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Jamrach's Menagerie

3.52 of 5 stars 3.52 · rating details · 3,245 ratings · 641 reviews

Nineteenth-century London comes vividly alive in this story a street urchin named Jaffy Brown. After a close call with an escaped tiger, Jaffy goes to work for Mr. Charles Jamrach, the famed importer of exotic animals. As the years pass, Mr. Jamrach recruits Jaffy and another boy named Tim to capture a fabled dragon during the course of an epic three-year whaling expeditio...more

Paperback, 348 pages

Published 2011 by Canongate Books

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Jun 17, 2011 Ben rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I received my copy from Bookhugger's Real Readers programme and the first thing to note is that the cover is absolutely stunning. The second thing is that the opening paragraph is one of the most enticing I have ever read. Unfortunately, after such a promising first impression, it falls a little flat.

It's definitely an adventure novel, but this creates some odd strengths and weaknesses. I would disagree with the negative reviews which found it difficult to read. It's written in quite a compellin...more I received my copy from Bookhugger's Real Readers programme and the first thing to note is that the cover is absolutely stunning. The second thing is that the opening paragraph is one of the most enticing I have ever read. Unfortunately, after such a promising first impression, it falls a little flat.

It's definitely an adventure novel, but this creates some odd strengths and weaknesses. I would disagree with the negative reviews which found it difficult to read. It's written in quite a compelling fashion and I never felt the urge to stop reading and pick something else up instead. It's very easy to get through and quite a quick read for its size. Where the problem arises, however, is that it's very much a case of "this happens, then this happens, then this happens" which leaves very little chance to satifyingly develop the characters.

A lot of reviews praise the emotion and depth of the novel whereas I found the characters to be quite thin and often struggled, or just didn't care, who was who on the ship. Names and actions often blurred or seemed inconsequential and the major characters seemed rather dull, with the exception of the strong, willful, Ishbel, who unfortunately is absent for most of the book, and Jamrach himself, of whom we learn very little. The others seem mostly like creations for events to happen to rather than complex, functioning human beings.

Where the book does shine though is in its descriptions of places. London especially feels very much alive and encapsulates the filth and magic of the city. The islands and ocean feel fresh, alien, and full of wonder. Jamrach's yard feels both fantastic and tragic. Arguably the places become the characters the people fail to be, with lives and mystery beyond the words on the page.

Despite my criticisms, there's something very endearing about this novel. Yes, it's quite dull; yes, the characters are underdeveloped, but I feel really bad for not liking the book more than I did. There's something there, whether it's the author's underlying skill, the appeal of adventure, or how close it comes to being good. It's a shame it didn't quite fulfill its potential, but there's enjoyment to be had here and I'd definitely consider reading more by Carol Birch in the future.(less)

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Feb 23, 2012 ·Karen· rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 19th-century, brits

Not suitable for vegetarians.

Well, not for squeamish vegetarians.

Actually, no, scrub that. Not suitable for the squeamish full stop.

But I 'really liked' it, so. Not squeamish. (lovely word) And/or there are compensations for the ickiness. Yes; Jaffy's voice is a steal. Birch creates him and his world, conjures them up out of nothing and there is no sense of artifice, it plops smoothly into place alongside anything else you have read of 19th century London. Then he is wrenched away and of course...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Billpilgrim rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked this one to read because it was on the longlist for the Booker Prize. I started it when I first took it home from the library, but I did not get into it then and thought I wouldn't read it. But, then I decided to try it again, and when I got a little further into it (I had not read very much the first time), I started to enjoy it.
Jaffy is a young, poor boy living in London in the 1850's. At age 9, when a tiger escapes its cage at a local animal store, he walks up to the cat and strokes...more

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Jul 10, 2012 Ai rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Definitely not a book for those who cannot stomach detailed descriptions of gruesome situations.

First of all, I absolutely loved the writing style of the book. Other reviewers have mentioned that the first parts of the book are much more lively and the ending feels disconnected and unfocused in comparison. Personally though, this worked well for me, and I did not think that there needed to be a more focused closure reached. After what the main character experienced, I fully believe that his life...more

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Jun 10, 2011 Susanna rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

From reading others' reviews, apparently I am one of the few people who didn't really like this book (I also discovered that Jamrach was an actual person). I found the first half of the novel boring. Yeah, Jaffy almost gets his head bitten off by a tiger, but after that it's all work at the menagerie and sailing, and somehow Birch didn't make it interesting enough to hold my attention. There were some isolated events where I thought, "Yes! Finally, the point is being made clear!" - but these wer...more

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Dec 17, 2012 Jason added it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2012

Carol Birch is a delightful writer, weaving this tale with a fine eye towards beautiful sentences. The story is a pretty typical adventure tale of a young boy who grows up to become a sailor and head off on a journey, blah blah blah. The journey itself is thrilling, but this is where the novel falls a little short. While it works in that bildungsroman sense, the character of Jaffy doesn't really learn all of that much. Some people are not what you expect, life is hard, yadayada. This isn't to sa...more

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Aug 11, 2012 Lance Greenfield Mitchell rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The intensity, the deep feeling, the strong relationships, the joys, the horrors, the experiences, the adventures are all described so wonderfully by the author through the senses of Jaffy Brown in the first person, that I shall not even attempt to tell you about them. You need to read the book for yourself.

