El Viaje Del Elefante Pdf Saramago
This is the story of the book. Knowing it will not spoil the enjoyment of it one whit, if you do choose to read it.The story is based on the Portuguese King Joao III's gift of an elephant to the Archduke Maximillian and the delivery of the gift from Lisbon to Vienna.
The major characters are the elephant Solomon and his mahour Subhro. The story is of the King, what happens on the journey to the officers who escort the elephant and at the end of the journey, the Archduke. Maximillian arrogantly This is the story of the book. Knowing it will not spoil the enjoyment of it one whit, if you do choose to read it.The story is based on the Portuguese King Joao III's gift of an elephant to the Archduke Maximillian and the delivery of the gift from Lisbon to Vienna. The major characters are the elephant Solomon and his mahour Subhro. The story is of the King, what happens on the journey to the officers who escort the elephant and at the end of the journey, the Archduke. Maximillian arrogantly renames the elephant from Solomon to Suleiman and the mahout to an inappropriate 'Fritz'.The end is both picaresque and that of a fairy tale.
It is two years after the elephant has arrived in Vienna and he has died. They have cut him up for souvenirs and umbrella stands and the mahout has been apid off, generously, by the Archduke.
The last we see of Subhro, he has reclaimed his name, is riding off on a mule, on a journey he never completes trailing a donkey who bears a wooden box containing all the possessions that mahout possesses.A short while later, the letter announcing the death of Solomon reaches King Joao III and his wife. The king was very sad but the queen refusing to be read the contents of the letter locked herself in her room and spent the rest of the day in tears.It is a beguiling book, the language is so beautiful, it is witty and humouros but it is not a great book, just a really enjoyable one. A fine one to finish a year of reading on.Notes on reading the book. Saramago's The Elephant's Journey is a lot more readable.
than Livius'. A Latin text I never really got to grips with.
Not that I've ever got to grips with Saramago's writing style either, it's.audio or forget it for me.So far, the writing is charmingly amusing, sly and pointed and wonderful in it's own right, never mind the story (which I am also enjoying). Here is a wonderful story, especially, I think, if you have a deep connection to animals. It is the story of Solomon the Elephant and his keeper, Subhro, and their journey as a gift from King Joao III of Portugal to his cousin Archduke Maximillian (Hapsburgs) in 1540 or so. The voice is third-person historical and wonderfully relaxed and unrushed.
It is a novelist's voice embellishing on historical fact:It's hard to understand just why the archduke Maximilian should have decided to make such a Here is a wonderful story, especially, I think, if you have a deep connection to animals. It is the story of Solomon the Elephant and his keeper, Subhro, and their journey as a gift from King Joao III of Portugal to his cousin Archduke Maximillian (Hapsburgs) in 1540 or so. The voice is third-person historical and wonderfully relaxed and unrushed. It is a novelist's voice embellishing on historical fact:It's hard to understand just why the archduke Maximilian should have decided to make such a journey at this time of year winter, but that is how it is set down in history, as an incontrovertible, documented fact, supported by historians and confirmed by the novelist, who must be forgiven for taking certain liberties with names, not only because it is his right to invent, but also because he had to fill in certain gaps so that the sacred coherence of the story was not lost.Omniscience is avoided. This is especially evident in the narrator's refusal or inability to enter the thoughts of Solomon. The animal is thus shown a certain respect and the limitations of the voice are clearly indicated:We do not know what he Solomon is thinking, but, in the midst of these Alps, we can be sure of one thing, he is not a happy elephant.As I read about the passage of the archduke and his cortege in their passage through the snowy Alps I was filled with foreboding.
That's how affecting the writing is here. One is entirely taken up with the plight of this elephant, an animal of the tropics, being forced through a snowy rocky landscape. Saramago uses a run on sentence style, stringing long passages together with commas, and disdaining standard capitalization. This has the clever effect of slowing the reader down, almost as a caesura in verse, making one concentrate more intently on how the language is deployed.
Saramago was both a Communist and a famous atheist. His send up of the Catholic Church, its cynicism and hypocrisy is quite amusing and is by itself worth the price of the book. Especially amusing is the 'miracle' cynically wrought in Padua by an ecclesiastic of that city.
