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2nd out of 11 books
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The Elephant Keeper
"I asked the sailor what an Elephant looked like; he replied that it was like nothing on earth."
"England, 1766: " After a long voyage from the East Indies, a ship docks in Bristol, England, and rumor quickly spreads about its unusual cargo--some say a mermaid is on board. A crowd forms, hoping to catch a glimpse of the magical creature. One crate aft
...moreHardcover, First, 298 pages
Published
August 1st 2009
by William Morrow & Company
(first published September 1st 2008)
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Book about a rather nice lady elephant and her pervie keeper. Its one thing to want to love and protect your pet, whatever its size, rarity value and potential murderous temperament, it's another to leave your human beloved for it.
Daft story beautifully told, very enjoyable to read, but daft all the same. Imagine if it had been about a man leaving his girlfriend to live with his unstable pitbull? And then, after the pitbull had lost it and killed someone who wasn't very nice, run...more
Daft story beautifully told, very enjoyable to read, but daft all the same. Imagine if it had been about a man leaving his girlfriend to live with his unstable pitbull? And then, after the pitbull had lost it and killed someone who wasn't very nice, run...more
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I'm actually in two minds about this book.
I adored the first part (the actual "History of The Elephant") and was a bit bored by the second, although I enjoyed the descriptions and the conversations between the noblemen. The third was a bit more interesting, although not much about the Elephant (although she was mentioned quite a lot, I didn't feel her presence as much as during the first two parts of the book), and I was was utterly confused by part 4. My rational mind couldn't ...more
I adored the first part (the actual "History of The Elephant") and was a bit bored by the second, although I enjoyed the descriptions and the conversations between the noblemen. The third was a bit more interesting, although not much about the Elephant (although she was mentioned quite a lot, I didn't feel her presence as much as during the first two parts of the book), and I was was utterly confused by part 4. My rational mind couldn't ...more
This was a lovely surprise of a read, a beautiful story of a boy's love and care for Jenny the elephant through all the twists and turns of their lives in 18th century England. It's not faultless - I was more taken by the first half of the book when the young Tom starts to write his history of the elephant than the second which gets a little dark and tackles wider social issues. And there are slower sections that don't grip the attention as effectively. And much is made in other reviews of the ...more
A love story between an elephant and her keeper seems a highly unlikely premise - and yet it works in this lovely, gentle novel.
Tom son of the groom at Harrington Hall stares wide-eyed at Bristol docks as a cargo of two young elephants is unloaded. His master, Mr Harrington makes a snap decision to purchase the elephants, and they are soon resident at the Hall, to the bemusement of the other staff and the irritation of Mr Harrington’s wife.
Tom nicknames them Timothy (after his father) and Jenny,...more
Tom son of the groom at Harrington Hall stares wide-eyed at Bristol docks as a cargo of two young elephants is unloaded. His master, Mr Harrington makes a snap decision to purchase the elephants, and they are soon resident at the Hall, to the bemusement of the other staff and the irritation of Mr Harrington’s wife.
Tom nicknames them Timothy (after his father) and Jenny,...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Christopher Nicholson combines a mischievous sensibility with a creative imagination in this delicate and satisfying story. Working with a subject that could easily degenerate into either sentimentality or bathos, he tells a nuanced story of devotion, empathy, humanity, bittersweet memories, and conscience.
The voice he adopts in THE ELEPHANT KEEPER is entirely his own. He playfully hints at this in a meditation on the differences between speech and writing. His character, a stable...more
The voice he adopts in THE ELEPHANT KEEPER is entirely his own. He playfully hints at this in a meditation on the differences between speech and writing. His character, a stable...more
"I asked the sailor what an Elephant looked like; he replied that it was like nothing on earth."
The Elephant Keeper, a wonderful and heartbreaking book, is the story of Tom and two young elephants who, in 1776, arrive at the docks in Bristol, England. They are purchased by a wealthy sugar merchant for his estate, and he hires a young stable boy, Tom Page, to care for them. The story, told by Tom, follows the lives of boy and elephants as they learn to understand each other, a...more
The Elephant Keeper, a wonderful and heartbreaking book, is the story of Tom and two young elephants who, in 1776, arrive at the docks in Bristol, England. They are purchased by a wealthy sugar merchant for his estate, and he hires a young stable boy, Tom Page, to care for them. The story, told by Tom, follows the lives of boy and elephants as they learn to understand each other, a...more
Fictional books about animals are in vogue, with Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants, Garth Stein's The Art of Racing in the Rain, and Yann Martel's Life of Pi, each experiencing an extended stay on the bestseller list.