Short-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2011, I cannot imagine how good the eventual winner must've been in the eyes of the judges to have beaten Jamarach's Menagerie.

Towards the end, I was...more The intensity, the deep feeling, the strong relationships, the joys, the horrors, the experiences, the adventures are all described so wonderfully by the author through the senses of Jaffy Brown in the first person, that I shall not even attempt to tell you about them. You need to read the book for yourself.

Short-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2011, I cannot imagine how good the eventual winner must've been in the eyes of the judges to have beaten Jamarach's Menagerie.

Towards the end, I was beginning to think of alternative titles for the book. Jaffy's Oceans or The Long Voyage of Jaffy Brown came to mind, but I suppose that the title is appropriate, as it all started when eight year-old Jaf Brown stroked the nose of a Bengal tiger which had broken loose from Jemrach's Menagerie and he was carried off by the magnificent beast. This incident is based on fact. The rest of the story is mostly based on fiction.

I can't tell you the other fact without ruining the reading for you. But I'll tell you about one if the early events which told me that I was going to love this book.

On the day following the tiger incident, Mr Jamrach sent his "boy", Tim, round to find Jaffy and to buy him a raspberry puff. Jaffy had never sampled raspberry or cream or puff pastry in his eight years on Earth. The description of his happiness as he enjoys his first bite of this wonderful experience is guaranteed to make you enjoy it with him. How far from his previous life of scraping through the stinking sewers of Bermondsey could be this new joy?

There he [Tim] stood with his hands in his pockets and watched me eat the raspberry puff. The first bite was so bitterly sweet the corners if my mouth ached. So beautiful, a film of tears stung my eyes. Then the pain dispersed and there was only delight."

Tim eventually becomes Jaffy's very best friend, and that friendship has its ups and downs. Some of them are very severe. I suppose one could argue that Tim's sister, Ishbel, becomes Jaffy's best friend, but I am not about to enter a debate on the matter, because it doesn't really matter.

Be warned that there are some very moving, sad parts to this story. If you are not careful, you could end up joining melancholics anonymous before you're finished, but you should read it. You will not regret it. (less)

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Nov 21, 2011 Dina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, adventure, animals, audiobook, historical-fiction, life-lessons, nature

This book is an amazing listen. Steve West does an excellent job of capturing Jaffy Brown. Jaffy's fictional memoir is fascinating--from the tiger "biting" his head to the capture of the Komodo-type dragon to a long survival sea voyage to his finding himself again in London. Every part of Jaffy's life is described in detail to the point that you can almost smell the rankness of the London riverside as well as the salty spray at sea. However, this book is not for the faint of heart. The descripti...more

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Oct 25, 2011 Frank Toddre II rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What an interesting book. Started out very much as a Victorian coming of age novel, treasure island esque in going out to sea to learn about life.. Takes an incredibly unexpected dark turn for about a quarter of the book. I would recommend this book, maybe not the top of the list, but certainly one that kept the attention and had a great narrative to it that did make one feel closer with the characters.

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May 24, 2013 Sarahr rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club

There's an effortless perfection to the writing in this novel which defies analysis. It's interesting that some people have found the language, particularly the sentence constructions, a struggle to read, while others, like myself, have been completely swept along in the rhythms. But it's not just the poetry of the individual sentences I loved - (view spoiler)...more

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Apr 28, 2013 Jürgen Zeller rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ihr wollt eine aufregende Geschichte? Vielleicht etwas Grauenerregendes das euch an einen Schauerroman des vergangenen 20. Jahrhunderts erinnert? Ich hätte da was ganz Spezielles für euch. In diesem Buch mit dem wunderschönen Umschlagbild, das unterschwellig an ein Jugendbuch erinnert, habe ich einen spannenden Abenteuerroman gefunden der vom Leben und den Abenteuern von Jaffy Brown erzählt. Zu Beginn reizvoll geschriebene Passagen die das vergangene London von anno 1857 aufleben lassen und vom...more Ihr wollt eine aufregende Geschichte? Vielleicht etwas Grauenerregendes das euch an einen Schauerroman des vergangenen 20. Jahrhunderts erinnert? Ich hätte da was ganz Spezielles für euch. In diesem Buch mit dem wunderschönen Umschlagbild, das unterschwellig an ein Jugendbuch erinnert, habe ich einen spannenden Abenteuerroman gefunden der vom Leben und den Abenteuern von Jaffy Brown erzählt. Zu Beginn reizvoll geschriebene Passagen die das vergangene London von anno 1857 aufleben lassen und vom alltäglichen Leben der ärmlichen Bewohner des Stadtteils Bermondsay berichten. Der legendäre und beinahe unmenschliche Mief den verkrusteter Dreck und labbriger Modder verbreiten und den Leser die Nase rümpfen und manchen sogar die Augen tränen lassen folgen Abschnitte vollendeter Schönheit wenn es um die Beschreibung exotischer Tiere geht um dann von schrecklichen Szenen abgelöst zu werden dass sich mir sämtliche Nackenhaare gesträubt und mich dazu gebracht haben, über die Grenzen die ein Mensch körperlich und geistig erleiden kann, nachzudenken.

