The Elephant's Journey - Couverture souple

Solomon the elephant's life is about to be upturned. For two years he has been in Lisbon, brought from the Portuguese colonies in India. Now King Dom João III wishes to make him a wedding gift for the Hapsburg archduke, Maximilian. It means the poor pachyderm must travel from Lisbon to Vienna on foot - the only option when transporting a large animal such a long way.

So begins a journey that will take the stalwart Solomon across the dusty plains of Castile, over the sea to Genoa and up to northern Italy where, like Hannibal's elephants before him, he must cross the snowy Alps. Accompanying him is his quiet keeper, Subhro, who watches while - at every place they stop - people try to turn Solomon into something he is not. From worker of holy miracles to umbrella stand, the unassuming elephant suffers the many attempts of humans to impose meaning on what they don't understand.

An enchanting mix of fact, fable and fantasy, and peppered with witty reflection on human failings and achievements, it is, in the end, about the journey of life itself.

'Extremely funny. Saramago writes with a masterfully light hand... A series of contained miracles of absurdity, quiet laughter rising out of a profound, resigned, affectionate wisdom' Guardian

'His most optimistic, playful, humorous and magical book, a grace note written near the end of his life' Los Angeles Times

'Here he has seized the opportunity to turn an unlikely tale...into something far larger than even its elephantine subject' Independent

A delightful, witty tale of friendship and adventure from prize-winning novelist José Saramago

 

In 1551, King João III of Portugal gave Archduke Maximilian an unusual wedding present: an elephant named Solomon. In José Saramago's remarkable and imaginative retelling, Solomon and his keeper, Subhro, begin in dismal conditions, forgotten in a corner of the palace grounds. When it occurs to the king and queen that an elephant would be an appropriate wedding gift, everyone rushes to get them ready: Subhro is given two new suits of clothes and Solomon a long overdue scrub. Accompanied by the Archduke, his new wife, and the royal guard, these unlikely heroes traverse a continent riven by the Reformation and civil wars, witnessed along the way by scholars, historians, and wide-eyed ordinary people as they make their way through the storied cities of northern Italy; they brave the Alps and the terrifying Isarco and Brenner Passes; across the Mediterranean Sea and up the Inn River; and at last, toward their grand entry into the imperial city.