Solomon is coerced to kneel by the doors of the basilica, which puts the fear of God into the populace, which also kneels. This story then precedes Solomon along his route.
The Archduke is not amused by the throngs of the pious.One bit of interesting subtext occurs when the Archduke and his cortege make their way through the dangerous Brenner Pass. For those familar with W.G. Sebald's you know that the Brenner Pass is central to that book and the author offers some of his enigmatic photographs of it. What can a King (saying from Portugal) offer to an Emperor (Austria for example) as a gift worthy of its greatness?What's going on? An elephant?And here is the pachyderm (which has just passed with his cornac) 'in Cingalese - elephant herd chief', two years in total forgetting in the Portuguese court, en route to Vienna.The novel describes the journey of the elephant and its escort through Castile, the Mediterranean coast, passing through Genoa and finally took the route of the Alps.The story What can a King (saying from Portugal) offer to an Emperor (Austria for example) as a gift worthy of its greatness?What's going on?
Saramago was having some snacks at a restaurant, when he noticed some engravings of an elephant on the walls. He enquired about it and was informed about an elephant, back in the sixteenth century, who had journeyed across the continent and through the peninsula and then passed on into legend. Saramago felt there was material for a story there and set out to investigate a bit about the historical details of this long journey. The result is this book. It was supposed to be a charming littleSaramago was having some snacks at a restaurant, when he noticed some engravings of an elephant on the walls. He enquired about it and was informed about an elephant, back in the sixteenth century, who had journeyed across the continent and through the peninsula and then passed on into legend. Saramago felt there was material for a story there and set out to investigate a bit about the historical details of this long journey.
The result is this book. It was supposed to be a charming little novel.This reviewer is sorry to report that while this is an interesting example of how good authors can pluck good stories out of thin air, there was nothing here that was of real interest to him, in terms of engaging characters, historical significance or even a good yarn. It pains me a bit to give a Saramago book such a low rating, but of the seven of his that I've read, this was clearly the one I liked the least. It's not that I disliked it. In fact, I was going to go for the third star but when I looked at what rating I had given, I had to knock it down to two, as I and that only got three.Anyways, enough of my personal Saramago rating history.
The reason this is getting two stars is that It pains me a bit to give a Saramago book such a low rating, but of the seven of his that I've read, this was clearly the one I liked the least. It's not that I disliked it. In fact, I was going to go for the third star but when I looked at what rating I had given, I had to knock it down to two, as I and that only got three.Anyways, enough of my personal Saramago rating history. The reason this is getting two stars is that frankly it was a bit boring.
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Yes, there were still some moments where Saramago wowed in his particular way, but mostly it was 200 pages about an elephant traveling from Portugal to Austria in the 16th century. It was about as exciting as it sounds.Written shortly before he died, one is left with the feeling that Saramago's amazing writing talents were starting to fade. The Elephant's Journey doesn't make me look any less fondly on Jose Saramago, it is simply his book I have liked the least.
Nothing more, nothing less. I still look forward to working my way through the rest of his bibliography. I had the strangest feeling while reading The Elephant's Journey - I felt like a child, being told a story by an old and indulgent grandparent. I saw him clearly, sitting in an old comfortable chair in a dimly-lit room, talking in a gravelly voice, telling the story of Solomon the elephant, a wedding gift from a king to an archduke, and the long journey that brought him from Portugal through the Alps and finally to Vienna.Like any good grandfather, Saramago wanders from point to point while I had the strangest feeling while reading The Elephant's Journey - I felt like a child, being told a story by an old and indulgent grandparent.
I saw him clearly, sitting in an old comfortable chair in a dimly-lit room, talking in a gravelly voice, telling the story of Solomon the elephant, a wedding gift from a king to an archduke, and the long journey that brought him from Portugal through the Alps and finally to Vienna.Like any good grandfather, Saramago wanders from point to point while telling his tale, musing and meandering. In the middle of the story he may take a few sentences to ruminate whimsically about the nature of royalty or the use of specific language or even his own role in the narrative itself. For this reason, The Elephant's Journey is probably not for everyone. Those who like their tales straight and to the point should pass this one by, as it will be more frustrating than rewarding.