Ein bengalischer Tiger entkommt auf dem Transport seinem Käfig und streunt durch London. Ein kleiner Dreikäsehoch namens Jaffy fühlt sich magisch von diesem ebenso gefährlichen wie anmutigen Geschöpf angezogen und tätschelt ihm die Nase als wäre es eine kleine Miezekatze. Als der Tiger den Jungen umwirft und im Maul davon trägt wird er in letzter Sekunde durch einen Sprung von Mr Jamrach auf den Rücken des Tigers gerettet. Der erfolgreiche Importeur und Händler von wilden Tieren jeglicher Art stellt Jaffy, dessen furchtlose Tat natürlich DAS Tagesgespräch war, ein und er kümmert sich fortan um das Wohl der aus fernen Ländern stammenden Tiere. Mit fünfzehn Jahren heuert Jaffy auf einem Walfänger an dessen Kapitän nebst dem Walfang den Auftrag hat einem reichen Londoner einen lebendigen Drachen heimzubringen. Die lange Seereise findet ihr Ziel an der Indonesischen Küste auf einer der kleinen Sunada-Insel auf dem die Drachen leben sollen. Es gelingt der Crew tatsächlich einen wahrhaft riesigen Komodowaran zu fangen ! Aber von nun ändert sich alles. Die Stimmung kippt und der Aberglaube, der den Seefahrer seit jeher eigen ist, hält in übermässigen Masse Einzug auf dem Schiff...

Der Roman wurde für den Man Booker Preis nominiert und das es ein spezielles Buch merkt man beim lesen. Der erste Abschnitt strotz nur so von Adjektiven und Beschreibungen und nach drei Seiten hatte mich die Autorin mit ihrem Stil am Haken. Ein stimmungsvolles, wenn auch eher stinkendes Ambiente breitet sich aus und die Geschichte vom kleinen Jaffy liest sich flüssig herunter. Mit der Heuer auf dem Schiff ändert sich die Grundstimmung des Romans. Er wird zunehmend düsterer und mit dem Erlegen des ersten Wals wird es erstmals blutig und eklig. Mit dem Ankern vor den Inseln Indonesien verschärft sich dieses zwiespältige Gefühl und schlägt definitiv in eine finstre Atmosphäre um. Der Roman ist nun alles andere als Vergnüglich zu lesen und schlägt mir auf den Magen. Der Stil der Autorin ändert sich mit und trägt zu dieser schwer verdaulichen Stimmung bei. Ich lese zügig und will gewisse Szenen nicht bewusst wahrnehmen, doch ich nehme sie auf dumpfe und geradezu lethargische Art auf. Meine Gedanken strömen in alle Richtungen wie das Wasser im Meer. Eingeklemmt zwischen einem wahnsinnigen Gott und einer erbarmungslosen Natur habe Zeit zum Nachdenken. Das Verstehen der Geschichte steigt und fällt wie die Wellen und um meine Ohren pfeift der gnadenlose Atem der Welt!(less)

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Apr 27, 2013 Lisal rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked up this book on the basis of the plot outline on the back and the fact that it was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize and came highly recommended by A.S. Byatt and I had really high hopes for it. I didn't make it further than page 132 though..... :(

The language is wonderful - Carol Birch really has a gift for descriptive writing and breathing life into places and surroundings. You can feel and hear and taste everything around the characters. Unfortunately she doesn't do so well with t...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Allie Whiteley rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was torn between two and three stars for this. Perhaps it is more like 2.5. This book was a chore for me to read. I felt disappointed and that it ought to have been so much better. Maybe the problem was one of marketing: it is called "Jamrach's Menagerie" and yet the vast bulk of it is about a voyage to find a (presumably komodo) dragon.

For a book with such Dickensian ambition, the characters were remarkably lifeless. I felt that I should have identified with them more and been more drawn in....more

