The Elephant Keepers' Children - Hardcover

Hoeg, Peter

3.44

3,216 ratings by Goodreads

9781590514900: The Elephant Keepers' Children

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1590514904 ISBN 13: 9781590514900

Publisher: Other Pr Llc, 2012

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From the author of Smilla's Sense of Snow, an epic novel about faith and the magic of everyday life.
Told from the precocious perspective of fourteen-year-old Peter, The Elephant Keepers' Children is about three siblings and how they deal with life alongside their eccentric parents. Peter's father is a vicar, his mother is an artisan, and both are equally and profoundly devout. The family lives on the (fictional) island of Fin�, where people of all religious faiths coexist peacefully. Yet, nothing is at it seems.
When Peter's parents suddenly go missing, Peter and his siblings fear the worst--has their parents' relentless quest to boost church attendance finally put them in danger? Told with poignancy and humor, The Elephant Keepers' Children is a fascinating exploration of fundamentalism versus spiritual freedom, the vicissitudes of romantic and familial love, and the triumph of the human spirit.

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Review:

"A fount of grandiloquent observations and windy circumlocutions, [H�eg] conveys the cunning of a middle-aged novelist playing at being a perceptive 14-year-old, and the earnestness of a 14-year-old who seems doomed to a life of writing." --New York Times Sunday Book Review

"A picaresque tale that probes society's little hypocrisies while offering an original array of characters. At first glance, an utterly fun, absorbing read." --Library Journal

"Told with poignancy and humor, The Elephant Keepers' Children is a fascinating exploration of fundamentalism versus spiritual freedom, the vicissitudes of romantic and familial love, and the triumph of the human spirit" --Examiner

"It succeeds in being extremely funny while also wrestling with deeper philosophical questions about the role of religion in society and individual choice." --Huffington Post

"Thought-provoking and cheerfully absorbing, The Elephant Keepers' Children is a worthwhile and fun story." --Times Online

"This book manages to be both highly entertaining and seriously thought provoking. I must also mention the flawless translation, which allows us to step into the streets of Copenhagen and to enjoy H�eg's play with words. Peter regales us with tales of his hilarious misdeeds on one page and delves into the true nature of spirituality on the next. I closed this book feeling wiser." --Three Percent
"A thriller of sorts this is, but it's more humorous than frightening, more of a caper than a mystery, and more of a coming-of-age story than a suspense yarn...Under the madcap adventure story H�eg poses serious issues about neglected children, venal church officials, and the paths to intellectual and spiritual freedom." --Publishers Weekly
"Part comic teenage adventure story, part intellectual debate, the best-selling Danish author's sixth novel is a shaggy-dog story with a unique vision...H�eg has an endless menu of oddities to stir into his story; whether thriller, fantasy or disuisition on spiritual belief, love and parenting does successfully invent an inexhaustible landscape all its own" --Kirkus

"This is the novel of the winter to restore your faith in the magic of human experience." --Washington Independent Review of Books

"The lunacy of a spiritually addicted culture motors this soberhearted screwball comedy from the author of Smilla's Sense of Snow." --International Herald Tribune

"Peter H�eg displays a glorious facility for the absurd as well as the picaresque, and the hilarity of Peter Fin�'s narrative makes this a delightful novel." --The Guardian
"Bizarre, philosophical (in an Eastern spirituality way), magically real, with more than enough action and twists, this novel is delivered in a unique voice." --Psychology Today
"H�eg is most notable as the author of Simila's Sense of Snow. You'll find The Elephant Keepers' Children a less violent, equally mystical novel." --Boston Book Bums
"As soon as I opened to page one, and met fourteen-year-old Peter, I was hooked...It's really a crime thriller, yet filled with mystical characters and a surprising amount of laughs." --Kick Ass Book Reviews

Book Description:

What would you do if your parents were con artists?

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