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Africa in My Blood: An Autobiography in Letters
AFRICA IN MY BLOOD is an extraordinary self-portrait in letters of Jane Goodall's early years, from childhood to the publication of IN THE SHADOW OF MAN, revealing this remarkable woman more vividly than anything published before, by her or about her. We see her at eleven founding the Alligator Society ("You have to be able to recognize 10 birds, 10 dogs, 10 trees and 5 bu
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Hardcover
,
400 pages
Published
April 15th 2000
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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Community Reviews
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This book is a collection of letters, all written by Jane Goodall to various people, mainly her family. The most interesting aspect of the book is just how well she portrays her emotions and her energy through words. Jane Goodall is a one of a kind person. She is passionate, focused and so energetic about the work that she does. This was a nice read after reading her biography last year. The one thing that I didn't like was the amount of letters in the book that were taken from her childhood. Al
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This book, although it wasn't very interesting to me, was written in a very unique and practical was. Friends and family of Jane Goodall put together a collection of her most exciting and informative letters she had sent to them and published them. Because they are letters, they describe all of the major events in detail. She talks about school when she was younger and work when she was older. Then, she talks about her adventures and progress with the chimps. She tells about how they struggle wi
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I admire Jane for her work & I have had the privilege of hearing her speak; this book though did not keep me engrossed and reading her letters for me became quite boring. Especially since there was only her side and many times I became lost in what she was speaking about or replying to at the time of writing the letters. I have to admit that I skimmed through many of the letters.
I have read about Jane Goodall since I was a child. My grandpa got National Geographic and I was always discovering the world. She has spent her life with chimps and protecting them. This book is about the letters she has written to people in her life.
I really admire Jane Goodall, however, the pace of the letters did not keep my interests. I also found it confusing all the random friends or family members that were introduced. I will have to find another book done by her that is more enthralling.
This book is made up completely of letters written by Jane Goodall to family, friends and colleagues, starting in1942, when she was seven years old, and ending in 1966.
I recently read In The Shadow of Man, and many incidents from that book are recounted in Jane's letters, though from a slightly different perspective, as that book was the result of her research, and this one is her own bubbly personality relating incidents to her family and friends. For the most part this was a fascinating read, ...more
I recently read In The Shadow of Man, and many incidents from that book are recounted in Jane's letters, though from a slightly different perspective, as that book was the result of her research, and this one is her own bubbly personality relating incidents to her family and friends. For the most part this was a fascinating read, ...more
Jane is one of my favorite people. I love her books and hearing her speak, even if it seems as if every talk I've heard her give was basically the same. My familiarity with her makes this book, maybe, a little more interesting for me since I am familiar with so many of the names - chimps and people alike. If I did not have this background, maybe I would never pick this book up. Getting a glimpse of what the young Jane Goodall was like and following her progress in letters was interesting but, at
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As others mentioned, this book got off to a slow start and was a bit confusing with all of the different people mentioned in the letters. A list of names and who they were may have been helpful. That being said, I enjoyed learning more about Dr. Goodall who I admire so much. I was happy that the letters from her younger years were included and I feel like I know her better as a person now. I learned many things about her that I was previously unaware of. She is a remarkable woman but over the ye
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I really like Jane Goodall, but I really don't like monkeys. I read this one because I am working on a letter transcription project and I wanted to see how others have taken a grouping of letters, transcribed, and summarized/grouped into chapters to create a book, so read this for form, not content as much. This was an excellent example of what I was looking for and ended up with great content as well. Very easy to get lost in book about the early life and coming about of Dr. Goodall's lifelong
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As the title states, this is a compilation of letters from Jane Goodall, starting when she was a little girl and continuing during the first years of her chimp observations. The letters are grouped, with an explanatory statement, giving insight into her life at the time.