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Mar 03, 2013 Peter Godfrey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book tells a gripping and unusual story. It starts with a boy being nearly killed by a tiger as it is walked down a London street. The author has written an account of the life of that boy, Jaffy Brown, born into squalor in about 1840, who through this freak event gets an opportunity to better himself in the establishment of the flamboyant Mr Jamrach – an importer of exotic animals and birds. At Jamrach’s, Jaffy meets Tim who starts as his tormentor and grows into his best friend (although...more This book tells a gripping and unusual story. It starts with a boy being nearly killed by a tiger as it is walked down a London street. The author has written an account of the life of that boy, Jaffy Brown, born into squalor in about 1840, who through this freak event gets an opportunity to better himself in the establishment of the flamboyant Mr Jamrach – an importer of exotic animals and birds. At Jamrach’s, Jaffy meets Tim who starts as his tormentor and grows into his best friend (although their relationship remains ambivalent because of Tim’s need to ‘score points’ over Jaffy). Jaffy also gets to meet Tim’s sister, Ishbel, and their Ma. Jaffy, Ishbel and Tim become a gang who spend a lot of time together. Through being in Mr Jamrach’s employ, Jaffy gets the chance at the age of 15 to go to sea with Tim on an whaling ship and take part in an expedition to search for a ‘dragon’, which had been reported to exist in the East Indies, wanted by one of Mr Jamrach’s rich clients. Life at sea is vividly described and we are introduced to the odd collection of characters (another menagerie?) who make up its crew. The killing of whales is graphically described as are the associated smells (an area of given a lot of attention by the author throughout the book). The expedition succeeds in finding and capturing the animal (which turns out to be rather more a giant lizard than a fire-breathing flying dragon). At this point as the Captain tries to do some more whaling in the South China Sea prior to bringing their precious catch back to his Sponsor, disaster strikes in the midst of extremely bad weather. The animal escapes and in the resulting uproar and confusion the ship is lost. The next 65 days transform the innocent boy into the traumatised man who eventually returns to London. Cast adrift in two whaling boats 12 members of the crew, attempt to save their lives by sailing and rowing into the shipping lanes where they can be picked up and rescued by a passing whaling ship. In the life boat, the men endure severe deprivation and illness is rife. Initially those who die are consigned to the deep but eventually the point is reached where there can be no future for the survivors unless they break the taboo and eat the corpses of their dead colleagues. As time goes on there are only 4 men left, Tim, Jaffy, their father-figure Dan and the strange artistic and other-worldly, Skip. They draw lots; Tim is chosen to be killed and Jaffy is selected to shoot him. The reader is spared none of the gruesome details of this macabre event and the momentous moral dilemma which lies behind it. When they are rescued several days later only Dan and Jaffy are left, Skip having succumbed to illness. Jaffy finds the world he returns to little changed whereas he will never be the same again – traumatised and riddled with survivor’s guilt. After first shutting himself off from the world, Jaffy eventually emerges back into the world. After a further spell at sea ‘which gives a man time to think’, he discovers a vocation – making elaborate bird cages and selling them and the birds to go in them to the public. Ishbel comes back into his life, convinces him she does not blame him for what happened to Tim and she and, her Ma, move into Jaffy’s emporium but only on condition he doesn’t return to sea.
At first I found the writing style a bit cumbersome but this passed as the story gained momentum and I ended up thinking that it gives the writing an authentic period feel. The most amazing thing about the book is the imagination of the author. She describes a number of worlds convincingly in great detail and yet she cannot have experienced them herself. The filth and squalor of London’s East End in the mid 1850’s, the inside of Jamrach’s menagerie, life on a 19th Century Whaling Ship, tropical isles in East Indies and the dreadful fight for survival in the drifting whale boat are all brought to glorious life in the book. She paints wonderful word pictures which encapsulate the essence of what she is describing. She paints equally convincing pictures of the working of people’s minds in situations she cannot possibly have experienced herself. The book represents a remarkable feat of imaginative writing. I suppose the shocking nature of the content of the book will and has put off some readers (and possibly the Man Booker Prize judges?). However, the book manages to treat these extremely unusual and repugnant acts as the inevitable price of survival which they must indeed be in a life boat when food and drink have been used up and there is no rescue in sight. Although it is a bit of a harrowing read, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and loved the beautifully evocative writing.
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Dec 23, 2012 David Williams rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An unusual and stunning opening of the book - featuring a runaway tiger in the Victorian streets of London that picks up our eight year old narrator in its mouth - sets us up for a fascinating, often stomach-churning adventure laced with psychological observation and reflection.

There is something Golding-like about Carol Birch's style. (I was reminded particularly of 'Pincher Martin' and not merely for the marine setting.)I had some early concerns about the narrative diction, which fluctuates be...more

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Nov 18, 2012 Michael Moseley rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club

What a dark and depressing subject. This book rates alongside that film of the Chilean air crash where they eat the fellow passengers. It is certain that we will never know what we are capable of until we have had to deal with the situation. How many of us could truly say, “I would not d that” and has the world changed that we are over sensitised to cannibalise: it is only meat.
The birds and the menagerie linked to my child hood with the petticoat lane Sunday market and the café I went with my d...more

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Aug 22, 2012 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch

A review by Mike Brain Aug 2012. This novel was my recommendation to Mold Readers group.

This is an engrossing and evocative tale covering over 40 years in the life of Jaffy Brown and his friendship with playmates Tim & his sister Ishbel Linver, which begins and ends in the Victorian slums of Bermondsey and Wapping, England. There are a host of ‘Dickensian’ characters, but without that authors’ penchant for strange names.

Our story begins by introducing us to...more
Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch

A review by Mike Brain Aug 2012. This novel was my recommendation to Mold Readers group.

This is an engrossing and evocative tale covering over 40 years in the life of Jaffy Brown and his friendship with playmates Tim & his sister Ishbel Linver, which begins and ends in the Victorian slums of Bermondsey and Wapping, England. There are a host of ‘Dickensian’ characters, but without that authors’ penchant for strange names.

Our story begins by introducing us to the filth and squalor prevalent in that neighbourhood in those times and the accompanying and inescapable ‘effluvia’ of actual ‘shit creeks’ and ‘mudlarks’delving for lost coins! A ‘local legend’ begins with and involves the import of exotic creatures by Mr Jamrach (a real life person who supplied the London Zoo), and Jaffy’s innocent fascination for a Bengal tiger, which leads to him being rescued from its jaws.

This chance encounter and subsequent employment at the menagerie leads to a natural talent for looking after creatures like Tasmanian devils, and by the time he is 15, Jaffy ( already pipe smoking and beer-drinking) is off to sea on the whaling ship ‘Lysander’ to catch a ‘dragon’ believed to live on an island east of Java.

