Book 35 of 52: Jamrach's Menagerie

This book was short-listed for the 2011 Man Booker prize and was a choice for our October book club. From the cover I could tell this book was a story that took place on high seas. So, having sailed around New Zealand for a month in a tall ship (see photo below) back when I was 17 I figured this was right up my alley.

The book takes place beginning in London in the 1850’s. The main character Jaffy, just a boy, survives an encounter with a tiger that is part of Jamrach’s menagerie of exotic animals that are sold to the very rich in England. Jamrach takes Jaffy under his wing and offers him a job. As he gets older he decides to venture out to sea to help search for the most exotic animal of all – a dragon (which I figure is a komodo dragon). Him and his friend Tim board a whaling ship to take them to Indonesia, but during the trip the ship falls under a mysterious curse and the sailors undergo horrible hardships to survive.

I had a hard time connecting to the character of Jaffy, and also in the end didn’t understand “the point” of the story at all. The unspeakable hardships the sailors endured went on and on for pages and pages, and took up evening after evening as I read the book. I’ve read books before that are on the depressing side, but they often have a message or lesson in them. I didn’t take away anything from this book, other than wanting to stay away from eating meat for several days while reading it.

That said, what the author lacks in character development and plot, she makes up for in her wonderful descriptions of London and the foreign lands the ship encounters. The descriptions are full of bright colours, pungent smells, and such rich detail. The streets of 1850's London she describes make you feel like you are there, as are the Azores, the ship, and the sea during a storm.

Also, one final warning….if you’re a squeamish vegetarian, you may want to avoid this book.