Add Christopher Nicholson's The Elephant Keeper to that list. The book cast a spell upon me, and I read it in two sittings, unable to put it down. Set in the late 1700s, the novel tells the tale of young Tom Page, who is tasked by his employer to write a book about the el...more
Add Christopher Nicholson's The Elephant Keeper to that list. The book cast a spell upon me, and I read it in two sittings, unable to put it down. Set in the late 1700s, the novel tells the tale of young Tom Page, who is tasked by his employer to write a book about the el...more
A fictional story about what may have been the first elephants ever to make it to England alive made for an interesting read. "The Elephant Keeper" is a story that provides insights into the life of both upper and lower classes in 18th century England...a time when a person's family and circumstance usually limited their social and professional possibilities.
The main human character of the book, Tom Page, is the son of a groom that worked for a titled English gentleman. To...more
The main human character of the book, Tom Page, is the son of a groom that worked for a titled English gentleman. To...more
This is a wonderful book. It's an account by Tom Page, the elephant keeper of the title, of his relationship with two elephants in 18th century England, and it manages, with no apparent effort, to talk about the nature of love, power structures and their effect on human relationships, notions of the afterlife, landscape gardening and a host of other things. It does so with grace, humour, depth and, above all - perhaps unexpectedly, given that the core of the book describes the love and respect a...more
The Elephant Keeper is the story of a young horse trainer who suddenly finds himself in charge of caring for two young elephants. Its a coming of age story for both the trainer and the elephants and the commonalities and contrasts make for an interesting twist. As the story progress the trainer develops a deep relationship with the female elephant and ultimately is able to communicate with her. I thought this part of the story was well written and I was able to suspend belief and enjoy their int...more
Christopher Nicholson’s The Elephant Keeper is a surprisingly melancholy re-imagining of what is must have been like to introduce exotic animals into late eighteenth century England. The first half of the novel is a sweet mix of coming of age and innocent love story of Elephants and their Keeper, Tom. The second half of the book darkens and depicts Tom’s full blown obsession with his charges. Tom commits his life to the elephant’s care, dissociating himself with human kind in favor of his be...more
The first half of this novel, in which the narrator sets out a "True History of an Elephant" up until the time of writing, is incredibly charming. The author's pastiche of a late eighteenth-century writing style occasionally seems forced, but for the most part one is willing to let it slide, because Tom Page is a likable narrator, and the story of how he met, trained, and grew attached to a pair of elephants is engaging and sweet.
Once the narrative is brought to Tom's "...more
Once the narrative is brought to Tom's "...more
This book is a very English style history of animal treatment in captivity, from capturing wild creatures and bringing them to England for profit, living at an estate and finally ending in a menagerie of sadness. through it all though there is the hopeful beauty of friendship and caring between caretaker and elephant that drew me on through what normally would have been a downer. Finally the deeper awareness and intelligence of the elephant that gave the book a solemn tranquility when I might ha...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Christopher Nicholson had not registered on my radar before this latest gentle, lumbering, big and somehow soft narrative about two elephants who land at the docks in Bristol, England in the 1700's. The novel is not written like anything that came out of that era, thank goodness, but one gets a feeling of life stripped of its furious pace and all the unnecessary essentials we all find so time consuming now. I laugh quietly to learn on the HarperCollins website that Nicholson is a Thomas Hardy fa...more
I had to wait a couple of days after reading this book to post the review. It has now been three. And I still don’t know how I feel about the story. Which doesn’t leave a good taste in my mouth.
The story itself flows well. You get emotional about the elephants and how they live their daily lives. But for the main character, Tom, I could take him or leave him. There isn’t much depth into what he is about, and as the story unravels, even less so.
I am at a loss a...more
The three books owned by Tom Page in Christopher Nicholson's book "The Elephant Keeper" are A Pilgrims Progress, the Bible and Gulliver's Travels. Like Gulliver, Tom Page has no emotional life (save for his obsessive devotion to Jenny the elephant)and he sees the world strictly in black and white.