I liked the ‘set pieces’ of catching and processing a whale for its oil, and the hunting and capture of the ‘dragon’ (a Komodo), and the waterspouts ( can cold air ‘singe..’?); all evoking with considerable skill, the sights, sounds, colours and odours within these encounters, and these ‘episodes’ are contrasted by the stories, songs and landfall encounters of the ship’s crew.

For me, these episodes inevitably give rise to mental comparisons with ‘Moby Dick’, Jim Hawkins in ‘Treasure island’ and maybe even ‘King Kong’, all of which have their share of flawed leaders, and crazy companions?

It would be a ‘spoiler to comment on the ‘Captain Bligh‘episode, but it was powerfully written and the consequences naturally leave Jaffy with what we would now class as PTSD upon his eventual return and reunion with his mother and his ‘tentative’ , and now adult ‘sweetheart’ Ishbel.

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Feb 14, 2012 Harsha Priolkar rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is one that was shortlisted for the 2011 Booker eventually losing out to The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes.

I picked it up because of it's intriguing title and rather droll cover. Don't you love a book with a great cover? It's a good read, although at times the descriptive prose tended to excess. It took me a while to get used to the author's style and her often abrupt prose. It suits the subject matter fine though which for the most part deals with sailors and their voyages. She's cl...more This is one that was shortlisted for the 2011 Booker eventually losing out to The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes.

I picked it up because of it's intriguing title and rather droll cover. Don't you love a book with a great cover? It's a good read, although at times the descriptive prose tended to excess. It took me a while to get used to the author's style and her often abrupt prose. It suits the subject matter fine though which for the most part deals with sailors and their voyages. She's cleverly woven a coming of age story into a sailing background, which is very reminiscent of Life of Pi. But while Life of Pi has a surreal quality to it, what with the charismatic Richard Parker, this book is firmly rooted in reality.

There are parts of the story which were extremely tough for me to read, softie that I am! The ship-wreck and its aftermath, the dragon hunt & escape, the whale-killing - all very graphic, disturbing and yet imbued with a terrible beauty. The other parts I enjoyed, especially her character descriptions. The description of Jaffy's early days, his drive, his ambition and his early naivete were very endearing. His friendship with Tim and Ishbel, his joy at working at the Menagerie and the descriptions of the animals themselves along with the emotions they might have been feeling were spot on. It was easy to understand how Jaffy was enamored of the animals and especially the birds, because through her prose, the author made me fall in love with that rather seamy, chaotic place too. I could smell the smells and see the looks as it were!

I enjoyed the descriptions of the life-at-sea too. Birch paints pictures with her prose, so it's easy to imagine a ship leaving harbor, peopled with seasoned sailors and their wise, sorrowful eyes, and young boys out for an adventure, eyes bright and unafraid, untouched and unclaimed as yet by the wily seas. Easy to see her pitching on the high seas as her crew struggle for survival and battle the ocean in all its fury. And easier still to watch her anchored in a calm harbor where the beaches are lined with palm trees and where at last land offers respite, refuge and recreation. Especially loved the description of three hurricanes that dance on the water before all hell breaks loose and the scene that I'll simply call 'Jaffy & the Tiger'! Brilliant stuff!

But it's not all about the descriptions, there's a story here too, of love and friendship, of courage and sacrifice, of leaving and being left behind, of forgiving and being forgiven, of humanity and animals and whether they are so different as we like to think. I was a little confused by the choice of title, especially when the said Menagerie is absent for a good part of the story, until I realized that this is indeed a Menagerie, literally of animals and symbolically of humans, all thrown together by fate and circumstance to get along as best they can or die trying.

Although I cannot but help compare it to Life of Pi, which was for me an easier read and remains my favorite book on the subject, Jamrach's Menagerie is absorbing, intelligent and thought-provoking. In short it's everything a great read should be!(less)

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Oct 18, 2011 Libby rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: unforgettable

This book is almost hypnotically beautiful. Carol Birch creates worlds so vivid and tangible that I felt transported to her reality. Her writing is so evocative that I could taste and smell the salt and flowers and excrement.
The story is narrated by Jaffy, an urchin from the slums of London, who has an encounter with a tiger in Ramsgate Road. Jaffy's bravery and composure impress Jamrach, a dealer in wild animals. Jaffy goes to work for Jamrach, and eventually goes to sea, to be part of an expe...more

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Oct 16, 2011 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another book short-listed for this year's Booker Prize. This is an adventure story--in some ways very much in the tradition of so many of those British sea adventures set in the 19th century. It does, however, have some interesting twists. A young man, the narrator, is taken aboard a ship that has as one of its missions to capture and bring back to England a Komodo dragon, rumors of which have been circulating among sailors who have spent time in the Indonesian archipelago. They succeed, at leas...more

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Oct 13, 2011 Jane Hoppe rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If I were Carol Birch’s writing teacher—an absurd supposition because she is a better writer than I could ever hope to be and I would be lucky to be a student in her writing class—I would give Jamrach’s Menagerie an A+++ for evoking emotion and vividly describing sensations and an F--- for choosing subject matter.

As likeable narrator Jaffy describes wonders and horrors on his first ocean sailing voyage aboard whaler Lysander, I eagerly see, hear, taste, touch, smell everything. I have never been...more If I were Carol Birch’s writing teacher—an absurd supposition because she is a better writer than I could ever hope to be and I would be lucky to be a student in her writing class—I would give Jamrach’s Menagerie an A+++ for evoking emotion and vividly describing sensations and an F--- for choosing subject matter.

