Fascinating, unusual and well written.
Particularly interesting for me as I have a friend who was involved in the real story of bringing back the Quagga
(half horse, half zebra), to South Africa, where it became extinct during the Boer War.

I thought this was a lovely unusual story. I loved the fact that a little pink elephant is found by a homeless man who then looked after it. It is not a surprise that he initially thought that he was hallucinating. There are a lot of major issues discussed as well in this book. Genetic engineering and animal cruelty and animal trafficking are all talked about. Overall this book is about a miniature pink elephant that is desired and wanted for a number of reasons. It is nurtured and looked after by a homeless man and that is heart warming.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Three words: Tiny. Pink. Elephants.

I’m sold.

However

This book was not what I expected at all. I thought I’d get heartwarming magical realism, I actually got a clinical and scientific. Therefore, I thought there was only one way to review it*…

Elefant: An Analysis of Key Themes and Observed Effects on the Participant



By Lucinda Is Reading…



May 2018



Abstract

Elefant is a novel written by Martin Suter. For reasons unknown, it has become an international bestseller (Suter, 2018). The research aimed to analyse the key themes included within the novel and to explore the impact that these variables had on one participant (the reader). The reader recorded their thoughts and biological responses (emotions) to the novel and this qualitative data was explored in relation to the question “Is this book any good?”

Feedback was mixed and interpretation through a Likert scale resulted in an average score of three (It was ok).

Introduction

Many years ago, I was given some maths homework to learn about coordinates or…something, where you had to mark each one one a grid, join them up and then colour in the picture they created. You were left with four images of elephants, which naturally I coloured in pink. The classes work got put on the wall, but mine was the only one that wasn’t grey and I rembember my maths teacher telling me “that’s good, elephants should be pink”. Twenty five years later, I still agree.
So when I found a book about a tiny pink elephant called Sabu that goes on a wild adventure I was expecting lovely exciting magical realism. My hypothesis was that I would thoroughly enjoy the book.

Elefant is the story of Sabu, a tiny, pink, glow in the dark elephant. She is spotted by Schoch, a homeless alcoholic who assumes she’s just a hallucination. But when Sabu is still there when he sobers up, Schoch realises that she needs to be cared for – and the adventure properly begins. We find out that Sabu was actually genetically engineered to be pink and glow in the dark but that a genetic mutation caused her to be so tiny. Following her escape, the company that made her want her back, so it’s up to Schoch to protect her. Cue living in a mansion, private jets, GPS trackers and a patently unrealistic romance.

Method

The novel was read over a period of a week and all thoughts and feelings were recorded. This data will be discussed in full in the next chapter.

Results

I thought that this book was a real mixed bag of positives and negatives. Based on a Likert scale of 1 (I did not like) to five (I really liked) I scored the following themes from highest (most positive) to lowest (most negative) thus:

The characters (3/5)
The the scientific research (3/5).
The inclusion and representation of social and medical issues (3/5)
The storyline (2/5).
The writing style (2/5).
The inclusion of moral overtones (2/5).
The inclusion of a highly detailed explanation of elephant insemination, including the procedure for manually procuring elephant sperm (1/5).
Discussion

1. The Characters

Sabu gets bonus points for being adorable – I’ll say it again – tiny pink elephant – but it was difficult to connect with some of the others. Schoch was interesting but for such a short novel there were quite a lot of people involved and so I found most of them to be pretty one dimensional.

2. The scientific research

Based on one episode of a Freakanomics podcast (Dubner, 2018), the science around CRISPR Cas appeared to be accurate, so points for that. However, I REALLY didn’t need to know so much about it. I find the whole area of genetic engineering fascinating but if rather read about it in a work of non fiction rather than having long boring passages thrown into a fiction novel.

3. The Representation of Alcoholism

For a book that was so rooted in science I felt that it should have been realistic in other areas too – particularly for social issues such as homelessness or alcoholism. Making Schoch stop drinking *clicks fingers* just like that with no counselling or support was a weird way to develop his character and didn’t sit well within the context of the narrative. I also thought that it minimised the issue.

4. The Storyline Itself

I expected something adorable, along the lines of Amelie. I got a low rent James Bond thriller with boring scientific explanations thrown in, plus quite a lot of pointless dialogue. I also thought elephant poo was featured far too heavily. STOP PICKING UP THE POO GUYS!

