Giraffe (novel)
Encyclopedia
Giraffe is a critically acclaimed debut novel
by Scottish
writer J. M. Ledgard
.
Giraffe is based on a true Czechoslovakia
n story, which Ledgard discovered while working as a journalist
in the Czech Republic
for The Economist
in 2001. In 1975, on the eve of May Day
, Czechoslovakian secret police
dressed in chemical warfare
suits
sealed off the zoo
in the small Czech town of Dvůr Králové nad Labem
and orchestrated the slaying of the zoo's entire population of forty-nine giraffe
s - the largest captive herd in the world. No reason for the action was ever given, and discussion of the incident was suppressed. It remains a state secret in the Czech Republic. Ledgard recounts the story of the giraffes from their capture in Africa
to their deaths far away in the Eastern Bloc
.
Giraffe was published in 2006 by Penguin Press in the United States
, Jonathan Cape
in Britain
, and Héloïse d'Ormesson in France
. Czech, Dutch, and English-language paperback
editions appeared in 2007. While some reviewers found Giraffe stilted and sombre, the majority praised it as a masterpiece. The novel was named a 2006 Book of the Year by the Library Journal
, and as a novel of the year by newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Library Journal
found Giraffe to be "a profoundly affecting novel that will wake you up and break your heart." The reviewer for the UK
'sThe Independent
described it as a "superb novel, filled with compassion, yet never sentimental." The Chicago Tribune
critic likened Giraffe to T. S. Eliot
's The Wasteland, while the review in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution thought Ledgard's prose closer to that of Italo Calvino
. Other reviews drew comparison with the German writer, W. G. Sebald
. The The Plain Dealer reviewer argued that Giraffe is "a potent, disturbing dream, as if Radiohead
's 'Idioteque
' had mixed with something by Haruki Murakami
." The New York Times critic was "continually reminded of Harold Bloom
's remark about all great books being strange."
According to one of the novel's publishers, Penguin Press
, "Giraffe marks the debut of an unforgettable talent.... At once vivid and unearthly, Giraffe is a meditation on suffering, on the strangeness of vertical creatures, and on the inhabitants of a middling totalitarian state, sleepwalking
through the ‘communist moment’."
Debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel an author publishes. Debut novels are the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to publish in the future...
by Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
writer J. M. Ledgard
J. M. Ledgard
J. M. Ledgard is an award-winning Scottish novelist. He is the author of Giraffe and Submergence .-Early life:Ledgard was born on the Shetland Islands in 1968...
.
Giraffe is based on a true Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
n story, which Ledgard discovered while working as a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
in the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
for The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
in 2001. In 1975, on the eve of May Day
May Day
May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....
, Czechoslovakian secret police
State Security (Czechoslovakia)
In former Czechoslovakia, State Security or StB / ŠtB, was a plainclothes secret police force from 1945 to its dissolution in 1990...
dressed in chemical warfare
Chemical warfare
Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from Nuclear warfare and Biological warfare, which together make up NBC, the military acronym for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical...
suits
NBC suit
An NBC suit is a type of military personal protective equipment designed to provide protection against direct contact with and contamination by radioactive, biological or chemical substances, and provides protection from contamination with radioactive materials and some types of radiation,...
sealed off the zoo
Zoo
A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....
in the small Czech town of Dvůr Králové nad Labem
Dvur Králové nad Labem
Dvůr Králové nad Labem river valley.Dvůr Králové was first mentioned in 1270. It was a dowry town, owned by the King's wife and responsible for her expenses when her husband died. Today, it is a center of the textile and machinery industries....
and orchestrated the slaying of the zoo's entire population of forty-nine giraffe
Giraffe
The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant...
s - the largest captive herd in the world. No reason for the action was ever given, and discussion of the incident was suppressed. It remains a state secret in the Czech Republic. Ledgard recounts the story of the giraffes from their capture in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
to their deaths far away in the Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
.
