Giraffe
(2006), based on a true event, commences in 1971 in Kenya when a female giraffe
narrates her own birth. At the age of two, Czechoslovakian hunters tranquilize
and capture Snehurka, meaning White Snow because of the unusual whiteness of
her underbelly.
The
main narrator is Emil Freymann, a Czech student, studying hemodynamics – the
blood flow in vertical creatures (humans and giraffes) and the morphology of
the jugular vein – which has implications for cosmonauts and high-altitude
fliers. The government wants him to travel to Hamburg to supervise the passage
(by barge and truck) of 33 giraffes to a small zoo in Czechoslovakia as part of
a long-term breeding project during the Communist regime of the mid-1970s.
Although one giraffe had died during the sea voyage, leaving 32 giraffes, it
was the largest group of giraffes ever transported across the world.
Once in the
zoo, the narration fragments to document the historic program, and its
consequences, through differing perspectives. The third narrator is Amina
Dvorakova, a shy Czech orphan and Christmas-decoration factory worker, and
somnambulist (sleep-walker), who witnesses the giraffes’ arrival and is
captivated by them. She sneaks into the zoo two to three times a week to visit
them, behind the chapel and through the gap in the fence in the zebra
enclosure. Soon she is befriended by the giraffe keeper who notices her
constant presence.
The fourth
narrator is Jiri, a forester and a game hunter – a sharpshooter. The fifth
narrator is Tadeas, a virologist. When an animal is sick, he diagnoses a
contagion for which he has no vaccine. The government policy is clear: “if an
exotic animal has the contagion, it must be destroyed” to avoid risk of
exposure to livestock.
The breeding
program was succeeding. On April 30, 1975, there were 49 giraffes, with 23
thought to be pregnant. With news of the contagion, the zoo is closed to the
public, under quarantine, and sealed off at gunpoint. During the eve of the May
Day celebrations, as fireworks shoot into the sky, Jiri must shoot all of the
captive giraffes, leaving Snehurka, the leader of the herd, to last – with no records
to be kept. However, Amina, taking the secret path, enters the zoo.
The sixth
narrator is Tomas, a slaughterhouse worker, and the final narrator is Steve, a
foreign correspondent.
The novel is
slow-paced, yet not suspenseful (for readers know the outcome). It is
distressing and gruesome, and not for the faint-hearted, yet not heartfelt (for
readers never fully resonate with each character, nor Snehurka the giraffe.
This is mainly due to: (1) the novel’s brevity, (2) its multi-narrative style,
and (3) its esoteric language, skillful at times but otherwise doctrinaire. It’s
much like reading while being captive in a Lava-lamp: slow-motion, warped, and
psychedelic while waiting to surface. Nevertheless, it is a telling expose of
the captivity of exotic animals, chemical warfare in contagion, and a jugular
blood bath of secret laboratories.
I met the
author and his wife in Nairobi in late 2005, through a mutual friend, before
his first novel was available in print. His telling of the true story was
gripping – he is a master story teller, best listened to in person because his knowledge,
passion, and third-person narration were more mesmerizing and suspenseful than
his writing portrays.
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