Out of Africa

I've read four chapters today, but of them all, my favorite is "The Somali Women." Farah's wife, with her accompanying family, comprised most of Dinesen's female company on the farm, and it is clear she enjoyed them. Her description of them is clear and amusing; my favorite part is her metaphor of the marriage game as war, with the women, in spite of their status as goods, clearly ruling the men. My favorite line, as she describes how all the men's wealth goes to their women, is this: ".......when they should be conquering the conqueror, and extortionating the extortioner." The men may be masters, but their wives are their mistresses.