Tom is the narrator of this novel and his observations are blunt and factual, more in the style of a news reporter than a novelist. It appears that Nicholson has created his Tom c...more
Tom is the narrator of this novel and his observations are blunt and factual, more in the style of a news reporter than a novelist. It appears that Nicholson has created his Tom c...more
I bought this book because I like animal stories and because I wanted a sweet, enjoyable read. On the cover of the book it is described as a magical adventure. I don't think the book matched the description on the cover. The writing is good, in fact, I had a hard time putting the book down, but I didn't like the turn of events in the plot. I greatly enjoyed the first half of the book, Tom's writings about the history of the elephant, but afterward that, I feel that the story just kind of fell fl...more
I am usually not a big fan of books with animals as main characters. I decided to break away from this pattern and read The Elephant Keeper, especially that the description mentioned it to be 'a magical adventure'. The novel is set in 18th century England and the story is told by Tom Page, a keeper of two elephants he named Timothy and Jenny. By pure accident, Tom found himself to be their main caregiver since the day they arrived in England. The elephants were still pretty much babies and on th...more
I won an ARC of this book and really liked it. I loved the first half of the book in which Tom Page tells the story of how he became the elephant keeper. The second half of the story, in which Tom and Jenny become part of a zoo or menagerie is a much darker story that is only hinted at in the beginning. One isn't sure if it is the elephant keeper who has gone mad, or if he is just being lonely and fanciful. I was very engaged in the characters and in the plot, but I felt that there were two diff...more
I am not sure how I feel about this book. At times I really loved the story and couldn't put the book down and at other times, it seemed a little silly and far-fetched. I loved the basic story of how a "strange" animal came to England off a ship from India in the late 1700s and how a young boy immediately fell in love with it. Hearing Tom's story and how he grew to love and care for the elephant he names Jenny, was enjoyable to read but then the book switches and Jenny starts "...more
This was an interesting story set in the mid 1700's about a young man who becomes the keeper for a pair of elephants. Set in England, we follow the life of the keeper and his love and relationship to the elephants as he begins to write a history of his charges. There are good times and bad as the elephants are separated and sold to sometimes good owners and sometimes not so good circumstances.
Our keeper learns some valuable lessons for Jenny, the elephants he keeps for his whole li...more
Our keeper learns some valuable lessons for Jenny, the elephants he keeps for his whole li...more
I'm currently reading this fiction book and find it very informative. Having written a adventure/fantasy series about elephants myself (the first to be published this year), I am learning a wealth of practical information I didn't find researching my books for the last few decades. I'm thinking now that this is a metaphysical book, though I'm just seeing it as conversations in the head of the elephant keeper, and not real ones between the elephant and him--his interpretation of an elephant he kn...more
I shouldn't have read other reviews of this story before I finished the book. Now I am afraid to move on with it. I am enjoying it because elephants are such fascinating creatures---they are so smart. Now I am afraid to continue because I think something bad is going to happen. It has already been a bit sad because they sent the male elephant away. I know that the female elephant (his sister) feels the loss. I personify animals very easily and because of the elephant's intelligence, I don'...more
This is a rather unusual book, but I liked that about it: unique, breath of fresh air, all those things that people say about "different" books. :) From Amazon:
This tale ". . . about a man and an elephant canters along at a delightful pace, from the first meeting between the two on the quay in Bristol, England. In 1773, Tom Page writes a history of the well-trained elephant, Jenny, and his life as a humble groom for the Harrington family's elephants that he learned...more
This tale ". . . about a man and an elephant canters along at a delightful pace, from the first meeting between the two on the quay in Bristol, England. In 1773, Tom Page writes a history of the well-trained elephant, Jenny, and his life as a humble groom for the Harrington family's elephants that he learned...more
Ordered this book by mistake. So many similar titles recently, it seems. But since I had it, and I love elephants, read it anyway. I'm so glad I did. It's a beautiful story.
A brother and sister elephant arrive on docks of an English port, very dehydrated and nearly dead. They are taken to a rich man who has a stableman that takes on the care and healing of the two elephants. Much about elephant biology is revealed in the early part of the book. And the caretaker, Tom Page, becom...more
A brother and sister elephant arrive on docks of an English port, very dehydrated and nearly dead. They are taken to a rich man who has a stableman that takes on the care and healing of the two elephants. Much about elephant biology is revealed in the early part of the book. And the caretaker, Tom Page, becom...more
Christopher Nicholson introduces us to Tom Page, elephant keeper, in his gentle novel of unlikely friendship. A stable hand to a nobleman who buys a pair of young elephants dockside on a whim, Tom volunteers to care for them, a choice that ultimately results in a lifelong bond.
As Tom brings the elephants back to health — the long sea voyage nearly killed them — he’s teased and ostracized by most of the other hands, and faces fear and misunderstanding from his family and the people in the v...more
As Tom brings the elephants back to health — the long sea voyage nearly killed them — he’s teased and ostracized by most of the other hands, and faces fear and misunderstanding from his family and the people in the v...more
Really enjoyed this one! What a realistic view of 1766 England, where what must surely be among the first elephants brought across the seas are bought and assigned to a young stable boy for their care.
Tom knows nothing about elephants and learns about them as best he can--mainly from Timothy and Jenny, his pachederm charges. As he develops a relationship with the two, he must protect them from the ignorant and sometimes wicked humans who outrank him in his world.
Tome is asked...more
Tom knows nothing about elephants and learns about them as best he can--mainly from Timothy and Jenny, his pachederm charges. As he develops a relationship with the two, he must protect them from the ignorant and sometimes wicked humans who outrank him in his world.
Tome is asked...more
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