Even though I enjoyed it overall, I did find myself occasionally wishing he would get back to the point (again, much like a grandson may feel about his overly verbose grandfather).However, Saramago does have a good story to tell here and he tells it well. His use of language is (as always) beautiful, and his sense of observation unique and intricate.
In the final analysis 'The Elephant's Journey' feels like a fable, a story told and retold so many times that its more fanciful notes fit right in with the elements of realism, and a moral sensibility that holds true from beginning to end.With the release of this book comes the sad news of Saramago's passing. Even though he has at least one more book to offer us after this one, there was a passage near the end of The Elephant's Journey that seemed particularly fitting to me.' We will not see them in this theater again, but such is life, the actors appear, then leave the stage, as is only fitting, it's what usually and always will happen sooner or later, they say their part, then disappear through the door at the back, the one that opens onto the garden.the curtain has fallen and will not rise again.' The Elephant's Journey feels like a story heard late at night, as we drift off to sleep, told by someone old enough to be comfortable telling such stories to younger ears, with a few side-trips along the way. As the story ends and we are drifting off to sleep, grandfather Jose quietly steps out of the room and closes the door behind him. A book can be fascinating but so it can be the writing’s process behind that book.
And, Saramago lets the reader know how he had the idea that led to The Elephant’s Journey. He was having dinner in Austria with some scholars when he noticed some engravings of an elephant on the restaurant walls. A Portuguese scholar told Saramago the story of that elephant. All we know is that the animal departed from Portugal and arrived in Austria, in the sixteenth century.
El Elefante En El Cuarto
But we don’t know much about the A book can be fascinating but so it can be the writing’s process behind that book. And, Saramago lets the reader know how he had the idea that led to The Elephant’s Journey. He was having dinner in Austria with some scholars when he noticed some engravings of an elephant on the restaurant walls. A Portuguese scholar told Saramago the story of that elephant. All we know is that the animal departed from Portugal and arrived in Austria, in the sixteenth century.
But we don’t know much about the journey itself. So Saramago sort of fictionalized it in this book.In The Elephant's Journey, you will be able to find the specific characteristics of Saramago’s writing. He only uses commas and periods to punctuate his sentences. You will find no hyphens or quotations marks. Speech is simply part of the text itself and it’s just separated by a comma and a capital. The paragraphs are also extremely long.
I was reading a few reviews on Goodreads and I found that a reader actually counted the longest paragraph. Hilarious, right? He stopped counting at 12 pages. So you know what to expect! I am not going to lie.
Reading Saramago can be challenging but it’s so worth it. And, truth to be told, you get used to his writing style pretty quickly and then it just feels natural.I really loved this book. There were so many incredible quotes worth underlining. The Elephant’s Journey is a formidable metaphor of the human life. And it’s a sad one, a very sad one. Saramago is one of my favorite writers of all time, no doubt in that.For more reviews, follow me on Instagram @booksturnyouon.
Perhaps it's a known fact here that I am a big fan of Saramago's writing. I have read The Cave, Death with Interruptions, Blindness, Seeing, The Notebook, and All The Names. He is indeed one writer that I really came to like, and so I have this standing goal to read every book that he has written and is available in a language I can understand. He wrote in Portuguese, so all I can do is wait until his works get translated.Anyway, this is a short novel (just about 205 pages) about the journey of Perhaps it's a known fact here that I am a big fan of Saramago's writing. I have read The Cave, Death with Interruptions, Blindness, Seeing, The Notebook, and All The Names. He is indeed one writer that I really came to like, and so I have this standing goal to read every book that he has written and is available in a language I can understand. He wrote in Portuguese, so all I can do is wait until his works get translated.Anyway, this is a short novel (just about 205 pages) about the journey of an elephant from Lisbon to Vienna back in the 16th century.
Now, somehow, Saramago breaks his habit of not naming his characters. In the previous books that I have read, his characters never had names. In Blindness for example, the characters were only known by their professions, such as the doctor or the doctor's wife. In All The Names, the only person that had a name was the main character, Senhor Jose. However, in this book, every character had a name. Perhaps because it is inspired by history, Saramago used the names of the kings and queens back then.
The one main character, the attendant of the elephant, changed names in the middle of the story, from Subhro to Fritz. This was apparently because when he became a subject of the Archduke of Austria, his name was found to be too hard to pronounce, so it was changed.The whole story consists of the adventures of the elephant Solomon as he traveled from Lisbon. He was acquired by Portugal from Goa, India.
