Modoc : The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived

Rating:
Summary: An Inseparable Pair
Review: This story starts with the birth of a boy and a girl. A human and an elphant. Born at the exact same time on the same farm, from the beginning their futures were together. Modoc tells of the amazing journey of this pair from life to death, beginning to end. Filled with heart-wrenching hi's and low's, before the end you'll have used a full box of Kleenex at least.

Bram (the boy) and Modoc (the elephant) travel all over the world. Their status changes from lowly son of a circus elephant trainer to stowaway, from fugitive to star. It even weaves the author's own part in this epic into the tale of life and death.

Modoc is a fantastic novel from start to finish and definitely worth the read.

Rating:
Summary: a new age piece of fiction
Review: Although the story is just sensational enough to make you want to keep reading it, it is obviously a work of fiction. If that part doesn't bother you (and it may not) the pervasive Hindu/New Age philosophical passages can get tiresome pretty fast. Unnecessarily descriptive sex scenes (and threatened rape) also make this book inappropriate for younger readers. An interesting story... but not a great piece of literature.


Rating:
Summary: Exciting and touching story, but with a few problems
Review: This is a really incredible and moving story about how Bram Gunterstein and his elephant Modoc grew up together and shared all of their lives together except for the years when they were separated after the circus they were in sold all of the animals. I love animals, and it's nice to see a story about the bond between a human and an elephant; most human-animal stories feature dogs, cats, horses, ponies, and sometimes birds and small mammals like guinea pigs. It's also told in a very lively and page-turning way, which makes it a quick read. Some reviewers have suggested that there's no way Bram and Modoc could have had all of those adventures, like being shipwrecked, the mystical psychic encounter with the Raja's white elephant in the middle of the night, the war in Burma around the time of WWI, and all of their circus adventures, but many times truth is stranger than fiction, even if Mr. Helfer might have taken artistic license with some of the things he obviously wasn't there for.

My main problem with the story is that dates are only given maybe two or three times. We're not even told what year it is when the story begins. That makes it really hard to keep track of how old the two main characters are over the years and through their many adventures. And where are all of the important world events going on during this time, particularly WWI (which we only see a little of towards the end of their stay in Burma, when the liberation army comes to their village and terrorises everyone) and WWII? Don't they have any impact on the lives of these characters and the events they're taking part in? Also, a lot is made of Mr. North's "racial attitudes," but the only thing Jewish about Bram that I saw in the book is his last name. I know that's enough for some people, but it's like it was made into something much bigger than it really was, unless the true scope of Bram's religious identity was deeper and not mentioned in the book. The other issue I have is the one other people have pointed out, how the elephant pictures don't match. Modoc is described many times as having beautiful long tusks, but none of the elephants in the photo pages have any tusks.

Rating:
Summary: I LOVE THIS BOOK!
Review: ANYONE WITH A HEART WILL BE MOVED BY THIS BOOK. I READ IT, THEN I HAD MY MOTHER READ IT, THEN MY FATHER, THEN THEIR BEST FRIEND. EACH OF US CRIED AND EACH OF US AGREE THAT MODOC IS THE BEST ELEPHANT THAT EVER LIVED.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome book!
Review: I normally dont like reading books at all. I always catch myself thinking about different things like whats going on in my life, and not remebering anything that i just read. When i read Modoc, i caught myself thinking about other things, however those other things were everything thats been going on in modoc's life other than my own.

Rating:
Summary: AN ENDEARING STORY FOR ALL
Review: This is the most touching and beautiful story I have ever read. I am grateful to Ralph Helfer for telling it. I would recommend the book to everyone.