So Yann Martel thinks that all stories about the Holocaust are the same and all make the same point and he really thinks that he is the man to change this. This is the point he makes in the possibly autobiographical first section of this book about an authors failure to get his revolutionary novel/essay on the holocaust. Then along come the donkey, howler monkey and taxidermist and you get all the allegories and bits where Martel no doubt is being very clever and revolutionary. But really just because it is monkey and a donkey saying it instead of a person doesn't make what there saying any different. The main problem of this book to me is that it feels like and intellectual exercise rather than a story with emotional resonance. Then again that may be the point. The final Games For Gustav section is excellent and very powerful.
5/10
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