5. The Writing Style

I found the writing really cold, clinical and descriptive without being emotive. I have almost no idea what any of the characters were feeling which really didn’t work well with the storyline. I didn’t like the way that the story started in the middle then went back to the beginning because even though the chapters were dated (honestly, who can remember what date a novel started on) many of them just said “the same day” which is handy if you’re picking the book up again after not reading it for a while.

6. The Moral Overtones

I felt like the author thought “shit, everyone is going to be so on board with genetic engineering if they think they can get adorable pets out of it. I’d better chuck in a counter argument”. Honestly, I thought the whole thing was so bluntly shoved into one chapter (never to be mentioned again) that it felt quite jarring.

7. The Bad Sex

Call me old fashioned, but I didn’t need such detailed information about how to get sperm out of an elephant or how to get an embryo back inside one. Poor elephants.

Conclusion

I had such high hopes for Elefant but unfortunately I was really disappointed. I didn’t like the unemotive language, the structure of the novel, most of the characters, the inclusion of the technical science bits, the shoehorned in morality or the elephant prostate massage.

Especially the elephant prostate massage.

I liked hearing about Sabu and I did enjoy the ending but the rest of the novel was a bit humdrum.

Originally posted on zerofiltersaurus.wordpress.com on 12th June-

The plot (in a spoiler-free nutshell): Schoch, a homeless alcoholic, finds a tiny pink glowing elephant in his cave and sets about finding someone to help the little thing after it gets a bad case of the shits. Meanwhile, those behind the genetically engineered creation of the little elephant are frantically on the trail for their big miniature scientific breakthrough…

The author: Martin Suter, Swiss novelist, screenwriter and newspaper columnist.

You should read it if…you want to learn how to get a sperm sample from an elephant…

You shouldn’t read it if…you are a prude and/or boring, and don’t want to read about things such as the fact that an elephant hymen only tears at birth before growing back (and you’re unlikely to be left wondering just how big an elephant hymen is – although it’s probably just me who thinks that anyway)

The things I liked about it: Schoch’s story gives him the chance to prove that he isn’t just a homeless alcoholic and that being on the fridges of society shouldn’t define a person, the genetic engineering stuff is fascinatingly mad but also shows the terrifying direction that some areas of science are moving in (the frightening combination of the pursuit of profit and scientific discoveries), the writing is HILARIOUS and even when you genuinely fear for the little elephant’s wellbeing there is that odd feeling when you don’t know whether you are going to wet yourself through either fear or laughter.

The things I didn’t like: Being introduced to the concept of alcohol being used as a condiment (but only because I’m worried I could actually try it sometime)

Reading advice: Don’t eat and read! There’s more bodily fluids in this book than the Ann Summer’s returns department and all I’m gonna say is that elephants are MUCH bigger than us.

Rating 5/5

Final thoughts: A slightly twisted but highly entertaining tale in which love and kindness triumph against darkness.

Elefant was published on 31st May 2018 by Fourth Estate. Thank you to Martin Suter, Fourth Estate and NetGalley for the ARC

An engaging, heart-warming tale of redemption, genetic engineering and a miniature pink glow-in-the-dark elephant.

I loved this book, and I'm so pleased it's now available in English. Skilfully translated by Jamie Bulloch, the text flows well, and does full justice to the original.

Moving back and forth between different timelines, the book gradually draws together all the threads of the story until we finally discover how Sabu, a tiny pink elephant, finds its way into the cave used by Schoch, a homeless alcoholic. We follow Schoch and Valerie, a vet who runs a street clinic for homeless people's animals, as they try to care for and protect this mysterious creature; Kaung, the elephant whisperer from the circus where Sabu was born; and Roux, the ruthless genetic engineer who just wants his property back for the clonable cell material he can harvest.

The chapters are very short, making it a great book to pick up even if you just have five minutes spare (and you'll want to pick it up at any opportunity!) And I now know slightly more than I thought I would ever need to about elephant sperm harvesting and IVF procedures! =8-0

An endearing book, beautifully written - just read it!

(And to Harper Collins/4th Estate: please can we have more Martin Suter? For example: his Allmen series is worth translating too!)

When I started reading Elefant, I honestly had no idea where the book was going, which these days is a rare and special thing. What starts as a horrific look into the possibilities of genetic modification, ends with lessons of friendship, redemption, love and most of all compassion.