As likeable narrator Jaffy describes wonders and horrors on his first ocean sailing voyage aboard whaler Lysander, I eagerly see, hear, taste, touch, smell everything. I have never been so amazed by a writer’s gift for simple, exact descriptions as I was awed by Carol Birch’s in this book. When the shipwrecked sailors take desperate measures to survive, however, I can still see, hear, taste, touch, and smell everything—but I no longer want to. I felt tricked, lured by Birch’s siren song, into living this fantastical voyage with Jaffy, only to be party to his revulsion as well.

I can see my reader’s voyage as part of Birch’s brilliance as a writer. I experienced what Jaffy experienced. It was hard, painful, stomach-turning, but it happens. But I can also see the plot as yet another cheap answer to the question people seem to ask more and more often in the trendy quest for extremes: What can we do now to shock people even more? Reminds me of one writing teacher’s challenge to me: Writing about everyday life will never sell; you can’t just have this girl in a bar—have an alien land in the bar and abduct her!

I think life’s most exciting drama is in everyday relational challenges, not in pursuit of outrageousness. Many of society’s problems exist precisely because we don’t see loving difficult people, overcoming common fears, handling disappointments, and making tough choices (to name a few everyday issues) as the most rewarding adventures. As for the argument that sometimes we read novels to escape everyday life and Jamrach’s Menagerie is certainly a fabulous escape, I go back to my grades at the opposite ends of the spectrum. I reveled in every cool descriptive droplet spraying my face as I gripped Lysander’s railing. I sailed high on waves of Jaffy’s victories in establishing relational footing on a slippery deck. (See four examples of issues above—Jaffy faced them all.) But what Birch’s story is ultimately the story of is not something I enjoyed escaping to.
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Oct 05, 2011 Ali rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jaffy Brown is running along a street in London’s East End when he comes face to face with an escaped circus animal. Plucked from the jaws of death by Mr Jamrach – explorer, entrepreneur and collector of the world’s strangest creatures – the two strike up a friendship.Before he knows it, Jaffy finds himself on board a ship bound for the Dutch East Indies, on an unusual commission for Mr Jamrach. His journey – if he survives it – will push faith, love and friendship to their utmost limits

This is...more

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Sep 23, 2011 Annette rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

whoa... i guess that is all i can say about this book, at this moment... whoa!...
i literally JUST finished it.
i finished my last 500-page book in a mere few weeks & amazamed myself at how i had barrelled through that book (see "queen by right").
but i finished this 300-page book in a mere few DAYS! i HAD to keep reading it!

i have not read another book like this. it is not a romance, it is not a historical fiction... i don't even know how to describe this one. um, it was an "adventure"!...

wow...more

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Sep 20, 2011 Beadyjan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, favorites

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Jaffy's adventures. At the beginning of this book I felt it was possibly going to be more of a young adult novel but as it progresses it most definitely isn't. I was a tad disappointed that the story doesn't concentrate more on the animals than it does and was hoping for a water for elephants Water for Elephants kind of feel but was very wrong.

Its a very atmospheric historical story about a young lad living in poverty in the London slums of the mid 19th century...more

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Sep 14, 2011 Mark Staniforth rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

On the face of it, maybe Jamrach's Menagerie doesn't seem too promising: another addition to the age-old genre of high seas adventures of shipwrecks and cannibals and mythical beasts. What's more, it's apparently underpinned by the same small boy/big cat conceit that swept Yann Martel to the Booker Prize in 2002.
Nothing could be more misleading. Sure, Carol Birch's 11th novel (pub. Canongate) - deservedly shortlisted for this year's Prize - ticks all those boxes. But with her rich, colourful nar...more On the face of it, maybe Jamrach's Menagerie doesn't seem too promising: another addition to the age-old genre of high seas adventures of shipwrecks and cannibals and mythical beasts. What's more, it's apparently underpinned by the same small boy/big cat conceit that swept Yann Martel to the Booker Prize in 2002.
Nothing could be more misleading. Sure, Carol Birch's 11th novel (pub. Canongate) - deservedly shortlisted for this year's Prize - ticks all those boxes. But with her rich, colourful narrative and a cast of characters imbued with so generous a spirit that you can't help but cheer them on, Birch has fashioned an epic fable to more than match most that have gone before.
'Jamrach's Menagerie' tells the story of Jaffy Brown, a young urchin plucked from the jaws of an escaped tiger by Mr Jamrach, a dealer and collector of some of the world's most exotic creatures. Their resulting friendship culminates in Jaffy signing up for an epic voyage to discover and capture a mysterious dragon whose safe return will make them rich.
It's a tumultuous tale of shipwrecks and sea shanties, dragon hunters and toucan traders, gaudy whores and drunken sailors, told from the first-person perspective of a by-now ageing Jaffy.
Where Birch really triumphs is in her glorious evocation of Victorian era London - a London smeared with the shit-stench of the Bermondsey tanneries and its Limehouse docks teeming with all forms of human and animal life:

A brown bear danced decorously on the corner by an alehouse called Sooty Jack's. Men walked about with parrots on their shoulders, magnificent birds, pure scarlet, egg-yolk yellow, bright sky blue. Their eyes were knowing and half amused, their feet scaly. The air on the corner of Martha Street hung sultry with the perfume of Arabian sherbet, and women in silks as bright as the parrots leaned out from doorways, arms akimbo, powerfully breasted like the figureheads of the ships lying along the quays.

