A warmly written story full of heart and an adorable pink elephant. Martin Suter’s writing is vivid and Jamie Bulloch has done a brilliant job in translating his prose and telling a heart-warming story which also raises timely questions concerning the evolution of science.

At times, I found the scientific information and research a little much and would’ve preferred this to have been woven into the narrative in a less obvious way, but the level of research and detail given to the science and animal experiment scenes in the book is a credit to the author.

You'd think a book about an alcoholic homeless man who sees a miniature fluorescent pink elephant in the riverside cave he calls home, would have a fairly short narrative - ending with him waking up in the morning and realising he was seeing things. However, when our anti-hero Schoch wakes up and realises that there really is a tiny freak of nature sharing his cave, it's the start of a wonderful romp through the streets and surrounding areas of Zurich, involving genetic engineers, circus folk, veterinarians, big pharma reps, and a wealth of other wonderful characters.
Starting with several seemingly completely unrelated narrative threads, you do wonder where on earth Suter is going with this story - what could possibly link an itinerant boozer with a genetic engineer and a circus? However, he effortlessly weaves his narrative threads into a truly stunning rich tapestry of a tale that had me hooked and unable to put it down.
At times hilarious, at other times tragic, in some points romantic, in others redemptive, this is a great story. The translation flows astonishingly well, with only the character names and the setting making the reader think this might not be in the language it was originally written.
Suter's narrative flow is truly extraordinary, taking the reader on a truly magical journey, seeing some characters blossom and others wither on the vine. No spoilers from me though, read the book to find out more. I strongly recommend that you do as this is a truly excellent piece of fiction writing.

Have you ever heard of glow in the dark, pink, miniature elephants? Well I definitely hadn’t; Elephant is a tale about one. So many interlinked paths make this story such an amazing one!

The story follows the tale of the struggles to not only create the coveted creature but also to find it and hide it. The constant change of perspectives keeps the novel interesting and moving on. It’s such a beautiful story about working for what you think is best.

I look forward to other books by Martin Suter and would recommend his work to everyone.