I really wanted to like "Elephant Keeper" and read nearly 200 pages before giving up in a weird mixture of frustration and boredom. For one, I disliked the infrequent misspellings that the author seemed to think added authenticity to the story - words like surprize, choaked, and probossis. It's not convincing to me that a young man with limited education would only make these "errors." It would have been better - and less distracting - to dispense with the ruse of written-by-the-man-himself.Next, after 90 pages of walls of text that directly incorporated conversation using --, suddenly conversations are laid out traditionally (i.e., a new paragraph for each speaker, quotation marks, etc.). Why the sudden change? And then back again a few pages later, then back and forth, which I found extremely irritating.Finally, Tom has almost no personality. I seem to keep "losing" my reviews so I'll make this short. This is set in 18th century England. Tom Page is 12 years old when he hears that a ship is docked and has returned with exotic creatures. He's excited to see a mermaid so he rushes dockside to see the ship unload its precious cargo. No mermaid, of course, but Tom finds himself face to face with all manner of exotic (and deathly ill) animals brought back from the Indies. It may seem illogical but soon the young boy is caretaker for two elephants. The first part of the book is a tender story of Tom's relationship with his new charges. I enjoyed this and enjoyed his employer Lord Bidborough. As expected, Lord Bidborough has a sadistic son who returns to the manor and this is where the story takes an ugly turn. Throughout the latter part of the book there is rape, murder, violence, prostitution and all manner of evil. There are scenes of terrible neglect of animals. The story became too dark and too cruel for me. The book may be loosley based on Matthew Scott and Barnum's Jumbo The Elephant.
What do You think about The Elephant Keeper (2009)?
It's a gentle book. Slow paced. If your looking for an easy, gentle read, then this is the one.
—amberskye82
I can never look at Elephants the same way ever again.
—alex
