land in a small place she did so, without incident.
Most everyone in our group liked the book. Some wondered how Markham, not having a formal education, could have written something so sophisticated. Her lack of sympathy for the elephants was also questioned, but understood because of the difference in how such things are viewed today. Some thought Markham should have written about her life in England, but most liked the memoir as it was.
—Pat Tollefson, UMRA Book Club I
Book Club I in September
Fri, Sep 19, 2025, 2pm
On Sept. 19, Book Club I will discuss West with the Night by Beryl Markham. The book is a 1942 memoir chronicling the author's experiences growing up in Kenya in the early 1900's, her work as a racehorse trainer, and then as an aviator. In 1936 she became the first person to fly across the Atlantic Ocean from east to west. Today she is celebrated as an aviator pioneer.
Upcoming Events
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Here’s another great opportunity to buy discounted tickets and join your UMRA friends to cheer for the Gophers when the Women’s Basketball team hosts the Purdue Boilermakers at Williams Arena in Minneapolis on February 1.
Join fellow UMRA members for a morning hike in Theodore Wirth Park to celebrate Groundhog Day on Monday, February 2.
UMRA’s special event for this winter will again be a celebration of brighter days and the approaching end of winter. We’ll have food, fellowship, and music provided by Urban Sound, one of the University’s premier student a cappella ensembles.
"One color" is the theme for the meeting of the UMRA Photo Club on Tuesday, February 10.
Family history with Jim Kurle. A tale of Swedish emigration to Dunn County, North Dakota including my grandfather, whose unusual relationship to several churches, and religion in general, was one of the reasons for his emigrating.
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Well-known Twin Cities-based financial journalist and economics commentator Chris Farrell will be the featured guest for UMRA’s February 17 Living Well Workshop via Zoom. He will discuss why and how the current generation of older Americans is not following the traditional retirement pattern of a relaxed lifestyle.
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Family history with Michelle Casey.