Surer's writing style is wonderful, the descriptive passages of simple things like cooking ravioli, truly had my mouth watering. His mater of fact statements, always cut right to the point, and there was a refreshing lack of flowery language. The characters have a depth to them, that allows them to leap right off the pages, to the point where you half expect a tiny pink elephant to appear before your eyes. You can't help but like the characters you meet along the way, and there are plenty of good old fashioned villainous characters to hate too.

Sabu herself is of course the true focus of the story, and I love how much Suter subtly gets you thinking about the world we live in. Sabu is the right level of adorable, to make you question if this sort of thing is really happening, and how wrong that truly is. Whilst she has no dialogue (obviously), she really steals the novel, and of course you are rooting for her throughout.

I loved the themes that play out here, and ultimately any book that gets you questioning your surroundings is a win for me. I can't think of any negatives, so its a clear 5* read for me. This little book makes almost as much of an impression as a tiny, pink, glow in the dark elephant would.

Sophie spends a lot of time browsing through lists of forthcoming books looking for interesting titles to review here. The vast majority are instantly forgettable, but sometimes one leaps out so forcefully that she cannot help but request it immediately. Elefant by Martin Suter was one of those titles.

In Zurich, homeless alcoholic Schoch finds a tiny glow-in-the-dark pink elephant in his cave. Naturally, he assumes this is merely a hallucination until the elephant is still there the next day. Soon Schoch finds himself mixed up in an adventure with scientists, circus folk, and vets—all of whom are either hunting down or trying to help the tiny elephant for their own reasons. Schoch finds himself inexplicably drawn to the little creature and upends his entire life in his attempts to help her.

Originally written in German, the premise of Elefant sounds utterly barmy, and in many ways, it is. How could a book whose plot centers on a tiny, glow-in-the-dark pink elephant be anything but? However, it is not a comedy and the story has an incredible amount of warmth and heart to it. Despite its short length, the book manages to flesh out all its central characters so they become more than simple stereotypes. There’s Schoch the homeless alcoholic with a past he’s worked hard to forget, Kuang the elephant whisperer who dreams of far more than his life with the circus, and Roux the scientist whose dreams are far more fiscally-centered and who will step on anyone and anything to achieve them.

Sophie found the ending of Elefant a little predictable and slushy, but sometimes stories are allowed to have happy endings. In fact, given the world we live in, sometimes it’s nice to find a book where good people do good things and everything works out for the best.

The moment that I read the blurb, I knew I was going to enjoy this book, but I didn't expect to enjoy it just as much as I did. This is the first book by Martin Suter that I've read, and it's quite possible that I'll be reading more from him now.

It took me a little while to get in to because I couldn't really get my head around what was happening at first, but when I did, I couldn't put it down.
The story itself had me gripped, I was so involved in it that I didn't want to stop reading until I found out what happened. But I also really enjoyed the amount of topics that this book covers and the diversity of all the different characters and simply, how one glowing pink elephant can change so much. It's one of the most thought provoking books I've ever read and I'd recommend anyone to read it.

I don't normally read general fiction. But the idea of a mini glowing pink elephant made me have to pick up this book. The blurb said its about a homeless guy in Zurich who wakes up to find the little elephant and realises that it's in danger from a circus and evil geneticist. Which sounds awesome but, I mean, that wasn't really what the book was about? We do start with the homeless guy finding it but then the next....i don't know 60% of the book is going back in time and finding out how the elephant came to be there in the first place (including a rather in depth description of them artificially inseminating the mother elephant which I really didn't need to know). Once the story really got going I really did enjoy it. But it took a long time to get there (and a lot of full life backstories of every minor character we meet). I think the major thing here is that I just didn't get on with the writing style, I thought it focused on the wrong parts of the story. Blurbs are sometimes my downfall because I expect a certain thing going in. The second half of this book was a four star read for me but I could have done without pretty much the whole first third. It is a lovely idea and the star of the story is the mini elephant which was adorable.

What would you do if you woke up to see a living, breathing, tiny glowing, pink elephant?

Schoch lives on the streets of Zurich. He is down on his luck and an alcoholic. He wakes up to see a pink elephant. He goes back to sleep, but when he wakes again the pink elephant is still there. Schoch is a genuine guy who is quite funny. He spends his days in his hideaway drinking and and talking to other homeless people. Sabu, the pink elephant, brings out the best in the people she comes in contact with.

