Customer Reviews

White Bone

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

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.

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.

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").

In these days, where ecology and environmental conservation are high issues, Barbra Gowdy writes a novel which not only embeds itself in these very issues, but reveals an emotional and innovative story as well. "The White Bone" takes on the idea of finding the promised land, but with a twist: the characters are elephants. The book follows closely the journey of one particular elephant, She-Spurns, as she and her pack search out the elusive white bone which will lead them to a safehaven with food in the times of rainless days. It must have been through months of careful research that Gowdy was able to so accuratley present to us the actions, the movments and the rituals that go on in the clans. These carefully crafted characters appeal to human emotion; it's like witnessing war through the deep set eyes of the elephant. "The White Bone" brings into our living rooms the abstract visions we have of what goes on across the plains of Africa, between the dry seasons, the poaches of the hungry ivory trade and every natural force imaginable, we cannot help it, but to want to extend a hand to these masterful, but still so mortal creatures.

In the bathtub, as I washed soap from my face, I suddenly imagined throwing back my trunk and spraying water on my grey wrinkled back. I had spent the morning finishing Barbara Gowdy's book The White Bone ; it wasn't hard imagining myself an elephant. And I think Gowdy would be pleased. In the tradition of Watership Down , she takes you to the alien plains of Africa through the eyes of elephants. To enter the elephants' world was a privilege. I've been fascinated by elephants for a while; they're so big and lumbering, homely yet majestic. Their sad eyes draw me. In The White Bone , they and their world came alive and I fell in love with them.

The life of one particular family, the She-S's, is revealed through the eyes of Mud and two of her friends. Mud, a twelve-year-old female who has just mated for the first time, is being honored for this event by receiving her adult name from her adoptive family. But she isn't quite ready to leave her adolescence and refuses to acknowledge her new name. Mud and her best friend Date Bed devise plots to outwit the intolerable old cows by starting their own herd. Date Bed is the true offspring of Mud's adoptive mother; they have been inseparable since childhood. Date Bed is a gatherer of knowledge, curious and always observing. Tall Time is an older male, who periodically visits the family because he has had a crush on Mud since she was two. He can't help his unnatural devotion and desire for Mud. He wants to mate for life with her because he feels she carries the image of the Divine She. He is called the Link Bull because he knows all the omens and hidden meaningsto coincidences. These three are cast together with their families in the struggle between nature and culture. Faced with the worst drought in 65 years, the elephants are unprepared for the ivory hunters that ambush them at one of the last remaining water holes. Against this backdrop of betrayal and despair, the surviving elephants begin their exile. All three are separated by the chaos following the slaughter, but are connected like strands in a web through love, hope and desperation. Each hears rumours of a Safe Place, where humans have been redeemed to their former elephant-loving nature, and elephants are no longer hunted. A mysterious White Bone is said to appear in times of need to point the way. Against all odds, they begin to search for this White Bone, and the hope of survival it holds out. A slow change comes over them. Tall Time begins a struggle of faith and doubt in the synchronistic events he had previously taken for granted. Date Bed's scientific nature helps her discover her spirit twin and her courage to act for the benefit for the whole herd. And Mud discovers compassion for the older elephants, as her visions reveal their vulnerability. The Safe Place promises not just physical survival, but calls to the essence of their identity. Struggles with collectivity, with outworn tradition, with petty jealousies begin to threaten the herd as much as hunger. The she-one's are pushed to their limits and beyond. This is a story of exile. Of being cast out from the familiar into alien and hostile environments. It reminds me of The Grapes of Wrath in describing a journey that is both physical and spiritual. In struggles like these, against impossible odds, people either discover themselves or are broken forever. In these time you discover what you hope in, and what really matters. Mud, Date Bed and Tall Time are all faced with their own limitations in exile. That each of them finds their way to love strikes a deep chord. If Gowdy is writing a polemic for animal rights, she doesn't betray good story-telling to get there. Her characters are vivid but not sentimental. The dialogue is full of humour and wit. And her thorough research reveals itself in the minutae of daily elephant existence that is interspersed throughout. All these elements work artfully to blur the lines between elephant and human. This story got me thinking of how often we see animals as objects. Gowdy's story seems a very plausible depiction of the consciousness elephants might have. She might be continuing the thoughts of Emerson and Thoreau in suggesting that consciousness exists on a continuum. Perhaps Gowdy is trying to call us to compassion through imagination. We too need a Safe Place. It's sad that we slaughter such noble creatures for fashion. Even sadder that such callousness could be avoided if humans recovered their imagination. We too need to be freed from living by rote and out-dated precepts to be our full selves. Only through imagination and hope can humans bridge the chasm between themselves and the rest of nature. We are alienated from our home and from ourselves until we remember that consciousness flows through the whole universe. Gowdy makes me think that to become concerned for the environment is a much more whole task than merely activism. It involves awakening to the consciousness that is within and around us. Like Mud's fleeting vision of benevolent humans enjoying the freedom of animals, this consciousness seeks to reconcile and to heal. Perhaps our current exile from the environment, brought on by our own greed, can become a time when we are stripped of superficiality so that we can hear this reconciling voice. Thank you Barbara Gowdy, for allowing it to speak to humans through the lives of the elephants.