It is a world the young Jaffy only briefly comes to know, hoicked through its crowds by his new friend, the street-wise Tim, Jamrach's trusted assistant, and his younger sister Ishbel, an impish siren for whom Jaffy's as-yet unrequited love will torment him throughout his lusty voyage and the extraordinary ordeal which will change his life for ever.
It’s Ishbel, ultimately, who does more than most to lift this book above the slew of broadly similar seafaring tales, lending to Jaffy's narrative a longing and an urgency which leads you to flit through the pages barely pausing for breath.
Above all, it's a vivid, rollicking yarn, almost Twainian in its scent for further adventure. Those who believe they have read it all before ought to give it a try. Failing that, they should let us know which they believe to be its equal, because I for one will be first in the queue to read them. (less)

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Aug 17, 2011 Meredith rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, historical-fiction, male-protagonist, trauma, adult

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 26, 2011 Lisa added it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, fiction

Jaffy Brown is living a life of squalor on the streets of nineteenth century London, when a close a close encounter with a tiger changes his life forever. The tiger belongs to Mr. Jamrach, an exotic animal trader, who offers young Jaffy a job caring with his animals. It is at jamrach’s that Jaffy meets his rival and best friend, Tim Linver.

When an associate of Jamrach’s plans a voyage to capture an exotic “dragon,” Jaffy jumps at the opportunity. Although enchanted at first with life on board a...more

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May 22, 2011 Marleen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Copy received from and reviewed for Bookhugger and its Realreaders programme.

"I was born twice. First in a wooden room that jutted out over the black water of the Thames, and then again eight years later in the Highway, when the tiger took me in his mouth and everything truly began."

So starts Jaffy Brown's story. Born into poverty to a single mother in the 19th century he can't help himself when, aged eight, he sees a tiger lose in the street. He feels compelled to go to the tiger and stroke it,...more Copy received from and reviewed for Bookhugger and its Realreaders programme.

"I was born twice. First in a wooden room that jutted out over the black water of the Thames, and then again eight years later in the Highway, when the tiger took me in his mouth and everything truly began."

So starts Jaffy Brown's story. Born into poverty to a single mother in the 19th century he can't help himself when, aged eight, he sees a tiger lose in the street. He feels compelled to go to the tiger and stroke it, only to find himself in the tiger's mouth. It's an encounter he miraculously survives, and one that lands him a job in the Menagerie of the tiger's temporary owner, Mr. Jamrach.
Here he meets and befriends Tim Linver and falls in love with Tim's twin sister Ishbel.
Some years later a client of Mr. Jamrach wants to own a fabled but never seen or captured dragon, and Jaffy and Tim join a crew on a whaling boat part of a quest to bring home one such creature.
The journey before the dragon is captured goes well; the whaling is succesful, a lot of the world is seen and friendships are made. The post dragon return journey is one long nightmare though, reaching its climax when the ship sinks and the crew finds themselves in two live boats in the middle of the ocean with little food and water. From then on survival is the only concern of those remaining, leading to dreadful choices and a lifetime of nightmares for those who might be "lucky" enough to survive.

"One way or another I suppose you could say that voyage was the making of me. I'd have been a yardboy. Is that what it was all for? To make of me the man I am now? Is God mad? Is that it? Stuck between a mad God and merciless nature? What a game."

This is a fascinating yet horrific story. The book is very well written, and Jaffy is a well rounded, likeable yet entirely human main character. However, there were times, after the ship had sunk in the story, when I had to put the book down and walk away from it for a little while because the story got to gruesome for me. I did find myself having to return to the book though, to see how the story would end. To find out if anything positive could ever come out of all the horror the characters were put through.
It says a lot about the qualitity of the writing that I managed to finish this book. In the hands of a lesser author, the more horrific parts of the story would have lead to me putting the book aside without finishing it. As it is, I'm glad I did finish the story. Yes, it is gruesome in parts, but ultimately it is a story of humanity and what it takes for us to let go of some of our humanity, and the price we pay for that afterwards.(less)

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May 21, 2011 Felice rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jamrach's Menagerie is the most colorful, grimy, brutal, salty coming of age story you are likely to read. It's the story of Jaffy Brown a nineteenth century boy who comes fully loaded with all that the best urchins have to offer: abject poverty, a single parent, limitless optimism, no education but natural smarts and a love of the sea. Jaffy is part Pip, part Popeye, part Ishmael, part Steve Irwin and thanks to Birch all freshness and charm. He's our narrator in Jamrach's so it's good thing you...more Jamrach's Menagerie is the most colorful, grimy, brutal, salty coming of age story you are likely to read. It's the story of Jaffy Brown a nineteenth century boy who comes fully loaded with all that the best urchins have to offer: abject poverty, a single parent, limitless optimism, no education but natural smarts and a love of the sea. Jaffy is part Pip, part Popeye, part Ishmael, part Steve Irwin and thanks to Birch all freshness and charm. He's our narrator in Jamrach's so it's good thing you want to spend time with him, to root for him.

