Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 An Excellent Study of Kenya's Amboseli Elephants May 2, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Cynthia Moss spent thirteen years in Amboseli National Reserve studying the elephants there. This book is the culmination of her work. Cynthia writes about the elephants as if they were her friends or her family. She is obviously as attached to them as one gets attached to a pet cat or dog.
Cynthia keeps family trees of the Amboseli elephants - noting births, deaths, etc. The names of members is the same family all begin with the same letter. That makes it very easy to keep track of each family as you are reading the book. Cynthia talks about the death of one of the elephants as if it were a part of her family.
That was a very sad section of this book. Ok, I admit it, I cried. Cynthia shows how the elephants care about each other just as humans do. They are sad, just like we are, when a family member dies.
In Elephant Memories, you get to learn about the everyday activities of the elephants, how they play, eat, drink, mate. You learn what the elephants do during the dry and rainy seasons, what they do to survive a drought.
A nice thing about the book is the chapters are written in such a manner that you could simply pick any chapter, read it, and still get a lot out of it. Each chapter is its own story - no need to read previous chapters. If you were interested in the births of elephants, you could read just that chapter with having read the previous ones. If you are at all interested in elephants, definitely read this book.
 Captivating Elephant Saga December 21, 2006
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Moss takes you on an incredible journey into the lives of African elephants and allows you to take a bird's eye view of the research she has done. The book, while captivating, can seem a little discombobulated to some, however. The book divides itself into the different years Moss is writing about, each chapter being a different year. This set up, however, is a bit confusing as the chapters do not limit themselves to that particular year, but instead discussed a myriad of years all while focusing on a particular topic. That said, you do see progression in the timeline as the book reads on.
The only downside I saw to this book was the fictional retelling of circumstances that she was not witness to. She describes the deaths of a few elephants as well as some mishaps involving the elephants in near poetic detail, though she never actually saw what happened, or she only witnessed the very end of the circumstance. She does not note where the fictionalization begins, and you only understand what parts are ficionalized after reading on and seeing where she says "I don't know what happened." These are merely assumptions made on the part of the author and though they could have very real merit, it can hurt the integrity of the book when read by someone who is looking for a purely factual account of African elephants. While Moss does warn that she does make assumptions, it would have been better if she noted right before each fictionalized story that it was an assumption. That said, the stories do involve true elephant behavior and shows the audience how elephants may react in certain situations.
There is an incredible amount of insight in this book. You become attached to certain elephants, feel joy over new births, celebrate victory over hardship, and mourn the deaths of these creatures. It teaches the reader about their behaviors, environment, and most of all, the conservation of these majestic animals.
HOW WONDERFUL ELEPHANTS ARE July 5, 2006
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
IT IS AMAZING TO ME THAT MAN DOESNT KNOW OR CHOOSES NOT TO ACKNOWLEDGE HOW INTELLEGENT AND WONDERFUL THESE BEAUTIFUL CREATURES OF GOD ARE AND THIS BOOK MAKES IT REAL CLEAR.
The lives of elephants revealed January 18, 2002
15 out of 19 found this review helpful
This is a wonderful book. Cynthia Moss takes the reader deep into the intricate social lives of Africa elephans in Amboseli National Park (Kenya), and leaves a profound impression. How very sensitive these animals are, and how endearing. It is entirely clear how these creatures have suffered at the hands of humans, but also nobody can read this book and not feel the urge to conserve this fantastic species. Also it may inspire some to travel to Amboseli to see the elephants 'in person' - an experience that you will never forget!
Intriguing January 5, 2002
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
This is an excellent book. At first, the book seems confusing as the author continuously refers to the individual elephants on a first name basis when one has no idea of who these "people" are. As the names become more familiar and the individual stories develop, the strange names develop into a wonderful, although at times anthropomorphic story on the natural history of these gentle animals. As she warns us, the author takes the liberty of adding unwitnessed, fictional pieces to most stories, which can be confusing and at times blur the objective observations that she makes with subjective, although probably real, assumptions.
But this book is not a hard core technical text, despite glimpses of it being so in the beginning. The book is about remembering the wonderful social and behavioral characteristics of individuals that make up a population. From matriarchs to lonely males, from birth to death during periods of drought or at the hands of Masai warriors, this book gives a comprehensive insight into relevant issues affecting the survival of the African elephant. The author comes across as a human being, with emotions that go beyond the hard-core science. Although her prose is dry at times, this book is very enjoyable and opens a magnificent window into the world of the Amboseli elephants.
|
