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A review by margeryk101
The Elephant Keepers' Children by Peter Høeg
3.0
I so very nearly gave up on this book, and even now, I'm not sure exactly what happened in most of it. Perhaps, I repeat, *perhaps* I might read it again one day to find out.
My problems at the start: the stupid names; the lack of dialogue; the over-the-top assumptions of how far the reader is willing to suspend his/her disbelief.
And then, there was a breakthrough of sorts. I even found a couple of the chapters funny, and the quality of the writing picked up, I began enjoying the book and realised why I like Hoeg so much. But for a long while I sincerely believed his days were numbered.
The names? Well as a teenager me and my friends would give silly appellations to people, and as our narrator-hero, Peter is a teenager, I forgive him this rather tedious affectation. Only now do I realise that the author magnanimously lent our hero his own name.
My problems at the start: the stupid names; the lack of dialogue; the over-the-top assumptions of how far the reader is willing to suspend his/her disbelief.
And then, there was a breakthrough of sorts. I even found a couple of the chapters funny, and the quality of the writing picked up, I began enjoying the book and realised why I like Hoeg so much. But for a long while I sincerely believed his days were numbered.
The names? Well as a teenager me and my friends would give silly appellations to people, and as our narrator-hero, Peter is a teenager, I forgive him this rather tedious affectation. Only now do I realise that the author magnanimously lent our hero his own name.