But King Joao of Portugal decided that Solomon would be a great gift to Archduke Maximilian of Austria, so he traveled via Spain and Italy. And along the way, Saramago uses history and the elephant to demonstrate human folly, which is his usual topics.So, what are the issues that this book tackles? Well, this book is heavy on human power struggles and the stupidity of these social constructs. The relations between the servants and the kings, their diplomatic ways of dealing with things, and also the naivete of the common man with respect to the church and the inquisition, these are illustrated wonderfully in the book.
Saramago is an atheist, and yet he doesn't force his personal beliefs in the book in a way that is disturbing and brute. He does it with literary finesse, and makes it look like humans are just that, humans.
Humans simply have beliefs that sometimes are not governed by reason the way we want them to.Again, this book features Saramago's signature writing style, with long paragraphs that span pages and pages, and quotation marks are never used at all. At first glance, it seemed like a hard prose to read (I definitely thought this was the case when I first read The Cave) but surprisingly, I find this prose rather very much accessible, and I feel like this is more according to how humans process concepts, without the restraint of 'proper' rules of language.All in all, I loved this book, and I am glad that I did pick this up from the library. Due to its highly recommendable character, I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.
This book is 205 pages of an uninteresting story. If I had not had to read it for a book discussion group, I would have given up after a few pages.
In fact, since I started to read it, I have put it down several times to read other books. The book discussion is coming up in a few days so I forced myself to finish the book.The book reads like a looooong Aesop's Fable. The plot is based on a real event that happened in the year 1551.
King Joao III of Portugal had an elephant that he What a bore! This book is 205 pages of an uninteresting story. If I had not had to read it for a book discussion group, I would have given up after a few pages. In fact, since I started to read it, I have put it down several times to read other books.
The book discussion is coming up in a few days so I forced myself to finish the book.The book reads like a looooong Aesop's Fable. The plot is based on a real event that happened in the year 1551. King Joao III of Portugal had an elephant that he had gotten from India. Tired of feeding the elephant and paying for his upkeep after two years, he decides to give the elephant and his keeper to Archduke Maximilian of Vienna as a wedding gift. This book is the story of the journey of the elephant and his keeper from Portugal to Vienna.The author uses a lot of flowery language to discribe the journey. He throws in numerous asides with his views on marriage and life in general, which I think are supposed to be humorous.
The author also doesn't seem to be familiar with rules of capitalization and punctuation, which I found annoying.On the cover of the book, one of the reviewers states that the author is a master storyteller. Maybe it is just that this story was not a very interesting one. The author, who is now deceased, had written several other books and received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998. Apparently, someone enjoys his writing.I would not recommend this book to anyone. I wasn't sure I'd be able to read this, since I tend not to be a fan of experimental fiction that lacks quotation marks, it employs run-on paragraphs that go on for pages sometimes and have no breaks for different speakers, it also slams sentences together like this with only a comma to separate them, but don't let that stop you from picking this up, I say give it a chance, if you do it will reward you.Whew! I find writing like that a real effort, and yeah - when I paged through it and saw what I wasn't sure I'd be able to read this, since I tend not to be a fan of experimental fiction that lacks quotation marks, it employs run-on paragraphs that go on for pages sometimes and have no breaks for different speakers, it also slams sentences together like this with only a comma to separate them, but don't let that stop you from picking this up, I say give it a chance, if you do it will reward you.Whew! I find writing like that a real effort, and yeah - when I paged through it and saw what I was going to be up against, I thought: 'no way.'
El Viaje Del Elefante Jose Saramago Pdf Gratis
But the book pretty much pulled me in. It's short, which helps (205 pages), vivid, often funny, and the characters are distinct enough that yo get used to Saramago's prose pretty quickly. This is meta-fiction, as he constantly addresses the reader and never lets you forget that you are, indeed, reading a book. But even though I generally have a low tolerance for such self-indulgence, this worked for me and I ended up enjoying it.The book concerns the journey, in 1551, of the elephant Solomon across the Alps. His original owner, the King of Portugal, decides to give the elephant as a wedding gift to the Archduke Maximilian of Austria. I wouldn't want to say more about the plot, but the book is based on a true story.If you're looking for something a little different but still entertaining, try this.
