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Title: The Giraffe by Marie Nimier, Mary Feeney ISBN: 1-56858-026-6 Publisher: Four Walls Eight Windows Pub. Date: 01 March, 1995 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.00

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Average Customer Rating: 3 (2 reviews)

Rating: 3
Summary: Life In The Animal Kingdom
Comment: A cross between Ralph Ellison's INVISIBLE MAN and a Natural History Of Perversion. NOT a fairy tale, not even an adult fairy tale--realistic/perceptive portrait of an alienated young man--sex and violence--an interspersed account of the first giraffe to visit Europe--elements of Robbe-Grillet in its somewhat-emotionless first-person narration--some sharp writing/details--bit thin in thematic punch (the string of events don't add up to much). Worth a look. Like going to the zoo, worth striding by this cage and seeing what animal's inside.

Rating: 3
Summary: Disturbing dysfunctionality or brilliant work? You decide.
Comment: This book receives three stars, squarely in the middle of the possible sweep, because, even after reading it and thinking about its message, I remain quite unsure as to what to make of the book. Hence the midrange astrological mark.

The book, which one can tell has been translated, though not to a degree that is sufficiently noticeable that it gets in the way, focuses on the trials and tribulations of Joseph, a tormented young man who becomes caretaker of the zoo's giraffe, Solange. Over the course of the book Joseph has occasion to form and break bonds with various human and animal characters, but the one element which remains constant is his general unease towards the world and what can most charitably be described as "poor problem-solving skills." The result is a 200-page tale of depression and dysfunctionality, with few bright spots to break the gloom. This is furthered by extensive scenes of killing and sexual exploitation (including both at the same time in one particularly nasty incident), which, though not outright offensive or permanently damaging, heighten the book's disturbing effect.

So -- amidst all the gloom and doom, why three stars? The reasoning is that, even though this is by no means a "family read," it does present a seldom-seen perspective on the world in which we live. If I credit the author with the desire to make us examine our relationship with animals and authors I have to bestow at least three stars, noting in the process that it is possible I'm the one who missed her doubtlessly luminary point entirely.

The bottom line? A disturbing work of questionable insight.