The Elephant's Journey
First edition
AuthorJosé Saramago
Original titleA Viagem do Elefante
TranslatorMargaret Jull Costa
CountryPortugal
LanguagePortuguese
PublisherCaminho
Publication date
2008
Published in English
2010
Pages285
ISBN978-0547574110

The Elephant's Journey (Portuguese: A Viagem do Elefante) is a novel by Nobel Prize-winning author José Saramago. It was first published in 2008 with an English translation in 2010.

Plot

In 1551, King João III of Portugal gave Archduke Maximilian an unusual wedding present: an elephant named Solomon or Suleiman. This elephant's journey from Lisbon to Vienna was witnessed and remarked upon by scholars, historians, and ordinary people.[1] Out of this material, José Saramago has spun a novel already heralded as "a triumph of language, imagination, and humor" (El País).

Solomon and his keeper, Subhro, begin in dismal conditions, forgotten in a corner of the palace grounds. When it occurs to the king and queen that an elephant would be an appropriate wedding gift, everyone rushes to get them ready: Subhro is given two new suits of clothes and Solomon a long overdue scrub. They cross the border into Spain at Castelo Rodrigo and meet the Archduke at Valladolid.

Accompanied by the Archduke, his new wife, the royal guard, Soloman and Subhro cross a continent riven by the Reformation and civil wars. They make their way through the storied cities of northern Italy: Genoa, Piacenza, Mantua, Verona, Venice, and Trento, where the Council of Trent is in session. They brave the Alps and the terrifying Isarco and Brenner Passes; they sail from Rosas across the Mediterranean Sea and later up the Inn River (elephants, it turns out, are natural sailors). At last they make their grand entry into the imperial city. The Elephant's Journey is a tale of friendship and adventure.

Topics

Saramago shows the sentimental side of all people and animals,[2] regardless of their social status. The characters are thus full of different nuances, such as the ignorance of kings, the convenient flexibility of a cleric in the middle of the night,[3] the intelligence of a mahout to sell elephant hair to alleviate any evil.[4]

Editions

The novel was translated into English by Margaret Jull Costa and published in 2010.

Awards and recognitions

References

  1. ↑ http://www.suleymantheelephant.ch/index2.html
  2. ↑ "EL PODER DEL PRÍNCIPE DE ESTE MUNDO", Un cristiano en la senda de Buda, Herder, pp. 19–36, 2012-11-20, doi:10.2307/j.ctvt7x84v.6, retrieved 2022-05-24
  3. ↑ "El conquistador conquistado en la nueva novela histórica latinoamericana: la transculturación religiosa de Cabeza de Vaca, el camino secreto del chamán y el surgimiento de una teología de la liberación indígena en El largo atardecer del caminante de Abel Posse", El viaje en la literatura hispanoamericana, Vervuert Verlagsgesellschaft, pp. 575–588, 2008-12-31, doi:10.31819/9783964565976-045, ISBN 9783964565976, retrieved 2022-05-24
  4. ↑ "EL MANDATO.", Sentencias escogidas de José Hernández Arbeláez, Editorial Utadeo, pp. 419–423, 2003-08-01, doi:10.2307/j.ctv23dxb7k.36, S2CID 244352148, retrieved 2022-05-24
  5. ↑ Folha Online (31 May 2009). "Prêmio São Paulo de Literatura divulga finalistas". Folha de S.Paulo. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  6. ↑ Previous winners
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