J. M. Ledgard

A fictional account of the true story of a herd of wild giraffes imported to Communist Czechoslovakia in 1973. The herd developed a disease dangerous to livestock and had to be destroyed.The novel starts wonderfully with the birth of Snehurka the giraffe told from her point of view. It continues strongly while the herd is being transported to Czechoslovakia but once the herd reaches Czechoslovakia and the point of view turns to various citizens of Communist Czechoslovakia who are suffering from the bleakness of Communist life the novel itself turns bleak and depressing. One character( Amina ) feels "awakened" by the giraffes but it's not enough to awaken the novel. The ending is brutal. The giraffes are shot one by one by a sharpshooter in a bloody brutal manner, that's hard to read. But then the author compounds this by telling the tale of this murder over and over again from each characters point of view. Talk about Overkill.… (más)

Really an excellent piece of work, this. A ocean-focused microbiologist and a deep-cover spy meet and tryst and return to the difficulties and marvels of their further lives. The whole book is thoughtfully structured with some fantastically-turned phrases and use of language. The chronology is pleasantly wobbly and the ending satisfyingly open. (I am increasingly sensitive to lazy or overly-neat endings: it's a peeve, I admit.)

Anyhow, I picked Submergence up because it was linked from a screed (which was probably, let's be fair, trolling) about why adults should be embarassed if they're reading too many YA novels, and this was cited as an epitome of an ADULT book, which okay, let's be fair, it probably is. http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2014/06/against_ya_adults_should_be_emb...

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I stumbled on this book by accident. It was on a table at our local library sale, and the title caught my eye, so I picked it up. That cover! Astonishing! I had no idea what I was in for.

Whenever I describe the topic of this book to others, I am immediately treated with responses of rebuke or disgust. "I'm not reading that! That's awful!" But I encourage you to look beyond the ghastliness of the subject matter. I don't want you to miss out on the experience of the beauty of this book. I am completely ambivalent. I almost wish I had not read it so that I could have remained unaware of this brutality, and yet, I feel like everyone should read it.

Giraffe is a fictionalized, almost journalistic, account of an incident in the 1970s in Czechoslovakia. The largest herd of giraffes ever held in captivity was intentionally slaughtered, though the political reasons are dubious and inconclusive. The author presents the story through the eyes of the different unwilling participants in this drama: a scientist, a female factory worker drawn to the beauty of the giraffes, even the leader of the giraffes, called Snehuka, "Snow White," for the whiteness of her unspotted belly.

This book is beautiful and horrifying, honest and without sentimentality. The writing is superb. If you can brave the subject matter, you will feel honored for having borne witness to the story.… (más)