Saramago was a great writer, but this is not one of his better efforts. His account of an Elephant's journey from Lisbon to Vienna, accompanied by an Indian caretaker and escorted part of the way by the Archduke Maximillian, is apparently based upon a true story. The novel is slight, at least in comparison with other of Saramago's works, but does have moments of Saramago's typical charm and humor. I will not forget, for example, his criticism of Jesus's miracle of driving the demons into pigs as Saramago was a great writer, but this is not one of his better efforts.
His account of an Elephant's journey from Lisbon to Vienna, accompanied by an Indian caretaker and escorted part of the way by the Archduke Maximillian, is apparently based upon a true story. The novel is slight, at least in comparison with other of Saramago's works, but does have moments of Saramago's typical charm and humor. I will not forget, for example, his criticism of Jesus's miracle of driving the demons into pigs as not one of the Lord's better efforts (it 'could be put down to inexperience, occurring as it did before the cogs in the mechanism for performing miracles were properly oiled'-p156). I could never quite figure out the point of that miracle. Anyway,'Elephant's Journey' is at times diverting, but anyone who has not read Saramago would do better with 'Blindness' or, one of my favorites, 'The Double.' Despite the historical setting, THE ELEPHANT'S JOURNEY, by Jose Saramago is not a historical novel. The viewpoint is self-referential and observant, iconoclastic but never with rancor.
The author comments about literal word meanings: “It will be as if we were adding subtitles in our own language to a film, a concept unknown in the sixteenth century, to compensate for our ignorance or imperfect knowledge of the language spoken by the actors. We will, therefore, have two parallel discourses that Despite the historical setting, THE ELEPHANT'S JOURNEY, by Jose Saramago is not a historical novel. The viewpoint is self-referential and observant, iconoclastic but never with rancor. The author comments about literal word meanings: “It will be as if we were adding subtitles in our own language to a film, a concept unknown in the sixteenth century, to compensate for our ignorance or imperfect knowledge of the language spoken by the actors. We will, therefore, have two parallel discourses that will never meet, this one, which we will be able to follow without difficulty, and another, which, from this moment on, will remain silent.” His observation applies equally well to his narrative style - intentionally jumping between historical context and universal values.The historical facts are these. King Joao III of Portugal is married to Dona Caterina (Catherine of Hapbsburg), sister of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Charles V's daughter, Maria of Spain, has married Maximillian II, the nephew of Charles V.
King Joao III and Catarina, casting about for a belated but impressive wedding present for Maximillian and his bride, hit upon their elephant, itself a gift to them from their colony in Goa, India. Maximillian II will soon be departing from his position as regent of Spain to renewed residence in Austria. Accordingly, the elephant Solomon and his mahout Subhro are provided with a convoy of cavalry, oxen, mules and carts of hay (to feed the elephant), and dispatched to Valladolid to be met by Archduke Maximillian's convoy as it makes its way across the Alps to Vienna.From this event Saramago weaves a delightful story. Subhro is able to provide some helpful logistical suggestions for increasing the progress of the procession - under normal circumstances, what temerity!
However, the mahout is in a unique position. His common sense commands recognition – after all, the captain of the convoy can't fire him. Who would take care of Solomon? Along the way, an incident with a local priest endows the elephant with the reputation for knowing the difference between regular water and holy water (not the only time that Saramago will aim his wit at religion). One would do well to remember Saramago's observation: “It isn't true that heaven and the heavens are indifferent to our preoccupations and desires. They're constantly sending us signs and warnings, and the only reason we don't add good advice to that list is that experience, heaven's and ours, has shown that memory, which isn't anyone's strong point, is best not overburdened with too much detail.”At Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo on the Portuguese-Spanish border, there is a ridiculous confrontation with the Austrian escort over who should accompany the elephant to Valladolid. Of the townspeople's retreat to safety, Saramago explains: “.as war is just a spectacle, that's fine, the trouble starts when they want to involve us as players.” Fortunately, since the Austrian contingent is not authorized to do any fighting, a sensible compromise is quickly reached.