I loved Sabu, the pink elephant. I quite liked Schoch as well. Schoch and his cronies attempt to outwit people who are much better than them at physical violence. We learn hoe Sabu was created through genetic engineering by scientists who seek recognition and money. This book is about unconditional love, greed and relationships with elements of science mixed in.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Harper Collins UK4th Estate and the author Martin Suter for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Down and out, Schoch, wakes up in his hideaway by the river to find a tiny, pink, glowing elephant “flapping its ears and lifting its trunk into an S-shape”. After initially thinking he is hungover he realises the tiny animal is really there and needs someone to take care of it.

Elefant is one of those stories where the science in it is not a completely outrageous leap of fiction and that one day a tiny, pink elephant might actually be possible. Put it this way I became so taken up in the story I was quite happy to go along with this line of reasoning. I certainly learned a great deal about elephants while reading it, particularly rearing baby elephants.

I adored the little elephant, Sabu, and became as attached to her as her human carers. She is the innocent who has the world thrust on her in a most brutal way.

Schoch appears to be someone for whom an active role in society is a thing of the past and an early death through alcoholism or hypothermia looks highly possible. But as he takes on the care of the elephant he begins to gather people around him for whom Sabu becomes the centre of their world.

But there are also the unscrupulous who wish to possess Sabu for less than ethical reasons, steering the story into something quite nail-biting as Sabu’s safety and wellbeing becomes an issue.

Elefant is no James Bond thriller, but it is just as big a rollercoaster ride of emotion and tension as Schoch and his allies attempt to outwit someone who is much better equipped than them when it comes to physical violence and subterfuge.

This is a story about greed, relationships, unconditional love, and redemption. It’s the kind of book that makes you think about your place on the planet and what you might be doing to it through your own actions. Yet it is done in a way which tells a very engaging story without preaching to you.

The ending is told well and rewards the reader for following the story through to its conclusion.

I read the English translation is by Jamie Bulloch, who has done a great job in retaining a sense of Suter’s descriptive, literary style and thriller-style pacing.

A wonderful story which centres around a tiny pink glow-in-the-dark elephant who affects those it comes into contact with in a profound way! We're introduced our main protagonist Schoch, a guy is classed as homeless (lives in a cave) and an alcoholic. His character is damaged and disillusioned with the world. Returning to his cave one night he stumbles upon this pink elephant, which he believes he's imagining (due to his alcohol consumption). On awaking the elephant is still there and once Schoch makes the decision to care for the elephant, we see changes in him start to unfold. He enlists the help of local vet Valerie and together they set out to protect and care for the elephant who we come to know as Sabu (given her name by elephant whisperer Kaugh) while giving them both a chance for redemption.

In contrast, we also learn of Sabu's beginnings - that she was created through genetic engineering by scientists like the ruthless Dr Roux! Scientists who seek recognition, wealth and status through scrupulous gene meddling using artifical insemination (carried out at various organisations such as the Pelligrini Circus) in secret. Dr Roux's gene swapping creates Sabu's pink colour, but an unexpected effect of the genetic cell tampering is Sabu's dwarfism. Roux sees Sabu's small stature as a further unique selling point and motivates his greed further. Kaung (known as the elephant whisperer) works at the Circus and believes Sabu to be a holy (divine) creation and knowing what in store for Sabu, enlists the help of a Dr Reber to keep her safe.

This an enchanting book and a wonderfully layered fable! It examines the vulnerability and immorality of human behaviour through homelessness, alcoholism, genetic engineering, ethics, immorality, power, wealth and greed, but also highlights the good in people and how resilient human beings can be. I loved that the book cleverly illustrates how one relatively small event can trigger something much more bigger in the universe - something which touches the core of human beings and interlinks them as if through an unseen silken thread. The elements of science mixed in with magic (or serendipity) work to create a story which is rich and endearing, and Sabu can't help but steal your heart.

Thank you to Martin Souter, NetGalley, HarperCollins UK for the ARC.

I feel quite ambivalent about this book which I thought I would enjoy more than I did. A lot of interesting topics are covered - homelessness, genetic engineering, friendship, circus ethics - among others but everything seemed very superficial. On the positive side the whimsy of the glowing elephant and the heartwarming story surrounding it was nicely told.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, with an interesting take on the debate surrounding genetic modification of Nature by humans.

Translated from the original German, Martin Suter’s novel tells the story of Fritz Schoch, a homeless alcoholic, who discovers, in the cave in which he sleeps, a living tiny pink glowing elephant. How it got there is told in a pacy story that switches back and forward over time to reveal the truth behind the creature. Schoch is befriended along the way by Valerie, a local vet who does charity work, and Kaung, a Burmese man who works with the elephants at the local circus, and the story develops into something like a good old-fashioned chase thriller, with the company behind this ‘manufactured’ pink elephant desperately trying to recover it – assisted by their shady Chinese backers – whilst Schoch tries to keep one step ahead.

