Christopher Nicholson (1)

The Elephant keeper starts out promisingly as a quick paced, interesting, and emotional story about the relationship between The Keeper and his two elephants Timothy & Jenny. However when Timothy exits from the story, the novel begins to deteriorate very quickly and it pretty much turns into some kind of twisted love story between the keeper and the female elephant.The Keeper has imaginary conversations with the elephant which I found to be just plain silly. And just when I thought things couldn't get any more silly, I came to the ending; which is quite frankly beyond silly. Overall, after such a great beginning, a very disappointing read.… (meer)

How disappointing! I was looking forward to this book about the later years of one of my favorite authors, Thomas Hardy, but the main characters were so unlikable and the narratives slow and repetitive that I almost gave up on this one (and probably should have). Hardy is 84 focusing on poetry. He lives in a country home with his second wife, Florence, who is roughly half his age. She is one of the most annoying, unpleasant characters I have ever encountered. And Hardy is not much better. The story is told by three narrators, the Hardys and Gertie, a young wife and mother who has played Tess in a local production and has dreams is introducing the role on the London stage.

Florence is a hypochondriac, and I would also consider her a hysterical. She had a small growth on her neck that she felt sure was cancerous and went to three doctors until she found one who agreed that it might be a concern and removed it. Now she is obsessed with her scar, continuously wearing a wrap with a Fox head and fussing to make sure her scar is covered. She has convinced herself that her health issues are caused by the large pines on the property and begs her husband relentlessly about cutting them down or cutting them back. When she isn't whining about the trees, she's whining, "You don't love me. You don't love me as much as you loved your first wife. Did you ever really love me?" Despite of all this whining, by the end of the book, she is calculating how much money she will have when Thomas dies and fantasizing about who she might choose for her next husband. Oh, and about removing the trees, of course.

Lest you feel sorry for Thomas, never fear, he is equally annoying. He has become obsessed with Gertie and spends his time writing love poems to her that are never sent, gazing at one of her hairs that he has preserved in a book, and fantasizing about eloping with her. Remember that Gertie is a married woman in her 20s, a new mother whose only interest in Hardy is that his influence might get her the role of Tess on the London stage. I guess we're supposed to see him as a man nearing death longing for one last stab at youth, but I found him foolish and annoying. He does either ignore Florence or treat her condescending, but I really can't blame him for that.

Gertie is the only somewhat likeable character. She loves her baby and is committed to her husband, but she does dream of acting in London and is thrilled when Hardy arranges a limited run of Tess in London. She and her husband have agreed that they will work things out so that she can leave for a month. But Florence suspects that Thomas has designs on Gertie and then finds the love letters. She feels threatened by the fact that the two will be in London without her. Her first plan of attack is to nag Thomas to withdraw the role, claiming that Gertie should be with her baby, that the separation could ruin her marriage, and that the girl could be destroyed by negative reviews. When that doesn't work, she goes to Gertie's house and claims that "Mr. Hardy and I" think it best that she write to the producer and decline the role, citing the reasons above. When Gertie remains unconvinced, Florence become hysterical and confesses that Thomas is infatuated with her, and she agrees to withdraw from the play.

This review is more detailed than I usually like, but I want to give readers sufficient reason to avoid this plodding, annoying novel. Read Hardy's novels instead.… (meer)