Both contingents will make the trip to Valladolid.The introduction of Maximillian II and his entourage begin a new chapter in the story. To start, Maximillian exerts his aristocratic perogative and renames the elephant Suleiman – and the mahout Subhro as Fritz! Maximillian's presence adds a new layer of protocol for Saramago to target.
As the journey proceeds, vanity, credulity, self-importance, guile, and sentimentality are displayed like a peacock's fan, burnished in the rays of self-deception.Saramago is a master at managing the reader's investment in the story. The elephant begins as an opaque vessel for relaying Saramago's own observations on humanity. However, little by little, he develops Solomon into an independent character. Solomon's farewell to the porters is both believable and touching.
Does the elephant sense the change in his daily routine or something deeper? Saramago lets the reader judge for himself. The scene is reinforced by later vignettes of behavior. Of the alps, Saramago, again avoids putting concrete thoughts into the mind of the elephant.
He merely remarks, laconically, “We do not know what he Solomon is thinking, but, in the midst of these alps, we can be sure of one thing, he is not a happy elephant.” By journey's end, we have come to admire the elephant's quiet patience and dignity, and to care about both him and his mahout Subhro. We are filled with regret at this singular journey's inevitable end. Saramago attempted to write a magic realism novel using 17th century literary conventions. The result was remarkably unspectacular. After one hundred pages I just quit, weary from the author's wordy interjections into the story line. There were a couple of passages showing brilliant wordplay, but not enough to 'move the needle.'
The topic, based on a real life situation, was certainly worthy of a literary piece. Perchance it lost something in translation, but in Spanish it certainly underwhelmed. The journey of this elephant is literal as well as metaphorical and spiritual, and from a reader’s standpoint quiet an interesting one.Saramago gives ample justice to the elephant’s perspective, which makes the story special. I am mindful of RK Narayan doing a whole book from behind a tiger’s eyes, A Tiger for Malgudi. He also wrote a very good short story The Tiger’s Claw where the tiger’s formidable personality is a key to the tale. But I digress.Others have described well the narrative arc The journey of this elephant is literal as well as metaphorical and spiritual, and from a reader’s standpoint quiet an interesting one.Saramago gives ample justice to the elephant’s perspective, which makes the story special. I am mindful of RK Narayan doing a whole book from behind a tiger’s eyes, A Tiger for Malgudi.
He also wrote a very good short story The Tiger’s Claw where the tiger’s formidable personality is a key to the tale. But I digress.Others have described well the narrative arc of The Elephant’s Journey and key events – suffice to say that the King of Portugal in 1540 makes a wedding gift of an elephant called Solomon to his cousin the archduke Maximillian, heir to the Hapsburg crown. Subhro the mahout goes with the deal. They make the long journey from Lisbon to Vienna, a distance of around 3000 kilometres, the majority walking, for only part of the journey is made by boat.Along the way the Portuguese party rendezvous with the royal entourage and soon after Maximillian arbitrarily changes the names of both the beast and his keeper, creating the remotest distance the two of them could ever be from the spirit of their warm and busy homeland. They have become reassigned objects. This is what the story is about, not so much the impact the elephant and his keeper have on the Europeans of the day, but the way they are used by their masters and the people they come into contact with. They are tradable commodities for the Portuguese, status symbols for the Archduke, the means to religious demonstrations for the church, the excuse for minor sabre rattling by military types.My favourite part of the book is when the party travels over the alps and the cold is serious and threatening.
Solomon/ Suleiman treats the conditions stoically and simply keeps going. At the end of the story they fade away, like all of us will do. We, have, however, looked through a window into the past that was well worth looking through. He Elephant’s Journey is a beautifully told story about the adventures of an elephant, Solomon and his Mahout, Subhro. In 1551 King Joao III of Portugal gave his nephew, Archeduke Maximillion a wedding gift- an elephant and along with that elephant came Subhro, his keeper or Mahout and The Elephant’s Journey is Saramago’s retelling of the their journey from Lisbon to Vienna. The Elephant’s Journey is a small book, a mere 204 pages, so I thought it would be a quick read, but I found that Saramago he Elephant’s Journey is a beautifully told story about the adventures of an elephant, Solomon and his Mahout, Subhro. In 1551 King Joao III of Portugal gave his nephew, Archeduke Maximillion a wedding gift- an elephant and along with that elephant came Subhro, his keeper or Mahout and The Elephant’s Journey is Saramago’s retelling of the their journey from Lisbon to Vienna.