Along the way there are enough questions raised about the interference of science in Nature to raise this above just a humdrum thriller – to what ends can we justify mankind’s meddling with DNA? Curing illness? Scientific advancement? And there are also questions about animal rights, and how can we justify having performing animals in a circus? But these thorny issues don’t get too much in the way of the plot and we find ourselves caught up in a race to find a safe escape for Schoch, his friends, and the mini elephant. It is also a tale of redemption, a love story, and a journey of faith as the story reaches its conclusion in Myanmar.

As I said to start with, I really enjoyed this book – quirky enough to stand out from the crowd, and the main characters are real enough to get you caring about them - even if, perhaps, some of the others in the book are a little one-dimensional and stereotypical. Nonetheless, I would recommend this as a good read and an enjoyable story. By the end you too will wish you had your own mini pink elephant to keep you company…..

A sweet (but not entirely cutesy) story of a homeless man who finds himself sharing his sleeping den with a miniature glow-in-the-dark pink elephant. The story flips between Schoh trying to care for the elephant, how he came into being in the first place, and the 'evil scientists' hunting to get him back.

I'm quite divided - the book's trying to be so many things! It raises questions of ethics, philosophy, animal rights and genetic modification alongside a warm story of people-that-care. The ending won me over, though, so a pick for that reason.

Schoch is a homeless alcoholic, sleeping in a cave by the riverbank. One day in his cave he finds a little pink elephant... is this the drink deceiving him or is the elephant real? We follow the story of the elephant from conception onwards, exploring genetic engineering and the power of the unexpected to change the future. I loved this book, a sweet yet thought-provoking story, easy to read. Highly recommended.

This is quite an unusual book which was very interesting. This is about a dwarf, pink-glowing elephant genetically made by a money-grabbing man who is looking to make money and be famous. The elephant is rescued by a homeless alcoholic with a conscience. Well translated and informative, delicately told
Many thanks to Netgalley/4th Estate/Harper Collins UK for a digital copy of this novel. All opinions are my own.

I thought this was a really sweet book. The man in it is homeless and has an alcohol problem and sees this little elephant (imaginary). He then becomes really attached to it and determined to take care of it and protect it from harm. Although the storytelling can be quite uneven it makes for a really nice read.

Do not be fooled into thinking this is just a charming and poignant tale, for this novel forces the reader to address a number of moral issues facing our modern day society. The story (translated from the original German) begins in a small hidden cave next to a riverbank in the affluent city of Zurich where Schoch, alcoholic and homeless lives. Here he sees a small glowing pink elephant which he naturally assumes to be a result of his drinking. However when it is still there after he wakes up he decides that he must now protect it. The book is divided into easy to read short chapters that are chronologically headed and through these we go back three years to Sri Lanka and trace the story of how an unscrupulous scientist secretly backed by a large corporation has been implanting genetically modified elephant eggs in the womb of female circus elephants for fame and profit. The dwarf pink elephant being an unforeseen consequence of this.

We then discover how Sabu the miniscule elephant ended up to be in the cave thanks to the actions of those who rescued and have sought to protect it from exploitation and further experimentation. Schoch who is something of an anti-hero now has a second chance in life and his relationship with Sabu gives him the opportunity to reassess and dramatically change his life. This is an engrossing and thrilling book as a cat and mouse game develops between those protecting Sabu and Dr Roux, the eponymous evil scientist who is tracking Sabu down. As evidenced by the author's notes at the end of the book a great deal of research was undertaken by Martin Suter into the subject of genetic engineering, artificial elephant insemination and elephant behaviour which has added to the authenticity of the story. The book also questions our attitude to homelessness and indeed circuses and it is encouraging that the use of wild animals in travelling circuses is scheduled to be banned in England in 2020 and are presently banned by many local authorities and throughout Scotland

This was an unexpected quirky but intelligent read that can be viewed somewhat as a modern fable that addresses issues of our relationship with nature and what if any limits science must place on itself. It is also a book about redemption and once read will stay in the mind for a long time.

A very unusual and charming tale. A lot of the characters are far from charming, but they are interesting and engaging.
The story is whimsical and moving.
Well worth reading.