Giraffe was published in 2006 by Penguin Press in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape was a London-based publisher founded in 1919 as "Page & Co" by Herbert Jonathan Cape , formerly a manager at Duckworth who had worked his way up from a position of bookshop errand boy. Cape brought with him the rights to cheap editions of the popular author Elinor Glyn and sales of...
in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and Héloïse d'Ormesson in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Czech, Dutch, and English-language paperback
Paperback
Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
editions appeared in 2007. While some reviewers found Giraffe stilted and sombre, the majority praised it as a masterpiece. The novel was named a 2006 Book of the Year by the Library Journal
Library Journal
Library Journal is a trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey . It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice...
, and as a novel of the year by newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Library Journal
Library Journal
Library Journal is a trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey . It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice...
found Giraffe to be "a profoundly affecting novel that will wake you up and break your heart." The reviewer for the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
'sThe Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
described it as a "superb novel, filled with compassion, yet never sentimental." The Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
critic likened Giraffe to T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
's The Wasteland, while the review in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution thought Ledgard's prose closer to that of Italo Calvino
Italo Calvino
Italo Calvino was an Italian journalist and writer of short stories and novels. His best known works include the Our Ancestors trilogy , the Cosmicomics collection of short stories , and the novels Invisible Cities and If on a winter's night a traveler .Lionised in Britain and the United States,...
. Other reviews drew comparison with the German writer, W. G. Sebald
W. G. Sebald
W. G. Maximilian Sebald was a German writer and academic. At the time of his death at the age of 57, he was being cited by many literary critics as one of the greatest living authors and had been tipped as a possible future winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature...
. The The Plain Dealer reviewer argued that Giraffe is "a potent, disturbing dream, as if Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
's 'Idioteque
Idioteque
"Idioteque" is the eighth track from the British rock band Radiohead's 2000 album Kid A. It was seen as a departure for the rock band, as the song is driven by electronic beats. The song has been played at nearly every concert since 2000...
' had mixed with something by Haruki Murakami
Haruki Murakami
is a Japanese writer and translator. His works of fiction and non-fiction have garnered him critical acclaim and numerous awards, including the Franz Kafka Prize and Jerusalem Prize among others.He is considered an important figure in postmodern literature...
." The New York Times critic was "continually reminded of Harold Bloom
Harold Bloom
Harold Bloom is an American writer and literary critic, and is Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. He is known for his defense of 19th-century Romantic poets, his unique and controversial theories of poetic influence, and his prodigious literary output, particularly for a literary...
's remark about all great books being strange."
According to one of the novel's publishers, Penguin Press
Penguin Group
The Penguin Group is a trade book publisher, the largest in the world , having overtaken Random House in 2009. The Penguin Group is the name of the incorporated division of parent Pearson PLC that oversees these publishing operations...
, "Giraffe marks the debut of an unforgettable talent.... At once vivid and unearthly, Giraffe is a meditation on suffering, on the strangeness of vertical creatures, and on the inhabitants of a middling totalitarian state, sleepwalking
Sleepwalking
Sleepwalking, also known as somnambulism, is a sleep disorder belonging to the parasomnia family. Sleepwalkers arise from the slow wave sleep stage in a state of low consciousness and perform activities that are usually performed during a state of full consciousness...
through the ‘communist moment’."
Sources
- Penguin Books Summer 2007 catalog, accessed 4 February 2007
- Review by Karen Long in the The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OhioOhioOhio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
) - Review by Nicholas Royle in The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
- The tragic story of the disappearing giraffes by David Vaughan at Radio PragueRadio PragueRadio Prague is the official international broadcasting station of the Czech Republic.Radio Prague broadcasts in six languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Czech and Russian. It broadcasts programmes about the Czech Republic on shortwave, satellite and on the Internet...
- Review in Modern Mask
- http://us.penguingroup.com/static/rguides/us/giraffe.html, Penguin Reading Guide