West with the Night

By: Beryl Markham

Narrated by: Julie Harris

West with the Night is the story of a remarkable woman molded and shaped by many things: the African jungle, a certain dog, horses, airplanes, friendships with white men and black. There is no life, no story quite like it.©1942, 1983 Beryl Markham. Recorded by arrangement with North Point Press, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC (P)2003 The Arthur and Luce Klein Audio Collection, The Yale Collection of Historical Sound Recordings, Yale University Music Library

Critic reviews

"Julie Harris' reading of aviatrix Beryl Markham's biography and celebration of Africa is an essential audiobook. Enjoy the magic of the spoken word and Harris' lovely performance." (AudioFile)

A dream of a book!

Julie Harris's narration is delicious. It is not a theatrical performance, she is unabashedly reading a book to you. The story is incredible - not about Africa but about LIVING in Africa, about experiencing history instead of hearing about it.

Remarkable story

The audio edition is almost a joke. You can hear the reader turn the pages she is reading and gasp for breath because she has misjudged the length of the sentence. Had the story not be so riveting the overall rating would have been much lower.

Bloody Wonderful Book

Fan-freaking-tastic memoir. The writing alone is worth the price of admission. It’s equal parts poetry and blow-by-blow, bare bones, “just the facts, Ma’am” action. Add in the stories (hunting barefoot as a child, training racehorses, learning to fly) and you have one of the best memoirs available. She literally gives no thought to what a woman should do, she just does what she’s good at (and there are no other women around..in the whole Continent, it seems). She is funny, brave, humble, self-aware, and glorious. I loved this book.

But don’t listen to me. Here’s what Hemingway said about the book (and the spectacular author): "Did you read Beryl Markham's book, West With The Night? ...She has written so well, and marvelously well, that I was completely ashamed of myself as a writer. I felt that I was simply a carpenter with words, picking up whatever was furnished on the job and nailing them together and sometimes making an okay pig pen. But this girl, who is to my knowledge very unpleasant and we might even say a high-grade bitch, can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves as writers ... it really is a bloody wonderful book."

Bloody wonderful book. All the stars.

Amazing Woman but wanted more insight into her

Having read her biography before listening to this, I was disappointed so much was left out. She was great on describing the details of others, events and nature. But I wish she had shared more about her own motivations. She never mentioned her husband’s, child or some other challenges. Certainly, a unique listen and reflection on her journey. Without reading Circling the Sun first , I am not sure I would have loved it as much which is why I gave it 4 stars.

Poignant

Truly poetic prose. A masterful use of the English language that paints powerful word pictures.