"The White Bone" is a prime example of a book that is extremely well-written, but nevertheless unsatisfying.

There is no denying Barbara Gowdy's talent in evoking the world of elephants, their mythology, and their emotions.

At the same time, the book is less of a quest-based plot than a series of episodes, with mixed in flashbacks. As a result, there isn't a feeling of build-up toward a natural climax. Instead, there is a gradual erosion of the herd through death, disease, and separation.

This book has been often compared to "Watership Down." It's not a particularly apt comparison. "Watership Down" is more of a classic adventure story, with more anthromorphized animal characters. "The White Bone," on the other hand, is probably a more realistic description of elephants as they think, and not as they would think if they were humans. Perhaps it's characteristic of my taste in books, but while I've read "Watership Down" numerous times, I don't see myself rereading "The White Bone." That's not to say it's not a good book, but it's certainly not pleasant.

A profound and inventive book. Gowdy's choice of speaking to the human condition through the medium of an extended family of elephants is unusual, to say the least, but ultimately rewarding. A challanging but deeply satisfying read. In my opinion, this is Gowdy at her best.

The words that describe this book cannot compare to the emotions that grapple you as you read it. Each elephant in this story is an individual,a person, looking for hope in a land of despair. What adds to it is that though its a story your reading, it's so real. Mud's family doesn't find the safe place, because there is no safe place for elephants in this world. And at the same time families and friends are slayed for their tusk, a sacred and precious object to the elephnats described. The story has you feeling empathy and despair with the characters, because the situations described are so real, even to this day! This story will help you to examine how we, as human beings, should respect life. All of it.

Truly. I am absolutely terrified of them. The mere sight of an elephant in a photograph or on TV starts my flight reflexes going. I often have nightmares about them. So I am still surprised, eight years after reading The White Bone, that I love this book as much as I do.

The prose is gorgeous. The characters are original and engrossing. The story is beautifully constructed and compelling. Mud's world and life are brought beautifully to life. This book has stayed in my head for nearly a decade, even in spite of my reluctance to think about elephants. I still sometimes think of snakes as "flow-sticks."

The White Bone is among the best animal fiction I've ever read, and that is really saying something, as I try to read every book with animal characters that I can locate. The disturbing and affecting ending will remain in your mind. I think the death of Tall Time will always stick in my head, as vivid as if I witnessed it myself.

This book is a beautiful and sad tribute to the importance of conservation efforts and will appeal to any person who makes the protection of wildlife a priority in his or her life. The itself will be with you for many years.

One way of looking at "The White Bone" is to think of as following the conventions of much of the best of epic fantasy. A threatened race, dependant on the hope of a youth born with superior powers, destined to find a sacred artifact that will lead her people from the monsters that prey on them, through turmoil and hardship to a promised land, encountering fascinating creatures along the way. However, "The White Bone" is not fantasy -it's a harrowing, tragic and dramatic story - and it's real. The characters may be made up, and certain plot points (like the sacred object: the fabled White Bone of the title) but the basics are true. The threatened race is the elephant race, the monsters that prey on them are human poachers, the journey the group treks on is through Africa, and the creatures they encounter are mongooses, rhinoceroses, ostritches, etc.

The heroine in the book, and one of the great heroines in all the field of novels, is Mud, a young elephant orphaned at birth. The elephants have their own religion, their own worldview, their own stories handed down through the generations. Through the book we also get briefer glimpses of the worldviews of other species. The worldviews of the enigmatic hindleggers (the elephants's term for humans) is unknown; for, although each group of elephants has a mind-talker who can communicate telepathically with most creatures, thus learning of their perceptions of the world and their thoughts and feelings, to share with the other elephants, the minds of humans are unreadable. The mind-talkers hear from certain other animals they can't communicate with only what is described as a 'faint chiming'; from humans though comes a hideous absolute silence that can be deeply traumatic to encounter. The mind-talker in the main group of elephants is Date Bed, a shy younger elephant who clings to Mud. These two, along with the bull elephant Tall Time, comprise the three central characters of the story.

It's hard to say how much of the elephant culture and worldview depicted in the novel paralells the minds of real elephants, but it's likely alot closer than the traditional scientific view (now thankfully being abandoned in whole or in part by many scientists) of elephants and all non-human creatures as basically automatons driven solely by biological instinct and completely or virtually devoid of thought or emotion. Whatever the case may be, this involving, vividly written, detailed and character-driven epic gives fascinating glimpses at how other lifeforms may view things; and a disturbing look at how humanity does indeed conduct itself amongst its fellow species.