Love, Life, And Elephants: An African Love Story (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
Having visited the Sheldrick Trust on two occasions, adopted the beautiful Kilabasi and worked with them within the context of the project I was part of in Kenya, this book has guided me through the story that led to the establishment of this beacon in the stormy history of Kenya's conservation. Daphne Sheldrick's book is not only a memoir, but a passionate, personal and rich testimony to a number of topics such as British colonialism, post-colonial governments in Africa, conservation and more. Beautifully written. How do you look at a book where the content should be compelling, but the writing is not? That is the problem with I had with this book. No matter how hard I tried, I could not get into this book, consequently I did not finish it.I think she could have done better by either having a professional writer write the book or hiring a ghost writer. I think her telling of her childhood was to establish the basis for her life-long love of animals. But what I read started out as interesting, but rough, and then degenerated into the minutia of a childhood. This type of writing continues on throughout the book. It seems like whatever orphaned animal crosses her path, she becomes inseparably attached to. She probably was, but after reading how she was specially attached to a number of animals, one gets the feeling that there was no special relationships because they were all special. I suspect this is the fault of the writing, not what she was trying to describe.One criteria which I have for looking at a book or any other piece of writing is could I have written this book? If so, the writing is not very good, consequentially the storyline behind it needs to be extremely compelling. I think the story could have been, but after a month of trying, I could not get more than halfway through it. I think that to someone with a strong interest in animals, particularly Africa, this would have been a good book to read.
What do You think about Love, Life, And Elephants: An African Love Story (2012)?
I love Africa and I love Elephants. I was sorry this was more about the writer than the subjects.
—Paddywhack1982
Didn't finish (due to time constraints), but skimmed parts, and it is worth reading!
—melissa_016
Good for me to read. Learned lots about elephants and Africa I recommend.
—christine
