Jamrachs menagerie is the most colorful, grimy, brutal, salty coming of age story you are likely to read. The book starts in 1857 when jaffy, an eightyear old london street urchin is picked up by an escaped tiger and carried to jamrachs menagerie. Jamrachs menagerie tells the story of a nineteenthcentury street urchin named jaffy brown. Of all of john irving s books, this is the one that lends itself best to audio. Jamrach s nearest rival was edward cross, who ran a menagerie. The novel has been referred to as historical fiction, since it features certain real life characters, such as naturalist charles jamrach the novel was shortlisted for the 2011 man booker prize plot. Jamrachs menagerie international dublin literary award. Stream and download audiobooks to your computer, tablet or mobile phone. Following an incident with an escaped tiger, jaffy goes to work for mr. Jamrach s menagerie is a moving, fantastically exciting sea tale that takes you back to those great 19thcentury stories that first convinced you there is no frigate like a book. Charles jamrach, the famed importer of exotic animals, alongside tim, a good but sometimes spitefully competitive boy. Rescued by mr jamrach explorer, entrepreneur and collector of the world s.
The tale of jamrachs menagerie starts out like a classic novel in the style of dickens, trollope or eliot and is a great coming of age tale of jaffy brown a nineteenth century street urchin as he journeys over the seven seas to become a man. Jamrachs menagerie by carol birch overdrive rakuten. Jamrachs menagerie is a moving, fantastically exciting sea tale that takes you back to those great 19thcentury stories that first. Jamrachs menagerie by carol birch, 9781847676573, available at. Charles jamrach, the essex and the custom of the sea. I was captivated by the characters, all of whom have their own degree of depth and complexity, the settings and carol birch s dazzling prose there are parts of this book. Jamrach s menagerie tells the story of a nineteenthcentury street urchin named jaffy brown. In print, owen meany s dialogue is set in capital letters. Jamrachs menagerie king county library system overdrive. The british writer carol birch similarly borrows elements of dickens s london for jamrach s menagerie, her 11th novel and her first. It is the tale of jaffy, a poor english boy who first finds work for an exotic animal wholesaler and then takes to the sea on an expedition to find a dragon. Listen to jamrachs menagerie a novel by carol birch available from rakuten kobo.
Jamrachs menagerie borrows from a number of historical events and people including. Jamrachs menagerie audiobook by carol birch 9780307932396. Jamrachs menagerie is a moving, fantastically exciting sea tale that takes you. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read jamrachs menagerie. Free delivery on book orders dispatched by amazon over. Jaffy brown is running through the squalid london backstreets when he comes face to face with the. He owned an exotic pet store on the ratcliffe highway in east london at the time the largest such shop in the world.
The tale of jamrach s menagerie starts out like a classic novel in the style of dickens, trollope or eliot and is a great coming of age tale of jaffy brown a nineteenth century street urchin as he. Jaffy brown is running along a street in london s east end when he comes face to face with an escaped circus animal. The book is about life, love, friendship, journeys, life at sea, survival, caring for animals, and coming to terms with tragedy and death, all told against the backdrop of 19th century life. Jamrach s menagerie puts its characters through the mangler and invites us to inspect the damage and perhaps to consider that ultimately such experiences are about nothing but the acquisition of scars.
Jamrachs menagerie puts its characters through the mangler and invites us to inspect the damage and perhaps to consider that ultimately such experiences are about nothing but the acquisition of scars. Jamrachs menagerie is an amazing, brutal piece of literature and one of the most harrowing things ive ever read. Jamrachs menagerie is a truly gripping novel about friendship, sacrifice, and. The novel is a vehicle for the delivery of somatic shocks to the reader s brain. Jamrach recruits jaffy and another boy named tim to. Euan ferguson time out jamrachs menagerie is a magical book and the way in which birch takes pieces of history and stitches them together into a compelling and. Carol birch is an amazing writer, not merely a talented one she s a great contemporary writer and jamrachs menagerie is a book. Jamrachs menagerie by carol birch book cover, description, publication history.
Yet birchs masterful use of language and pacing make it so much more than this. Charles jamrach born johann christian carl jamrach. The novel is a vehicle for the delivery of somatic shocks to the readers brain. Discover more authors youll love listening to on audible. The beginning of jamrachs menagerie is an arresting one. At the age of eight, jaffy brown encounters a tiger escaped from the menagerie of charles jamrach, wandering about london s. Get lost, relax, rediscover youth in this awesome tale. Sunday times never mind not being able to put it downthere is a 100page section in jamrachs menagerie in which you will not be able to breathe. A magical whaling expedition set in the 19th century. In the summer of 1953, two 11yearold boys best friends are.
484 582 1508 1525 794 575 192 520 1224 301 905 997 725 40 1494 1382 835 1278 1351 45 438 498 255 1314 556 1257 1251 126 925 912 296 255 738 370 462 805 364 304 382 880 865 203 555