Joseph Kessel Quotes

“The previous evening, I recalled, I had observed _despite the darkness_ that my bungalow was surrounded on three side by dense thorny scrub. Our in front a huge clearing stretched away into the night.”

“Had he pulled at my eyelids to find out what they concealed? I couldn’t be certain about this. As I woke up I had the distinct impression that something like a coarse paintbrush was being drawn lightly across my face.”

“With her idealistic view of the African savanna crushed, Patricia finally gives in to everyone’s demands and leaves with the narrator to attend a boarding school in Nairobi.”

“Every minute the sunlight came streaming more strongly through the tangled thickets of the bush. The undergrowth was transformed into fine golden tracery, while from every hidden lair fresh wild families appeared, making for the water and the lush grass.”

“The story is narrated through a French man on a visit to Kenya. The plot of the story revolves around the friendship between Patricia and a lion called King, whom Patricia raised since he was a cub.”

“However the lion he chooses is King. Patricia’s father shoots King in order to protect Ouriounga from certain death.”

“Ouriounga, a teenage Maasai, who wishes to marry Patricia, decides to prove his worth by killing a lion to gain her respect, as is custom in his tribe. ”

“They all went on cropping the grass, lapping at the water’s edge, or wandering from one tuft or puddle to the next, undisturbed by my approach. They were there, in their own domain, peaceful and contented.”

“Patricia has a rare gift to communicate with animals, and thinks she can control everything. She is popular with both animals and people.”

“It was, I realized, a child of about twelve, with a dark fringe and a bowl-shaped haircut. His face was round, and his smooth skin tanned a deep brown. He had a long, slender neck.”