Elephant Man [Mass Market Paperback]

Christine Sparks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 12, 1986

John Merrick had lived for more than twenty years imprisoned in a body that condemned him to a miserable life in the workhouse and to humiliation as a circus sideshow freak. But beneath that tragic exterior, within that enormous and deformed head, thrived the soul of a poet, the heart of a dreamer, the longings of a man. Based on the extraordinary motion picture that captured the heart of America.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

John Merrick had lived for more than twenty years imprisoned in a body that condemned him to a miserable life in the workhouse and to humiliation as a circus sideshow freak. But beneath that tragic exterior, within that enormous and deformed head, thrived the soul of a poet, the heart of a dreamer, the longings of a man. Based on the extraordinary motion picture that captured the heart of America.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (November 12, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345345134
• ISBN-13: 978-0345345134
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.8 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #132,296 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #10 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Movies > General
  • #93 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Family Saga

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not the kind of book you'll ever forget, January 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Elephant Man (Mass Market Paperback)

This is not the kind of book that you read, put down, and forget about. It's the kind of book that has you so engrossed that you forget the time and just read and read and read-and cry. This is really one of the most moving books I've ever read. It's the story of a man who is hideously deformed, so everyone treats him like he's just an animal. Only he's treated worse than an animal- he's a circus sideshow freak who is stared at, made fun of, kicked and beaten. His life has been horrible but he is at heart an ordinary man. What makes this book so moving is that it is true. You'll cry because he's beaten and cry when he's rescued. You'll cry basically through the whole book, because it is awful to think of a person being treated the way John Merrick was. And it will change the way you look at people, and the way you think about them, if they happen to be a little different from how you are.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not meaning to detract from movie, but as for the book..., January 22, 2002

By 

GLT "GLT" (Warrenton, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elephant Man (Mass Market Paperback)

It's been about 20 years since I read the book, but as I recall it attempts to flesh out a movie whose creators had already gone to some lengths themselves to embellish upon what's known about the last years of the life of Mr. Merrick.

Since only a few primary sources, and brief ones at that, are available on the subject, a good deal of embellishment would have been needed to create the movie. A certain degree of sensationalization (is that a word?) is probably unavoidable as well, in order to sell the movie to a larger audience. This is apparent in the way that Merrick's appearance is only gradually revealed, and then only after the suspense has been suitably built up by the depiction of various reactions of horror and/or sadness. Additional scenes were invented as well, to help transport the viewer into the world of late 19th century London and the hospital setting where most of the movie transpires.

I don't think that kind of fictionalization was wrong on the part of Lynch and the others who made the film. In fact, I'm both a big fan of the movie and an avid reader of nonfictional material on Merrick.

But the book, as I recall so many years later, carries the embellishments a bit too far. The male hospital worker who in the movie parades his compatriots through Merrick's quarters, is here shown sexually abusing some female hospital patients as well. It also failed to strike me as more than an average-quality novelization of a wonderfully made film which deserved better.

My critique is necessarily weakened by the lack of other details in my memory of the book. And I suppose that, to the extent the book interests more people in learning about the real Merrick, or even just in watching the movie, its writer achieved something positive.

As a real memorial to Merrick I find the book sadly lacking. Better to turn to Dr. Treves's "The Elephant Man" or Ashley Montagu's similarly titled book. (I refrain from comment on Howell and Ford's "True History of the Elephant Man," though I own a copy, as it fails to document its sources.)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Touching in the most intense manner. Joseph DID feel!, September 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Elephant Man (Mass Market Paperback)

I was interested in this book the day it was assigned to me for a book report and I loved it. I expected it to start out slow, not reaching interesting boundaries until nearly the end but I was WRONG! This book gives us a detailed look into the life of a tragedy ridden man who had friends who were willing to work with him. A very touching book. It eats me up inside that at one time this man who felt more in his life than most "ordinary" humans do had to sell himself at a circus and be laughed at and gawked at. Merrick was no freak. Merrick was a human being. The "Elephant Man" label doesn't do this man justice. Such innocence for such an angst ridden soul. Only true stories can capture this much emotion.