The Elephant’s Journey is a small book, a mere 204 pages, so I thought it would be a quick read, but I found that Saramago’s style takes a bit of getting used to. Some of the sentences are so long they take up an entire page and paragraphs can last for pages. Saramago also doesn’t use quotation marks, so I found it a bit difficult to follow the conversations, which initially detracted a bit from the story.
Once I got used to Saramago’s style, I quite enjoyed it. Saramago is a true story teller, often reminding me of a grandparent’s thinly veiled allegories hi-lighting how silly people can be. The Elephant’s Journey is a touching story of friendship, adventure and human nature- it’s quite funny too, I found myself smirking on more than one occasion. This charming novella is heartwarming and funny. The narrator is very chatty and speaks directly to the reader for the entirety of the tale.
You could say the narrator is the most fleshed out character, though he is not a true character in the book. He writes outside of time. He speaks to the reader from our vantage point, making anachronisms and cliches splendidly. Other times he sounds like he also went on the journey that the elephant undertook.
He is well informed but not omniscient, he This charming novella is heartwarming and funny. The narrator is very chatty and speaks directly to the reader for the entirety of the tale. You could say the narrator is the most fleshed out character, though he is not a true character in the book. He writes outside of time.
He speaks to the reader from our vantage point, making anachronisms and cliches splendidly. Other times he sounds like he also went on the journey that the elephant undertook. He is well informed but not omniscient, he insists that he never knows what Solomon the elephant thinks.The plot is based on an absurd little historical fact: the King of Portugal gifts an ELEPHANT to the Archduke of Austria in the mid 16th century. Elephants are not easily moved, however. To get this gift (or is is some kind of joke?) to Vienna from Lisbon, they have to walk most of the way. Which means crossing the Alps on foot in winter. This was a time period where an elephant was very much an exotic creature.
Very few people outside of India or Africa would have seen one. And now there is one tramping through their villages!The main protagonist would be Subhro the Mahout, the elephant driver. He is responsible for the care and movement of Solomon. They undertake this journey first with Portuguese soldiers and then continue on the long road with the Archduke and his soldiers who are returning to Vienna themselves after a three year sojourn in Spain. Subhro is a skeptic and is baffled by people's reactions both to him being an Indian, and the elephant's meaning. One of the funniest parts of the book is when he is explaining how he was 'baptized,' making him 'more or less' a Christian. He knows the elephant to be a stubborn creature that needs certain things, like an immense amount of food and his daily nap.
Others who encounter him demand that he be a miracle worker, or feel inspired by him. There is a particularly mystical passage about a man saved in the fog by the trumpeting of Solomon.Most of the humor and social commentary that drips from the narrator is about the interactions of the Portuguese and Austrian soldiers and the behavior in general of the people in the convoy. The narrator often drops poignant observations about life and satirical, even cynical, opinions about human behavior.I liked the over involved narrator but even at a short 197 pages, the book could have been shorter, it got to a point where I wanted more to happen. The plot felt a little lost at times. Still, it is highly enjoyable and has an overarching optimism which I appreciated, especially after reading Saramago's 'Blindness.'
The reason this is getting two stars is that frankly it was a bit boring. This novel was relentlessly linear.Do you know the way These are NOT the expressions of the s. View all 8 comments.
Like any good grandfather, Saramago wanders from point to point while tell I had the strangest feeling while reading The Elephant’s Journey – I felt like a child, being told a story by an old and indulgent grandparent. Saramago was having some snacks at a restaurant, when he saramafo some engravings of an elephant on the walls.Listen to ekefante book. There was no narrative arc that I could detect, unless you count the climb upwards through the Alps.Instead, I was surprised dl find a joyous and lighthearted tale of adventure filled with humor. Lists with This Book.
That idea, though not that exact expression, was in my mind from the beginning of The Elephant’s Journey.They have cut him up for souvenirs and umbrella stands and the mahout has been apid off, generously, by the Archduke. It pains me a bit to give a Saramago book such a low rating, but of the seven of his that I’ve read, this was clearly the one I liked the least.The end is both picaresque and that of a fairy tale.