I really enjoyed this book. I have to say I was really impressed with the tone and quality of her letters, done at a time when people took time to write and took care with what they wrote. Her life is fascinating, but a bit gory ...more
I really enjoyed this book. I have to say I was really impressed with the tone and quality of her letters, done at a time when people took time to write and took care with what they wrote. Her life is fascinating, but a bit gory ...more
I truly admire this woman, but I guess I prefer a "real book" written by her in her adult years, and I have read one of those so far and enjoyed it a lot. These letters written in her youth (especially the first section) just didn't interest me enough. I felt I could have been reading letters written by almost any young girl, and those can get pretty silly at times, which these did. Since the letters were written to friends and family, tho, who'd ever think they'd end up in a book years later, s
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I love memoirs and books of letters, that must be what prompted me to buy this book. Also it was on Clearance. Going into this with no prior knowledge about Jane I didn't have any expectations. Honestly, all I knew about her was that she was a lady who worked with primates. There really was so much more to know. For me the best part was getting to know her as a child and a young woman instead of just jumping into her life when she was already a famous scientist.
It was really neat to read Jane's actual letters from back in the day. Definitely an interesting autobiography and style. You get a good sense of her person in a way you don't get in normal autobiographies. However, the flow between letters was sometimes a bit hard to follow at times, and not always smooth to read. I did not like this book as much as some of her other books, but it was definitely still worth reading.
What a wonderful collection of letters! This book allows the reader to discover Jane in her earliest years and give the the reader a picture of what life was like for her in England. Jane's journey to Africa, friendship with Lewis Leaky, and first days at Gombe are all here. I loved this book and it serves as a great introduction to Jane Goodall and her many other books. Enjoy!!!
Jane has been my hero ever since I saw her in National Geo with her red high tops and her child named Grub. I didn't know about her life in England at all until I read this book, and my favorite new fact is that her first name is Valerie. If I'd known that sooner, I might have made more efforts to emulate her, and even now, I would be posting these reviews from the forests of Africa.
Sep 19, 2008
Sari Lynn
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anthropology buffs
Recommended to Sari Lynn by:
Read in book group
Shelves:
memoir
It was incredible to read about her first experiences in Africa as they were happening. I found it especially exciting because I was already familiar with her work and the animals she worked with. Reading this book was like being there with her as she made discoveries about individual animals, their personalities, and the way they lived and interacted.
I still want to read more about Jane Goodall and her fascinating work with the chimpanzees in Africa, but not in this format. This book was a compilation of a bunch of letters she wrote to family, friends, fellow researchers, etc. and it just didn't flow very well. She's written several books, so I'll try another in the future.
Africa in My Blood (A biography of Jane Goodall) I enjoyed learning more about the woman behind the famous name. It is interesting and personal in that it was written as it occurred: it is a compilation of letters that she wrote describing her work and thoughts to her family, her National Geographic sponsors, and others.
Jane Goodall is my hero - In another life, I would have chosen hers. To live among the chimps in Africa- to love so deeply and learn so much. Goodall is as close as I come to believing in God. This is a woman who lives kindness, humility and compassion every moment of her days.
OK, I'm figuring this out. I just emailed out my "review" to people. I recommend this for people who are interested in animals and feminism. Jane Goodall rocks. She was a pioneer for female scientists in the 50s and 60s.
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I have read a lot of Jane' Goodall's work, so this was just one more in the collection, but I did enjoy reading her actual letters- her voice was so clear and it gave even more context to what i had previously read.
The book taught me a lot about Jane (and chimps), but it could have been far briefer.
For my full review, check out my blog http://tubchairtimes.blogspot.ca/2013...
For my full review, check out my blog http://tubchairtimes.blogspot.ca/2013...
Fascinating glimpses of Jane Goodall's life through her letters. Editor's preface at the beginning of each chapter was helpful in guiding those not familiar with Goodall.
Jane Goodall is awesome, obviously, but a bunch of letters don't really provide enough skeleton for a book.
You'll love this if you like reading other people's mail.
You'll love this if you like reading other people's mail.
She has such an interesting life, but this book was a little boring to me. It was good to skim and learn about her work, but not one to become engrossed in.
Jan 25, 2010
Elizabeth
added it
Another soulful sharing of Jane's profound mystical spiritual experiencing of her work with chimps and all of life. A kindred spirit
What an amazing woman. The letters were a bit much, but I really felt like I got better insight into the real Jane! A must read.
It was fascinating to read about her early years. A personal look at an amazing woman.
The first half of Dr. Dame [Valerie] Jane Goodall's autobiography.
It's Jane Goodall, it can't be anything besides amazing!
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Dame Jane Morris Goodall, DBE (born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall), is a British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace. Considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 45-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania. She is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute an
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