Ralph HelferRecensioni

A fascinating & gripping story, but poorly told. Helfer just can't seem to hit the mark to get the reader emotionally engaged. Too bad. Finished the story anyway because the raw material is so interesting.

Great book all around.

What an amazing read. Follows the life of Bram Gunterstein and his best friend Modoc the elephant. Born on the same day in the 1890s. His father is an elephant trainer and Bram follows in his footsteps. They start life in the circus. Then the animals from the circus are sold to an American. They're to be shipped to the states with a side trip to India. En route they encounter a typhoon. Modoc saves many who would have otherwise drowned. Bram while in India meets the maharaja and becomes a favorite son to him. They soon leave however to go work in the teak jungles. The village there is taken over by guerrillas and they must traverse a mountain pass. Eventually the American who had bought Modoc finds them and takes them to the US. Modoc goes on to have a career in the US as a circus performer. Along with other adventures. Can be a bit of a tear jerker in parts. They have so much that goes against them.

I loved this book!

Ralph Helfer adopts a four-month lion cub, rescued near the Zambezi River and raises him in California using affection training, rather than punishment training. Helfer's backstory, born poor in Chicago, moving to California, growing up in an apartment building with Carol Burnett as a friend, working in pet stores, eventually building a business caring for and providing "wild" animals for TV/motion picture production. Zamba is perhaps best known as the Dreyfus Funds mascot, but starred in many movies too. A must read for lion lovers, up there with the Born Free trilogy by Joy Adamson and The Lion King. The anecdotes were emotional: Zamba meeting a blind woman, Zamba's close brush with death and blindness, surviving a freak snowstorm, Zamba's working vacation to Africa. Unlike other GR reviewers, I did not find the book preachy: I was too vested in Zamba's life history and co-existence with people.

Adult nonfiction; animal/love story. The author has taken enough creative license with this true story to make it read like fiction, and it has all the makings of a wonderful story--boy meets elephant, boy meets girl, boy runs off with elephant, who saves his life, and adventures ensue, but boy still loves girl. Unfortunately the writing is sloppy enough to detract--if you're not easily distracted by that sort of thing, you might really love this book, but if you are the type that is bothered by unclear sentence structures, you can just skip it.

Wow. LOVED it. Might be my new favorite.

This was a nice story especially the beginning and the end. A lot of ups and downs and it seemed all the forces of nature were against these two, then magical things would happen to make everything good, then bad, then good, then bad, then good... quite exhausting. Wouldn't put it top of my list to read.
I enjoyed the writing and the characters and the venues.

This is Ralph Helfer’s memoir of raising and working with the lion he rescued as a young cub, Zamba, who became possibly the most famous lion and a leading Hollywood star.

I’m not a great animal lover, but I was interested and engaged in most of this memoir. I particularly liked some of the stories Helfer told of how he trained Zamba (and other animals in his care) using affection rather than fear and physical punishment. There are scenes of humor and tenderness, and some rather frightening scenarios as well.

I did find Helfer a bit preachy at times. Still, I applaud the way that he changed the minds of many animal “trainers” about the best techniques to use; but worry that a casual reader might not recognize the extremely hard work this is and decide to try to “sleep with my pet tiger” as Helfer frequently slept with Zamba.

Quote:
"He remembered what his father had told him,'Trees are like people and give the answers to the way of Man. They grow from the top down. Children, like treetops, have flexibility of youth, and sway more than larger adults at the bottom. They are more vulnerable to the elements, and are put to the test of survival by life's strong winds, rain, freezing cold and hot sun. Constantly challenged. As they mature, they journey down the tree, strengthening the family, until they have become big hefty branches. In the stillness below, having weathered the seasons, they now relax in their old age, no longer subject to the stress from above. It's always warmer and more enclosed at the base of a tree. The members remain protected and strong as they bear the weight and give support to the entire tree. They have the endurance.'"
pgs 36-37

The story that is told in this book is an extremely heartfelt one. The book tells about a German boy named Bram who is born at the same time as his elephant Modoc. As they grow up, the two become inseparable and take several journeys together across the world in order to escape Mr. North, the American businessman who purchased the circus that Modoc worked for. When Bram hears the news, he stows away on the ship that Modoc is on to India so the two won’t be parted. The ship is wrecked, and Modoc becomes a big help because survivors are able to float on her back. Help finally comes at the last possible moment and two are rescued and spend time at an elephantarium in India where both of them are treated with great respect. Somehow, Mr. North has been able to track them down and both Bram and Modoc are forced to flee into the Teak Forests to live with nearby villagers. After rebels take the village, Mr. North inexplicably finds them again and transports them to America. The two become stars in America, but Modoc barely survives several dangerous events and is sold without Bram’s knowledge. After ten years of being abused, Bram is miraculously able to locate Modoc, and the two live out the rest of their lives in peace.
Although a fantastic story, there is some doubt in my mind about how true it is. It is claimed to be a true story, but it lacks any verifiable evidence that this really did happen. A story like this would have made noise in the 1900’s. Especially in America during a time when the circus is pretty popular and losing an entire circus is a huge problem. There seems to be no evidence of this occurring and no documents or proof that people with these names even existed. Additionally, people in this story are somehow able to find each other almost magically. During this time period, it seems almost impossible for someone to trace a boy and an elephant in a different continent. Especially since they are hiding away from the public and in these remote places in India. Without the technology that we have today, I do not understand how it was possible to locate Bram and Modoc in such a large country.

