Elephant's Journey

José Saramago is one of the most important international writers of the last hundred years. Born in Portugal in 1922, he was in his sixties when he came to prominence as a writer with the publication of Baltasar and Blimunda. A huge body of work followed, translated into more than forty languages, and in 1998 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Saramago died in June 2010.

"It is extremely funny. Old Saramago writes with a masterfully light hand, and the humour is tender, a mockery so tempered by patience and pity that the sting is gone though the wit remains vital... a series of contained miracles of absurdity, quiet laughter rising out of a profound, resigned, affectionate wisdom" -- Ursula K Le Guin Guardian "The novel has a charming fairy tale quality, with its kings and courtiers, it pachyderm protagonist and his mysterious mahout: this is amoung the most charming of Saramago's works" -- Michael Kerrigan Times Literary Supplement "The Elephant's Journey is well worth picking up" Syndicated review to local papers "Jose Saramango wrote his final book with great panache" -- Margaret Reynolds The Times "Saramago enjoys filling out the details with improvisatory skill and imagination" -- John Spurling Sunday Times