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sassmistress's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
WOW. GUYS. This book is exquisite. I had never heard of this one, but I saw it at the library and grabbed one because I liked The Tale of Despereaux and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Now I plan to get my own copy. I'll try to do it justice, but I definitely can't. Just read it! 😅
To share an excerpt from my bedtime notes the second night: "Absolutely enchanting... Still echoing...To call it haunting sounds too sad. It's like, hope-haunting." The prose is so rich, and it's a story of inexplicable hope--of deliverance, of love, even of salvation, though no one really knows how to articulate it. It's also really evocative of familial love and belonging.
I'm not usually one for "literature" type books because I dislike feeling as though there's some metaphor that I'm not getting. There was a little of that early in the book, but having finished I now feel the "not getting it" is a critical piece of the message. I don't want to kill the magic by analyzing it for you, so I'll leave it there for now.
What I love:
- I can't get over how Ms. DiCamillo's books give you a shining view of the aches of the human heart that we never put into words, and for multiple characters! We seamlessly slide into the lives and perspectives of other characters, with constant reminders that even the people we dismissed as backdrop a few paragraphs ago have a name, a history, love and longing.
- "Never enough. We must ask ourselves these questions [what if] as often as we dare. How will the world change if we do not question it?"
- Beautiful descriptions of compassion, love, faithfulness, and at risk of repeating myself, hope.
- "Have you, in truth, ever seen something so heartbreakingly lovely? What are we to make of a world where stars shine bright in the midst of so much darkness and gloom?"
- "'The world is broken,' thought Peter, 'and it cannot be fixed.' The magician kept still[...] Maybe it was not too late after all."
- Parts of the book kind of feel like that warm moment in Ratatouille where the critic remembers his childhood.
To share an excerpt from my bedtime notes the second night: "Absolutely enchanting... Still echoing...To call it haunting sounds too sad. It's like, hope-haunting." The prose is so rich, and it's a story of inexplicable hope--of deliverance, of love, even of salvation, though no one really knows how to articulate it. It's also really evocative of familial love and belonging.
I'm not usually one for "literature" type books because I dislike feeling as though there's some metaphor that I'm not getting. There was a little of that early in the book, but having finished I now feel the "not getting it" is a critical piece of the message. I don't want to kill the magic by analyzing it for you, so I'll leave it there for now.
What I love:
- I can't get over how Ms. DiCamillo's books give you a shining view of the aches of the human heart that we never put into words, and for multiple characters! We seamlessly slide into the lives and perspectives of other characters, with constant reminders that even the people we dismissed as backdrop a few paragraphs ago have a name, a history, love and longing.
- "Never enough. We must ask ourselves these questions [what if] as often as we dare. How will the world change if we do not question it?"
- Beautiful descriptions of compassion, love, faithfulness, and at risk of repeating myself, hope.
- "Have you, in truth, ever seen something so heartbreakingly lovely? What are we to make of a world where stars shine bright in the midst of so much darkness and gloom?"
- "'The world is broken,' thought Peter, 'and it cannot be fixed.' The magician kept still[...] Maybe it was not too late after all."
- Parts of the book kind of feel like that warm moment in Ratatouille where the critic remembers his childhood.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Infertility, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Death of parent and Animal cruelty
Note before I start: I know the magical elements may sound offputting for some, but it reads MUCH more like a fairy tale than a fantasy. There are so many gospel parallels and I would encourage you to take a peek at a library copy if you're unsure about it.- The protagonist consults a "fortune teller," who tells him his long-lost sister is alive, and to find her, he must "follow the elephant". They're in France "near the end of the century before last." There are no elephants. It would be crazy to believe one will come, right?
- Mention of stillbirth - just the word and "she never drew breath". It is a lie an adult told another child for many years--the baby is alive and growing up as an orphan.
- Mention of infertility - "We have tried and failed... God does not intend for us to have children." "Who are we to say what God intends?... What if?" "Don't you dare... My heart has been broken too many times, and it cannot bear to hear your foolish questions."
- Other religious content: Catholic orphanage, a kindly nun, the town cathedral and the carving of gargoyles to go on top of it. That's about the extent of the overt references, but there are a ton of gospel echoes/themes throughout the book, IMO.
- Sister Marie's dream: "They were each--beggars, dogs, orphans, kings, elephants, soldiers--emitting pulses of light. The whole of creation glowed."
- Dreamed events coming true is a major theme in the book.
- One girl calls another "very exceptionally, amazingly stupid" for her childlike faith that her repeat dream will come true.
- Descriptions of the crowds of people turning out to see the elephant include "babies still at their mothers' breasts". (I love this, personally, but thought some folks might care to know)
- The elephant, away from her family and crowded: "The world had become too cold and confusing and chaotic to bear. She stopped reminding herself of her name. She decided that she would like to die." Hope is restored a few pages later, when she looks into the eyes of someone who understands. He promises to get her back home.
- As the magician dreams, "the image bedeviled him to the point where he could get no rest."
- Beginning of the book: a magician, during his performance, suddenly felt as if he had wasted his life. He "muttered the words of a spell that his magic teacher entrusted to him long ago" while conjuring lilies, and accidentally conjured an elephant. He is unable to make the elephant disappear again.
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thecriticalreader's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.75
Why I Read It: I picked up The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo because I enjoyed her books when I was younger, so I wanted to explore some of her works that I haven’t read yet.
Blurb:
An orphan named Peter visits a fortune teller, who tells him that his sister—who Peter has been told is dead—is alive, and that an elephant will lead him to her. Shortly thereafter, a magician summons an elephant during his show, who crashes through the ceiling of the theater. Peter vows to find the elephant so that he may reunite with his sister.
Review:
The Magician’s Elephant is written in an oddly stilted and repetitive style that does nothing but stretch out the length of a short, weak storyline. Since none of the characters acts like a real person, it is almost impossible to feel emotionally connected to the story in any way. The plot, which has elements of absurdism, is void of an impactful message because the characters have little agency: things happen because the author wants them to happen. I find it hard to see the child version of myself liking this book: not only is it emotionally inaccessible, but some of the words used are rather high-level for middle-grade readers. The only aspect of this book I can praise is the art by illustrator Yoko Tanaka, which is beautiful and haunting in a manner somewhat reminiscent of Laika Studio’s animation.
The Run-Down:
You will probably like The Magician’s Elephant if:
· You like fairytale-like stories with happy endings
You might not like The Magician’s Elephant if:
· You dislike highly stylized writing
· You prefer character-driven stories
· You want to read a book with a logical plot/worldbuilding
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, and Death of parent
Minor: War and Bullying
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