Group Read, December 2013: The Roots of Heaven

The last month of 2013 already! I'm starting this book today and look forward to reading our reactions to it.

I got the Italian version Le radici del cielo from my library and might start today as well.

Just got my copy of The Roots of Heaven in the mail today! Was slightly disappointed that the cover of the book was so stiff it fell off the moment I opened the book. However, this was offset by the pleasant surprise I found in the book: a newspaper article from December 1980 about Gary's suicide and the note he wrote claiming it was not related to Jean Seberg's death. Fascinating.

I am eagerly awaiting my used copy that I found on amazon. Hope to be joining you soon!

I got my Dutch version, also in poor quality, but I can join now!

As luck would have it, this is one of the books I actually brought with me from the US, so I'll be reading it this month.

But I think first I need to finish Middlemarch, so it'll be a little bit.

I'm waiting for a copy to arrive from interlibrary loan...definitely looking forward to its arrival!

#7 Me, too. I've missed the last few months and happy to be on board again. If the book comes in time.

I finished the book this morning. As most people haven't even got their copy yet I'll limit my comments on this thread to say that I enjoyed both the descriptions of the location, and the thought-provoking multiple viewpoints of mans relationship with elephants.

the thought-provoking multiple viewpoints of mans relationship with elephants.

I think I'm intrigued! And I obviously have no idea what this book is about! I should be starting in a week or less.

It's got elephants? I hope it comes soon!

Trust me, its got elephants!

If anyone's copies of the book have the introduction written by Romain Gary - it's a must read. It explains why he chose elephants for his book - not as symbols but as "elements of demonstration. They are typical, in the sense that they are characteristic of man's behavior on earth and their fate is indicative of what he holds in store for himself."

Gary is really fascinating the more I learn about him.

I am really enjoying this book! I'm a little under 150 pages in and although I think it's going a little slow, I'm still finding myself thinking about it constantly (a true sign of a good book!) So far, I'm loving Colonel Babcock and hope we hear more about him. I also find Minna fascinating - which is weird because I usually dislike female characters written by men. Who are everyone else's favorites of the huge cast of characters?

#14. Morel is fascinating - frustrating and obstinate, but admirable in his single minded obsession and his belief in himself. Minna is quite enigmatic and her motivations become clearer as you go through the book, even though none of the other characters understand her. Later you will meet characters who's attachments to Morel are motivated by quite different interests, and a photo-journalist who remains coolly detached despite events occuring around him. Quite a diverse group, and their points of view are clearly (and maybe too repetitively) spelt out so you have multiple points of view to mull over.

I only got into chapter 4 so far, two other slow books are "in the way" and far from being finished, so this one might become my holiday read for the end of the month. The beginning is very promising and I wish I had more time for reading...

My favorite french author. The roots of Heaven is very good but You Should read La promesse de l'aube too. Extraordinary book! And of course learn about his Fascinating Life And death as a person And as an author.

#13, can you tell us more about Gary's preface? I do not have that in my edition of the book and I'd really like to know more.
I'm about a third of the way through this book and it really is fascinating. It's very obvious in some ways and extremely subtle in others. The narrative style is interesting, because you realize that while this book is about the isolation of human beings, it's written entirely in the voices of people telling stories to other people, sometimes even recounting other people telling them a story -- layers of communication in a world without human connections.
Did Gary ever finish the autobiography that my edition of this book claims he is writing? I would like to read it. He sounds like an amazing figure.

I just finished the second part and I am really impressed by the story and the characters. I suppose Morel is the alter ego of Gary, who, just like Morel, was convinced that man is generous enough to care about the fate of the elephants. This really impresses me, his fate in man after his experiences in World War II. I am curious to know where the story will lead to.

