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The Memory of an Elephant:
A Most Unusual Children’s
Book for Lovers of Mid-Century Modern Design
Psychologists believe that our capacity for creative work hinges on our
memory and the ability to draw on our mental catalog of
remembered experiences and ideas. More than that, memory is our lifeline to
our own selves. Indeed, can there be anything more central to
identity than memory?
The Memory of an Elephant: An
Unforgettable Journey is a most unusual picture-book by
writer Sophie Strady and illustrator Jean-François Martin.
Unusual not because it measures an impressive 15 inches in height — though that
alone makes it a kind of enchanting narrative poster — but because it blends
the fascination of encyclopedic curiosity with deep questions about memory,
identity, and what makes a life worthwhile.
Marcel
is a soulful old elephant who sets out to write an encyclopedia as his legacy.
Having seen the Eiffel Tower built in 1889 and the first iMac introduced in
1998, and having filled the century between with a long lifetime of adventures
and successes of his own, he undertakes “the enormous task of listing — in an
enormous, illustrated encyclopedia — everything he’s learned throughout his
long and exceptional life.”
But
just as he is about to begin looking back on his many years and drawing on his
vast memory-bank of knowledge, he finds his living room — his dedicated
environment essential for
writing, charmingly populated by iconic mid-century modern furniture
and some unmistakable Eames designs —
flooded with “a mountain of parcels wrapped in bright and patterned paper,”
surprise birthday presents from his friends.
As
he opens each package and plays with the present inside, the double meaning of
the word “present” reveals itself. Marcel is transported to his past and the
many lives compressed into his long and accomplished existence — his days as a
world-famous musician, his stint as a sailor, his sabbatical in Vietnam, his
time tending to the beautiful Luxembourg Gardens, his accidental participation
in France’s historic Mai 1968 worker strikes and civil unrest.
Marcel
comes upon the last unopened package, a large cardboard tube. Inside, he finds
a poster that reads: “In May,
we’ll have our way.” As he begins to ponder the strange time-travel
quality of what sounds like a political slogan from the 1968 riots, he suddenly
realizes it is actually May 1, the date of his birthday. Just then, his friends
emerge from behind his elegant furniture for a proper birthday surprise.
The
main story is peppered with curious encyclopedic asides both about elements of
Marcel’s memories, from music to technology, and about elephants themselves —
we learn that an elephant sleeps very little at night, “usually standing,
always on alert,” and takes standing naps throughout the day; that an adult
elephant needs to drink 30 gallons of water a day and eat between 220 and 440
pounds of food depending on the season; that an elephant can’t jump and must
have one foot on the ground at all times; that despite an enormous weight of
about five tons, an elephant makes no noise while walking.
The Memory of an Elephant: An
Unforgettable Journey is immeasurably delightful from cover
to giant cover, a warmhearted story sprinkled with subtle surprises for young
readers and grownup design-lovers alike.
Maria
Popova
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