Modoc: True Story Of The Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
Spanning several decades and three continents, Modoc is one of the most amazing true animal stories ever told. Raised together in a small German circus town, a boy and an elephant formed a bond that would last their entire lives, and would be tested time and again; through a near-fatal shipwreck in the Indian Ocean, an apprenticeship with the legendary Mahout elephant trainers in the Indian teak forests, and their eventual rise to circus stardom in 1940s New York City. Modoc is a captivating true story of loyalty, friendship, and high adventure, to be treasured by animal lovers everywhere.
File Size: 921 KB
Print Length: 354 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins e-books (October 13, 2009)
Publication Date: October 13, 2009
Sold by: Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B000QCQ9PW
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray: Not Enabled
Word Wise: Enabled
Lending: Not Enabled
Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: #67,161 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store) #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Arts & Photography > Theater > Circus #2 in Books > Arts & Photography > Performing Arts > Theater > Circus #7 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Science > Biological Sciences > Animals > Mammals
Let me start off by saying that I do love this book. It's a beautiful story that is well written and filled with emotion. Admittedly, this book had me in tears a few times. It is definitely aimed at tugging the heart strings.What disappoints me about this book is that it claims to be a true story, when it is indeed mostly fiction. There are only tiny bits of fact in there, and those facts are mostly exaggerated. Things that started tipping me off:1. The author describes most of the Indian elephants (aka Asian elephants) as having tusks. In reality, tusks on Asian elephants are pretty uncommon.2. The author describes Modoc as having tusks, even to the end of the book soon before she died. Yet in the pictures in the book, the elephant shown has no tusks at all.3. A circus owner on the hunt for *years* in a foreign country all for one elephant? I doubt that seriously.4. No dates are given, and for being a work of "fact", I found it odd that no sources are ever listed except for very vague comments (i.e. saying that newspapers wrote articles, but never naming any specific paper)5. Most information cannot be found except in reference to this particular book.6. There is an act of a bull's mating with a cow (bull=male elephant, cow=female elephant) that seems way over the top and incredibly ferocious, quite unlike actual mating "rituals" among elephants.After some extensive research, including research with the Circus Historical Society, I discovered that many elephants were named Modoc, the most famous being "Big Modoc" owned by the Ringling Bros Circus.
This is a really incredible and moving story about how Bram Gunterstein and his elephant Modoc grew up together and shared all of their lives together except for the years when they were separated after the circus they were in sold all of the animals. I love animals, and it's nice to see a story about the bond between a human and an elephant; most human-animal stories feature dogs, cats, horses, ponies, and sometimes birds and small mammals like guinea pigs. It's also told in a very lively and page-turning way, which makes it a quick read. Some reviewers have suggested that there's no way Bram and Modoc could have had all of those adventures, like being shipwrecked, the mystical psychic encounter with the Raja's white elephant in the middle of the night, the war in Burma around the time of WWI, and all of their circus adventures, but many times truth is stranger than fiction, even if Mr. Helfer might have taken artistic license with some of the things he obviously wasn't there for.My main problem with the story is that dates are only given maybe two or three times. We're not even told what year it is when the story begins. That makes it really hard to keep track of how old the two main characters are over the years and through their many adventures. And where are all of the important world events going on during this time, particularly WWI (which we only see a little of towards the end of their stay in Burma, when the liberation army comes to their village and terrorises everyone) and WWII? Don't they have any impact on the lives of these characters and the events they're taking part in? Also, a lot is made of Mr. North's "racial attitudes," but the only thing Jewish about Bram that I saw in the book is his last name.
Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived Modoc: True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived Ultimate Warrior: A Life Lived Forever: A Life Lived "Forever" Jumbo: This Being the True Story of the Greatest Elephant in the World Elephant Coloring Book For Adults: An Adult Coloring Book of 40 Patterned, Henna and Paisley Style Elephant (Animal Coloring Books for Adults) (Volume 2) Elephant Quest Elephant Quest (Adventures Around the World) The Richest Man Who Ever Lived: The Life and Times of Jacob Fugger They Called Me God: The Best Umpire Who Ever Lived The Richest Man Who Ever Lived: King Solomon's Secrets to Success, Wealth, and Happiness Secrets of the Richest Man Who Ever Lived Greatest & Famous DRUM BEATS, Grooves & Licks (Greatest & Famous Drum Beats, Fills & Solos Ever Book 1) Today's Greatest Pop & Rock Hits: The Biggest Hits! The Greatest Artists! (Easy Piano) (Today's Greatest Hits) Audubon's Elephant: America's Greatest Naturalist and the Making of The Birds of America World's Greatest Elephant Jesus the Bridegroom: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa: The Life-Story and Teaching of the Greatest Poet-Saint Ever to Appear in the History of Buddhism The Greatest Trade Ever: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of How John Paulson Defied Wall Street and Made Financial History The Second Greatest Story Ever Told: Now Is the Time of Mercy Save Me from Myself: How I Found God, Quit Korn, Kicked Drugs, and Lived to Tell My Story Only a Mother Could Love Him - My Story - How I lived with A.D.D. and Overcame It!