Answering my own question, I guess that the memoir he was writing must be Promise at Dawn which, according to the tags people have put on it, is also on the 1001 list. I may try to read that next.
I'm over half way through The Roots of Heaven now. Not a lot ever seems to happen in this book, but what we are getting are a series of pictures of human (im)morality in the face of human idealism. It's a very thought-provoking work and I can see why, especially in the mid-1950s, it was such a huge success. I can also see why it has not remained famous. Perhaps it is due for a revival in this era when humanity's stewardship of the planet has become so utterly politicized.

Promise at down (la promesse de l'aube in french) is not an autobiography but a novel inspired by some moments and people he met during his Life. It´s very interesting because reading the book we dońt really Know what is the true Garýs Life and what is part of the novel. It´s both a very funny and melancholic book.

I am almost done with this book.
My partner has always said, "You can tell everything you need to know about a person's character by the way they treat animals." It is interesting to see this opinion ratified and extended into an entire philosophy of humanity. I understand how the elephants are "elements of demonstration" and I wish I could read the rest of the forward Gary eventually wrote to this book.

I also see why this book is famous in France but in America, not so much. The particularities of the French colonial situation are, what, below the radar of most people; in the 1950s it was "news" to America but it's not the kind of thing people now learn about in their history books.

I'm enjoying the writing a lot and the way that the same, or similar, experiences affect characters in very different ways. (I'm in part 3, just under halfway through the book.)

My edition has Gary's introduction, but I never read those until I've finished the book because I never know if there are going to be spoilers or not. I'll definitely be reading it after I finish, though.

I would not consider the introduction to be a spoiler at all.

Gary starts by saying that in the years following the writing of his novel, he felt like he was watching his "work of imagination turn rapidly into fact, to the point that I often find myself lying awake at night wondering if I will ever be able as a writer to invent something that reality won't take over with a sort of masterful irony..."

He found it very unsatisfactory that these characters that he created and loved later appear in the newspapers. Morel, who was his "favorite child", he ended up seeing in the media as a Frenchman named Raphael Matta who devoted his life to the protection of elephants. Despite the fact that Matta had gone to Africa one year before his book reached the publisher, it was considered historical fact that Matta had inspired Morel. Same with Waitari and Minna. The only character who bears any relation to a real person is Tassin.

After the book was published Gary was approached by hundreds of organizations asking for his support. He always refused and was criticized. Gary gives two reasons why he did this:
1. He felt that it was too easy to become a spiritual leader. "There is nothing easier than to use for your personal build-up the good will given to your writing." Gary did not want to claim any nobility that his novel may have created.
2. "You have to do your best in what you do best, and to accomplish this you need all your energy and all your time." Gary felt that he had done his best with this book but still had other books to write. He was the only one who could have written this book but there are millions who can help to save the elephants. "Let's hope I've started a stampede."

I hope I did justice to his introduction. There was supposed to be an autobiography "The Night Will Be Peaceful" but I haven't found it anywhere. Not sure if it was ever published. I would love to read more about Gary.

Really want to add my thanks to those who have been publishing the info from the introduction. My copy doesn't have one and I found this discussion really interesting and enlightening.

I finished the book and am glad I discovered it by this Group read. La Vie Devant Soi was a must-read in French classes during high school but afterwards I forgot all about Gary.
I enjoyed The Roots of Heaven, both the subject and the way the story was told and how it developed.
I do think it could have done with a few pages less though. At times the book lost its grip on me. The end, however, made up for that again.

I just finished this book late last night. I did really like it, but J thought it really drug at times - there were several times when I realized there were 150, 100, 50 pages left and was baffled by how there could be that much more story. I usually don't like main characters as much, but I loved Minna and Morel here - and I also adored Forsythe and Abe Fields. Would definitely recommend - a real thought provoker!

I finished it yesterday as well. Liked it enough to put his other 1001 book at the top of my TBR pile.
The writing style was unusual, as if the book really had something to say but didn't care how long it took him to get there. I sometimes felt as if I were hearing the same thing over and over, simply as told to another person. But that reading experience in itself was kind of mesmerizing. On the whole, I enjoyed this book a lot and I find myself telling other people about it.

