The Elephant's Journey

In the 16th century, Soloman the elephant left his Indian homeland to become the resident pachyderm at King Dom João III's palace in Lisbon. However, two years later, the King decides to send Soloman as a belated wedding gift to his cousin Maximilian, the Habsburg archduke. Based on a real-life story, the novel tells the tale of Solomon's epic journey from Lisbon to Vienna.

Playing on the dual meaning of the Portuguese word historia, Saramago weaves a wonderful tale of fact, fantasy and fiction as Solomon and his mahout Subhro traverse the continent. Saramago's quirky humour makes the story incredibly readable as Subhro and the narrators thoughts are expressed, revised and explained with great effect. It also soon becomes clear that this is not merely a book about Soloman's journey, but about the journey of life itself.

Following a visit to Vienna some years ago, Saramago became enchanted by the real-life story of Soloman the elephant. In light of Saramago's untimely death in June this year, it is poignant to note that this novel was hailed as such a success-both as a work of literature and as a successful comeback from a bout of illness. A delightful and charming novel, the English-speaking world can at least wait in eager anticipation for the translations of Saramago's final two novels.