White Bone [Paperback]

Barbara Gowdy (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: PERENNIAL PUBLICATIONS (1982)
• ASIN: B000SHU9OW
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MOVING, SAD -- AND BEAUTIFUL, October 24, 2002

By 

Larry L. Looney (Austin, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The White Bone: A Novel (Paperback)

The key, I think, to understanding and enjoying this wonderful novel lies in the quote from author Joy Williams that appears on the back cover: `This sorrowful novel does holy work because it engages us in that holiest of acts - empathy'. Rarely have I come across a creation as beautiful as this book - or as sad. The reviewers below who take issue with the `lack of plot' and the mourning that seems to occur on every other page should stop for just a moment and think about the world in which elephants live - a world that has seemingly focused itself on their destruction as a species, all for the prize of their ivory tusks. There are laws in place today to make an attempt to stem this slaughter - but poaching remains a constant threat, and more aggressive steps are obviously needed to save these gentle creatures.

The world that Barbara Gowdy has imagined in this book is not one that leaps merely from her imagination - a look at her acknowledgements at the end of the novel will reveal this. She has definitely done her homework, and her work here has its roots in science and reality - which makes the scope of her creation all the more amazing. She has brought to life not just the surface of the elephants' lives - she has envisioned and made very real the structures of their society, their thought processes, the various methods with which they communicate (both with each other and with members of other species), and even a vast system of mythology, embodying legends, `links' (omens, signs and folk wisdom), a vast knowledge of their natural world, and even the concept of a creative deity. This might sound like quite a feat for the author to pull off - and it is, but she does so with breathtaking success.

The society of elephants is a matriarchal one - the females are the leaders and seem to be more plentiful. The central character of the story - a young cow named Mud - is seen to go through the changes that life brings about to all species. She is born, orphaned, adopted by another family group, and grows into adolescence and adulthood over the course of the story. Her understanding and concept of the world around her grows and changes as her life progresses and takes shape - altered both physically and emotionally by her experiences. She is a visionary - an elephant within the family group who is sometimes gifted with visions of occurrences in other places and times. These events sometimes lie in the near or far future, sometimes in the present, and sometimes in the past. There is also (usually) present within each family group a member gifted with `mind talking' - able to communicate without sound with the other group members and with other species. When a mind talker or a visionary - or a fine-scenter or a tracker, or other specifically talented member - dies or is killed, the gift is passed on to another individual.

The story is not, as at least one other reviewer has indicated, plotless. It involves the elephants' constant struggle for survival in a world where `hindleggers' (humans) are continuously a threat, slaughtering them mercilessly and in whatever numbers they can manage. Their treatment is brutal - if you think that elephants in a circus are treated without respect, imagine them being hunted by jeeps and helicopters and slaughtered in the wild - with absolutely no discrimination as to age and size - and then cut apart by chain saws and axes, often before they are dead, in order to `harvest' their tusks, tails, feet and sometimes heads. It's gruesome and horrifying - but it happens.

Gowdy's story brings this horrific treatment to life for the reader - but she also gives us a moving portrait of some of the most gentle, non-aggressive creatures on the planet. Individuals are imbued with a distinct personality - it's as easy to get to know them as human characters in other well-crafted fiction. The above-mentioned empathy that the novel invokes is, again, the key here. I was drawn into this book almost immediately when I started reading it - I was afraid at first that the name structure would be a high hurdle, but the vivid personality differences (and the appropriately given names) aided greatly in clearing it. This book wound up being one of the most moving experiences I've had with fiction in quite some time - there's a lot of sorrow and sadness here, but there is an amazing beauty to be found as well as joy and hope.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderfully imaginative novel, March 6, 2000

By 

Marie Rochon - See all my reviews

This review is from: The White Bone: A Novel (Hardcover)

Initially, I stayed away from reading this novel as any reviews I came upon described it in a most uninteresting fashion.

When I finally picked up the novel, I heaved a sigh. Another book introduced with family trees (this one for elephant clans), as well as a map and a glossary of terms. But upon reading, I found that the charts and glossary were merely assistive tools, and certainly not mandatory for enjoying this thoroughly imaginative book.

I was constantly struck by Gowdy's ability to paint the world of the elephant, through their eyes. Their search for a Safe Place, where humans do not slaughter them or their famiily for their heads, tusks, or feet.

Gowdy creates a wonderfully imaginative read in looking at the elephant's existence through their eyes, so rich in memory, mysticism and spirituality, but also full of sorrow. I found myself to be incredibly moved by the mourning rituals that Gowdy described.

Don't be put off by the subject matter. If nothing else, this is worth reading if only to see a writer at the peak of their craft. I am awed by Gowdy's ability to use extensive research to create a novel that is creative, interesting, touching and meaningful.

Does the ending disappoint? No, not when you consider that happy endings should not be expected in a world where one's reality is that of being pursued and hunted down.

This novel is a creative, imaginative journey, and I loved every second of it. I highly recommend taking this adventure.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A story about elephants...well done, June 25, 2001

By 

"nicollej" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The White Bone: A Novel (Paperback)

I've read a few reviews in which the readers were disappointed by the lack of plot in the book. I say, "bah humbug!" Please remember, people that this book is about and written from the point of view of elephants. No, there is no "boy meets girl, boy kills girl," or "husband dies of cancer and oh no what do I do?..." plots here. The plot of the story is getting to THE SAFE PLACE. These elephants want to make it to a safe place. They don't want to go through these awful butcherings of their kind any longer. They want to feel SAFE...that is the plot and as far as elephants go, I think that is a pretty good plot!!! Barbara Gowdy does a fantastic job of describing these elephant "characters" in somewhat humanistic terms so that, we, the HUMAN readers can understand them. She does this quite subtely, actually, seeing as how she could have completely gone anthropomorphic on us and made this into some goofy Disney-like elephant freak show.

I really can't imagine the research and empathy that went into this on the author's part. The animals (all of them...not just the elephants) are so interesting and individual. The trials they go through are so intricately depicted. You actually live on this African desertland with these animals and can feel the fear, love, hope they feel (and I am one of those people who believes animals feel certain pangs of love, hope, etc. in their own way).

All in all, I thought the book was good. It was not the easiest read, and it's not for everyone; it's not something you can plow through. I probably wouldn't recommend it to people who are into those "Oprah" books. If you have a really deep reverence for animals, and want to read 300 pages about elephants, this book could be for you (as I said, "it's not for everyone").