Finished the book this morning. I really liked the book and found it thought-provoking, even though it was a challenging and slow read for me.

I'm about a third of the way in. I'm also finding it challenging to read, though I am enjoying it overall. It's a different reading experience than I'm used to as I think it's hard to get into reading each time I pick it up, but then it's also hard to get out of it once I've read for a while. I think the story would make more sense to me personally if I was reading it when it was published and had a personal understanding of the aftermath of the war and the politics of France and Africa at the time.

Still haven't really started and just extended my library hold for another 2 weeks into January. I am determined to read it, but somehow my head is just tired and I fear it can only process more simple stuff right now. Maybe I'll get into it after Christmas.

How did everyone feel about the form of the book as in being told as a story by Saint-Denis? I'm finding it a bit confusing when he tells someone else's story. The layering of voices is making the plot a bit convoluted to me. Also, what is the likelihood that a story-teller would really know all the detail from so many points of view?

32 - at the time, I didn't like this idea at ALL. But as I got further into the book, and especially in looking back on it, I think it was a good device for this book. It really helped, in my opinion, the lens of confusion and mystique around Morel - this book is the biggest game of telephone ever! Plus I really enjoyed the zooming back out at the end as we went backwards through each layer of the story.

>24 watson0717: I don't even read the backs of books, so while the introduction isn't spoilery in the traditional sense, it's more information than I want before I read a book. It was very interesting, though.

>32 japaul22: I think that the device was actually the only way to really give that sort of detail while still maintaining a storytelling structure. I mean, okay it's a little hard to believe that Saint-Denis would have remembered so many details about what every person said to him (and what every person told him that other people said to them ...), but I honestly didn't mind that or give much thought to it.

>33 CayenneEllis: I agree about it being a game of telephone. Morel is only seen through the eyes of other people, which really hammers home the idea that what you see in him (and the elephants) is about you, not him.

Sorry group, but I've temporarily delayed my reading of this book for a week or so and will finish it up when I have time to concentrate. I have about 100 pages left and reading it during this crazy time of holiday parties, house guests, and topping it off with the whole family getting the flu made me realize that I'm not giving it the concentration it deserves. I'll read some fluff and be back when I can be more focused!

Finally seriously reading it and loving it. I am on page 336 of 486 in the Italian edition, trying to get through 50 pages a day in order to finish it in 2013, and it's also due to be returned to the library. It is a slow read with those constantly changing viewpoints, though not difficult and not at all boring. In my case it's the language issue that tires me after about 40 pages.

My edition has no introduction and no author bio, so thanks Watson0717 for posting this information here.

I saw that all Italian editions of Gary's novels have been published in the 2000s, so maybe there really is a kind of revival happening.

This book might well end up among my top reads this year, and it's a book I wouldn't have touched on my own for many years to come. Another great GR selection!

I finished reading the book two days ago. While it took me a while to get into the rhythm of the story, once I got into the last stretch and Morel's last stand, I couldn't put it down.

What I liked most about this book was the difference in perspective surrounding the elephants and Morel's plight: a political statement for independence from Nationalist Africans, a symbol of colonialism from Europeans, a necessity for local tribes, a communist ploy for the Americans and for Morel a fight for life.

What made it really interesting to me, however, was the idea that the elephants are a symbol stemming from French idealism around freedom, equality, brotherhood, an idealism, Morel argues that Americans cannot understand from their materialist perspective (and that Fields tends to echo) - this I would say was true when the book was written in the 50s. Today, however, as the environment becomes an urgent global issue, this is no longer true and all Western countries are second guessing their overuse of "stuff" - this is what made this book so relevant for me: it now speaks to all of us as consumers and our responsibility to protect our resources. (My French idealism also quietly throbs: that beauty for the sake of beauty should be protected and that not only the things that are useful are worth our attention...)