Zarafa: A Giraffe's True Story
Registered by literaDiva on 11/4/2010
4 journalers for this copy...
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literaDiva
description of contents as per Jerry Brotton, Amazon-Redaktion:
Michael Allin's Zarafa is a delightful piece of popular cultural history, which draws on the current fascination with exotic animals and their even more exotic owners, seen most recently in Lawrence Norfolk's novel The Pope's Rhinoceros .
Zarafa recounts the history of a Masai giraffe captured in the Sudan in 1826 and shipped to France for presentation to the French king, Charles X. The giraffe was initially intended as a diplomatic gift offered to Charles by Muhammad Ali, the despotic Viceroy of Egypt, in an attempt to curry favour with the French as Muhammad set about his invasion of Greece. But in the midst of this potentially unremarkable event, Allin uncovers a weird and wonderful story of the tangled, momentous events which surrounded the giraffe's extraordinary journey: Napoleon's invasion of Egypt and the beginnings of Egyptology; the giraffe's dramatic journey along the route of the North African slave trade; quarantine off Marseilles on the island of If, the former residence of the Count of Monte Cristo; and the giraffe's enchanting encounter with the scientific community of post-Revolutionary France. These remarkable events culminated in the giraffe's triumphant entry into Paris in 1827 in front of crowds of thousands following a walk of 550 miles from Marseilles to Paris, led by none other than Etienne Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire, the founding professor of the National Museum of Natural History.
Allin's stories are indeed remarkable, though he often seems bewitched by the richness of his own material. At times, the book seems as though it cannot make up its mind as to whether it is a travel narrative, an account of Zarafa, or the 19th century's fascination with exotic animals. This is partly due to a loss of pace in crucial moments of the book; Allin's account is so breathless by the time the giraffe reaches Paris that the final sections of the book seem rather anticlimactic. Nevertheless, this is a great story with a remarkable cast of characters--both human and animal.
Mein Eindruck:
Dieses Buch gehört zu meinen besonderen Lieblingen und eine Zeitlang war es — sowohl im englischen Original, als auch in der deutschen Übersetzung — mein liebstes Buch-Geschenk an alle möglichen Freunde und Verwandten. Nicht immer teilten die Beschenkten nach der Lektüre meine uneingeschränkt begeisterte Meinung, aber insgesamt hat es sehr gefallen.
Mitgenommen zum meet-up im Café des Überseemuseums, Bremen.
... and that's where I picked it up. I hope to get around to reading it soon so it can join an African VBB afterwards.
This is more than just a giraffe's biography. Actually the concentration is often less on Zarafa than on French / British / Egyptian etc. history around 1800. Sometimes it gets a bit dry, but it is a factual account after all (and not a long one). Allin kept to researchable facts - what I appreciate - instead of making things up where no information is available. If you're interested (even only slightly) in history it is immensely informative - and entertaining. Furthermore, many different topics are referred to, such as the slave trade, French-Egyptian politics, exportation (i.e. colonial looting) of Egyptian artifacts, the Enlightenment era etc.
Journal Entry 5 by ApoloniaX at Africa, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Thanks for including this book in the All About Africa Book box. I'm keen to read more non-fiction about the country and I think this looks really interesting.
Did you know there are nine types of giraffe, six of whom are genetically distinct and wouldn't mate with each other in the wild.
Did you know there are nine types of giraffe, six of whom are genetically distinct and wouldn't mate with each other in the wild.
Journal Entry 7 by kiwiinengland at Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Friday, January 26, 2018
I feel I have kept this book far too long, and so I am passing it onto someone with it on their wish list.
Journal Entry 8 by kiwiinengland at Twickenham, Greater London United Kingdom on Wednesday, February 7, 2018
Released 6 yrs ago (1/25/2018 UTC) at Twickenham, Greater London United Kingdom
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
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Have a fabulous birthday, I hope you enjoy this book - your day - and the future
Thank you so much for this book! It arrived safely!