Interesting that the author included Dava Sobel in his list of acknowledgements; she is the author of Longitude. This book has lots of lovely illustrations, which contributed to my enjoyment of the tale. Very pleased to have read this one.

Hi, Jackie. I finished this book but I was a little disappointed there wasn't more about the giraffeI'm an animal lover. I thought it was kind of interesting the way the author got the title from a slight change from the arabic word for giraffe to an arabic word that meant charming,I think. I liked the history though but would have liked to hear more about Zarafa.

Hi, Dodie. I, too, am an animal lover. We did get short-changed (;ardon the pun) on the charming giraffe. It was not about her, was it, but about the process of getting her to Paris. Still, I enjoyed it. What other books have you read about animals that you would recommend? I'm always looking for new books to read.

Jackie, it took me another day to figure out how to post a message again- I haven't read any animal books lately but one I just finished and thought was really lovely was Chocolat by Joanne Harris. I simply drooled over the descriptions of the confections and I thought the characters were really human and interesting.

This book is marvelous, short, and a gem. I'm not sure I can get it finished by the 20th but I can get a major start on it, do join us here!!

Ginny

Hello everyone: The official discussion starts April 20 for Zarafa.

In reading this story,there is a description of Muhammad Ali as a "renaissance barbarian". What an interesting choice of words and I wonder if it is an oxymoron. Does an enlightened despot mean that he has more humane ways to kill people? Wasn't the guillotine supposed to be a more humane form of capital punishment?

I must tell you that I have a personal situation that demands most of my attention and that it will prevent me from doing much posting & discussion. I hope the discussion will procede & I will return as soon as possible. Thanks.

Ed: Don't you worry one bit, you just take care of yourself and we'll all be waiting for your return. Our Ed is one heck of a great guy and if there's anything we can do, Ed, you must not hesitate to ask.

We're here for each other in the Books.

Meanwhile Ed has posed a great question so see you all here tomorrow am, I hope, and we'll begin!

Ginny

Well, Good Morning Animal Lovers, and welcome to this very interesting discussion which I see our Larry has already put in its very nice place.

I tried to look up Muhammad Ali and only got the prize fighter, so I'm somewhat at a loss to know WHAT a Renaissance barbarian is. Wasn't the Renaissance a time of enlightenment but only in the West? So maybe it means that a Renaissance barbarian was in another part of the world or maybe it means that he was an especially unenlightened person, a barbaric barbarian. Do you know, by the way, the origin of the word? The ancients who were "civilized" shaved and upon encountering the bearded fierce foreigners, called them barbarus: meaning foreign, strange, uncultivated, morally rough, savage "homines feri (wild) and barbari"--Caesar. From the word "barba-" the beard. of men to let the beard grow.

I wonder this morning how many of us, and this will sound stupid, I know, have ever SEEN a giraffe up close and if so, where? And what is our opinion of the place we saw the giraffe? And have any of you been to the new Disney Africa exhibit or the Bush Gardens exhibit and what is your opinion of that type of thing?

Ginny

Ginny: Interesting question. I started to say, of course I have seen a giraffe. But I haven't, except on those marvelous nature programs on TV. We did take the children through Lion Country Safari when they were small, but saw only lions, buffalo, ostriches, can't remember what else. No giraffe

This is a strange book, he attempts to grind years of history and people into a short format and fails, I believe. I can't believe the stuff about mummies, how common they were, ground up for potions, my goodness.

The descriptions of the killing of Zarafa's mother I could have done without.

I did NOT know, however, that each giraffe's skin pattern is different, that's interesting. I have seen giraffes in zoos of course, but didn't also know that there were three kinds. Learning a lot, but wish he'd have skipped all that about Muhammad Ali because I don't think it contributes a thing so far to the story? Wonder why it's there at all?

Ginny half way thru

Hello to all: I see that there has not been much activity in my absence,perhaps it is the nature of the book.

This is the third book I have tried to be DL and I'm starting to think that you all may think I have leprosy & that it's transmittable via internet. I can assure you that I still have my toes,fingers & nose.... You know what "they" say about three time losers.

Since some of this book deals with Africa,some may want to check out a website www.africam.com which has cameras mounted at various places in Africa & maybe you'll see a giraffe taking a drink of water..I haven't seen a giraffe but I did see a wildebeest.

I would have to call this book an appetizer,because it gives just a taste and sample of so many events that it might actually stimulate some to delve deeper into some of the areas covered.

Napoleon, Egytology, stealing treasure troves of antiquity,slave trading, Charles X,French Revolution,the Enlightenment,Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire,The Louvre,Champollion who worked on the Rosetta Stone,and that interesting concept of the corps de Savants.

I think this might be a good book for some literate children who have an interest in this period of history.

I think the author captured this story with an historian"s diligence and a strange and unique vision of the past.

Glad to be back.

I'm glad you are back, Ed, we've missed you and I wouldn't take the paucity of interest as a personal reflection!!! If it WERE there would be 100 posts a day!@!!!

Didn't you feel there was just a TAD too much history covered and onot enough on the giraffe itself? Going to look at the site, I love those live cams, hope to see a giraffe!

Ginny

Hi, Ed. I, too, wondered why there wasn't more about Zarafa herself, except for incidentials like what she ate, etc. But the book isn't about her, is it. It's about France's reaction to her. The historical bits are there to put that reaction into perspective. Napoleon's defeat by Nelson would have left a bitter taste to all things African. Zarafa was just the romantic trifle that the whole country could take to its heart. It wasn't about her at all.

Hi Jackie: I'm in agreement with you. I guess 200 plus pages only about a giraffe would have to be a zoology text.

Since Africa plays a central role in this tale,have you ever read anything about the competition to find the source of the Nile?There is some exciting & fascinating history here,especially some biographies about Sir Richard Burton (not the actor).

Do you know if the Fog City Diner is still in business in SF?