The True Story of the Greatest Elephant that ever lived.

LOVED the cover. Loved the idea of the book. Unfortunately, the writing didn't bring the story to life for me. And it is quite a story.

Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived by Ralph Helfer

325 pages

★★★

The story of Modoc is definitely an impressive one. Within the elephant’s life she would go through war, shootings, fires, and much more. Such a wild adventure for such a large animal. And I don’t dislike the story, as it is indeed a fascinating one. Is it true? I don’t know. As a big nonfiction reader I live for documents and proof – there’s really none in the book and even in my own research I found very little proof of any of the places or people ever existing. Then again, perhaps the author chose to change the names of people and places because…why not? In the beginning of the book the author even states that some “poetic political license” was used. This is obviously the case in such instances ***spoiler*** as when the elephant is attacked by a drunk man. By the time anyone notices anything the elephant is injured and the man is dead yet the book gives a several page detailed story of what the man said and what went down. Interesting since no one was there to witness it except a dead man and an elephant – neither said a word about it I’m sure.***end spoiler*** I feel this book would have better been advertised as BASED on a true story…yes, that one word can make a huge difference on how I look at it.

At the end the story itself didn’t bother me, I just took it with a grain of salt what was true and was given “poetic license” by the author. The writing bothered me. For some reason the author’s way of writing really got to me. Then again he is known as an animal trainer, not an author. While the man may have heard this fantastic and wonderful story of Modoc and Bram (Modoc’s trainer and friend) from Bram himself, I think the story would have been better written by someone else. Don’t get me started on the author’s need to put exclamation points in practically every paragraph because….exciting!!! I was expecting such wonderful things from this book since so many people I know loved it and I feel snobbish to say that I didn’t like it more. Sorry, Modoc the Greatest Elephant Ever, your story deserved to be better written in my opinion.

Ralph Helfer always dreamed of working with animals. From his beginnings as an assistant in a small pet store, he worked his way up to owning his own establishment, a ranch full of exotic animals which he trained and performed with in movies, commercials and other productions. Helfer believed that it was safer and more humane to train animals with affection, communication and trust rather than the fear, domination and force commonly used on large exotic beasts (like lions and tigers in circuses) at the time. He got his chance to prove his methods when a friend brought home a four-month old lion cub from Africa. Named Zamba, the lion was raised in Helfer's home (he even shared his bed!) and their bond of love and trust was complete. Zamba was the only lion trustworthy enough to perform in films with child actors. His remarkable story unfolds smoothly in these pages, full of laughs as well as sad moments. Zamba was a really easy read. I finished it in a few days. I only wish I could have read more about training methods used to teach Zamba his special commands, rather than all the gushing about how much the guy loved his lion.

from the Dogear Diary

Adapted from the adult book: Zamba: the true story of the greatest lion that ever lived.

Whether true or not, this book enveloped me in a wonderful story that had me doing the ugly cry at the end. I loved it.

I find it extremely hard to believe that this was all a true story. Based "loosely" and with exaggeration, that I believe. I kept rolling my eyes and thinking, here we go again, this duo of Modoc and Bram must have 9 lives. It was crazy !
I think if it was pushed as fiction, instead of non fiction, I would have enjoyed it better. Maybe not, but it was just to unbelievable for me to fathom that they could survive all that trauma. Crazy !

This is the story of the love between a man and an elephant, and their adentures - many times heart-rending, always triumphant.

I really liked this book. It was right up my alley. I really wanted to love it. The problem is that it seemed 1% true, and 99% story, while it was marketed as non-fiction.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed it greatly. It had all the elements of a fictional book that draw me in - the connection between Modoc and her trainer, Bram, high adenture, emotional highs and lows. It was wonderful. If it had been sold as fiction, I would have loved it unreservedly.

nice for animal lovers

Exactly my kind of story: a true love story of a man (and elephant) who followed his heart into every adventure life presented him. Even with atrocious editing, the story came through loud and clear. Spiritual, wordly and full of soul. Bravo. One in a million.

The true story of an exceptionally caring and daring boy, a highly intelligent and devoted elephant, a lifetime of high adventure featuring ruthless cruelty and intense love, yet relayed to the audience with average writing abilities. Nonetheless, it is one heck of a unique story (with some black and white photos included) and a welcome addition to any animal lover's library.½

Modoc was an elephant born in a circus in Germany. Bram was born to the elephant trainer of that circus on the same day Modoc was born; they grew up together. When the circus is sold, Bram stows away to be with Modoc. This sets off a chain of adventures from Germany to India to the U.S. and follows Modoc and Bram through their lives, almost eighty years.

It's a good story, but I'm not really sure how much of the story was real. It seems a little too much to happen to one boy and elephant for it to all be true. It was written as if fiction, as well. Which is fine – it's often easier to read as fiction. I really did enjoy the story, but I just have a hard time believing it all. I appreciate that there are trainers out there trying to train using a gentler approach and not abusing their animals, that's for sure. Overall, despite my negative-sounding review, I did really enjoy the story.

A beautifully illustrated, dramatic and engaging story.

I thought this was a very good book. Yes, as someone else said, there are a couple of hard-to-read places but it's movie-worthy, without question. That was my first comment to my sweetie as soon as I finished it: "Where's the Movie?!?!?"