Jaffy's life pre-Jamrach is all work and the cesspool atmosphere of London slums. His one bright light is his Mother. She seems barely older than Jaffy at the start of the novel and they are devoted to one another. Jaffy enters Jamarach's life through the jaws a tiger. One of my favorite moments in the book is when Birch describes this magnificent tiger through Jaffy's inexperienced eyes. Jamrach is an agent of procurement for the wild and exotic that fill wealthy,private Victorian zoos. He is Jaffy's Magwich, a mysterious benefactor who puts him on a path out of the slums. Through the menagerie business Jaffy gets teamed up with another boy, Tim who becomes his friend and rival and Dan Rymer the sailor and adventurer who becomes father and mentor to both boys on the voyage to catch a 'dragon' that is the crux of the novel.

Jaffy's hard knock life thus far takes a turn for the worse after he goes to sea. At this point the novel shifts gears a little. Jaffy's childhood as difficult as it was still had an innocence to it, as he approaches adulthood on board the Lysander the tone of the book becomes harsher, more adult too. The change is subtly done. It goes from an almost lightheartedly dangerous Dickensian tale of life on the streets populated with colorful characters to a more Joseph Conrad nature verses man while man verses man tale.

Birch does a magnificent job bringing nineteenth century London and a globe crossing ocean voyage to life. The sights, the smells, the struggle to survive all leap off the page at you. What could have been an endless dirge of squalor, gin, abuse and near death experiences instead become a brilliant tour of lives lived by wit and sheer determination to last just another day. These places: London slums, the deck of the Lysander, a deserted island these are not locations that bring out the hopeful dreamer or the rags to riches tale. Birch makes these stops the natural progression of Jaffy's life after his singular good luck in finding himself in the tiger's mouth.

Jamrach's Menagerie owes some of it's events to the real life sinking of the whaling ship The Essex in 1820 (which inspired Melville's Moby Dick) and in exploits of Charles Jamrach. Jamrach was a German born merchant who dealt in wild animals and whose escaped tiger in London carried off a small boy. There are other plot elements in the story that I won't detail but will have a vaguely familiar ring to them. This is not a criticism. Birch's use of a true facts and a few known legends only enhances the feeling of historical accuracy in Jaffy's story. She retells these moments within the larger plot with a vivid immediacy that makes Jamarach's a page turner as well as a graduate level course on how to write historical fiction.

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Apr 06, 2011 Susan Kavanagh rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, british

Before I read this terrific novel, I was unfamiliar with the author and the two historical incidents that provide the backdrop for the novel’s narrative—the sinking of the Essex whaling ship in 1820 and the life of Charles Jamrach, a famed importer of exotic animals during Victorian times. This is the first of Carol Birch’s books being published in the United States. I hope it is very successful so that her backlist of highly regarded novels follow suit and become easily accessible to American r...more Before I read this terrific novel, I was unfamiliar with the author and the two historical incidents that provide the backdrop for the novel’s narrative—the sinking of the Essex whaling ship in 1820 and the life of Charles Jamrach, a famed importer of exotic animals during Victorian times. This is the first of Carol Birch’s books being published in the United States. I hope it is very successful so that her backlist of highly regarded novels follow suit and become easily accessible to American readers.
Birch uses the two historical events to tell the story of Jaffy Brown, who is born to dire poverty. Jaffy’s life changes at the age of eight when he is clutched from the jaws of a tiger while walking down Ratcliffe Highway. The tiger is owned by Jamrach who hires Jaffy to work at the menagerie. There he meets the slightly older Tim who is to become his best friend. Tim’s twin sister becomes Jaffy’s lifelong love. Jamrach insists that both boys attend some school. When the boys are in their mid teen, Tim is recruited to accompany Dan Rymer, an adventurer who captures animals for Jamrach, in his search for an elusive sea dragon desired by a rich collector. Jaffy decides to sign up for the ship and they embark on a three-year whaling expedition.
Birch employs a commanding use of voice by using young Jaffy to tell the story from his hardscrabble beginnings to his amazing story of survival at sea. The reader is plunged into Dickensian London with its smells and dirt. Birch captures the flavor of life on a ship followed by the harrowing tale of the sailors in the whaling boats trying to survive in a remarkable fashion. The novel demonstrates Birch’s ability to write lyrically while maintaining a strong narrative drive. This is a great read and might particularly appeal to readers who liked Beryl Bainbridge’s the Birthday Boys or Andrea Barrett’s the Voyage of the Narwhal. [I received this book from the publisher as part of Library Thing's Early Reviewer Program.]
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About Carol Birch

Carol Birch was born in Manchester and attended Keele University. The author of eleven novels, she won the 1988 David Higham Award for the Best First Novel of the Year for Life in the Palace, the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize with The Fog Line in 1991, and she was long-listed for the 2003 Booker Prize for Turn Again Home. Her novel Jamrach's Menagerie was long-listed for the Orange Prize 2011. She...more

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“It was the first smile of my life. Of course, that is a ridiculous thing to say; I had been smiled at often, the big man had smiled at me not a minute since. And yet I say: it was the first smile, because it was the first that ever went straight into me like a needle too thin to be seen.” — 13 people liked it

“There's no way out of this, it's stark: live or die. Every given moment a bubble that bursts. Step on, from one to the next, ever onwards, a rainbow of stepping stones, each bursting softly as your foot touches and passes on. Till one step finds only empty air. Till that step, live.” — 3 people liked it

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