The White Bone: A Novel: Amazon.ca: Books

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Product Description

About the Author

Barbara Gowdy is the author of five previous books, including MISTER SANDMAN and WE SO SELDOM LOOK ON LOVE, and she has twice been a finalist for both the Governor General's Award and the Giller Prize. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

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Customer Reviews

48 Reviews

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

Average Customer Review

3.6 out of 5 stars (48 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars The most boring book I have ever read, Mar 7 2007

By	Charlie Reb "book lover" (Winnipeg, MB CANADA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The White Bone (Hardcover)

The concept was great and I settled down with great expectation. I love animals, I especially love elephants so I though what a great story this could be. I thought it was terrible and forced myself through every last one of the 327 pages. It was loaned to me - thank goodness I didn't pay for it. I give it one star for effort only.

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2.0 out of 5 stars It's beginning to smell like...., Mar 11 2005

By A Customer

This review is from: The White Bone (Paperback)

I've heard a lot of praises for this book, how the author litterally enters the mind of elephants, how she gets you to see the world through their eyes, etc. However, I was very disappointed. Yes, the book is long and nothing really happens. It's more of a narrative or description than a real story. And, if it is rightly done, it can still be interesting.
It's true the author tries to make you "live" the "elephant experience". However, for me, it went to far. There is so much dung, piss, pus, puke and other foul matters in this book that I was beginning get the impression the book itself was getting smelly in my hands. Talk about realistic!! Everytime I was beginning to feel drawn by the psychology of elephant social relations, one of them "evacuates" something or another. I guess that's the way elephants live, but really, I got the picture in the first few chapters. Was it necessary to go on and on and on?
Unfortunately for me, the whole setting (the drought, the smells, etc) took precedence on what was surely an interesting narrative and a fascinating incursion into the minds of elephants. Too bad.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Profound, Jan 2 2005

By	Michael Tims (Toronto) - See all my reviews

This review is from: White Bone (Paperback)

A profound and inventive book. Gowdy's choice of speaking to the human condition through the medium of an extended family of elephants is unusual, to say the least, but ultimately rewarding. A challanging but deeply satisfying read. In my opinion, this is Gowdy at her best.

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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Strangely Disappointed
Perhaps it was because I had been expecting more from this book {a bad idea, I know} but after reading this I felt let down. Read more

Published on April 14 2004 by Cicatrix

5.0 out of 5 stars MOVING, SAD -- AND BEAUTIFUL
The key, I think, to understanding and enjoying this wonderful novel lies in the quote from author Joy Williams that appears on the back cover: 'This sorrowful novel does holy... Read more

Published on Oct 24 2002 by Larry L. Looney

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully Unsettling
Barbara Gowdy never ceases to amaze me. Having read her previous books, I did not believe that she could spin such another different tale. Read more

Published on Sep 26 2002 by Jillian Gillece

5.0 out of 5 stars The White Bone
This book is an enlightening story about the life of an elephant. ...

Published on Aug 1 2002

4.0 out of 5 stars I liked it, but...
This was a *very* engrossing, imaginative, detailed and well-written book, although it tended to drag at times. Read more

Published on Dec 5 2001 by swandog_studio

4.0 out of 5 stars Love those elephants
This is an unusual story, and it requires you to open your mind to a different way of thinking about things (thus some of the complaints from some readers about it being... Read more

Published on Nov 26 2001 by E. Otto

4.0 out of 5 stars A story about elephants...well done
I've read a few reviews in which the readers were disappointed by the lack of plot in the book. I say, "bah humbug! Read more

Published on Jun 26 2001 by nicollej

3.0 out of 5 stars imagintive but slow
I was blown away by the description that Gowdy used to describe the life of an elephant. You rarely find a book that gives you the perspective of the animal without it seeming... Read more

Published on Jun 7 2001 by masala1226

1.0 out of 5 stars had to force myself to read it - even then, couldn't finish
Ugh. It was gruesome, depressing, and most of all- boring. Tiresome even. There is little or no plot. I was expecting a great novel - the map, the family tree... Read more

Published on April 22 2001 by Liz Welch

5.0 out of 5 stars It Moved Me
The words that describe this book cannot compare to the emotions that grapple you as you read it. Each elephant in this story is an individual,a person, looking for hope in a land... Read more

Published on Dec 6 2000 by Danielle

› See all 48 customer reviews...

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	75% buy the item featured on this page: The White Bone: A Novel 3.6 out of 5 stars (48)
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The White Bone: A Novel (Paperback)

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