The Tusk That Did the Damage (Vintage Contemporaries)

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How does James seem to characterize the relationship between man and nature in the novel? For example, would the relationship as presented in the book best be described as reverential, complementary, threatening, or something else? Do you agree with the vision of the relationship between man and nature offered in the novel? Why or why not? Teddy is chided for believing that an elephant waved to him. Do you believe that animals possess attributes that we might typically characterize as “human,” or do you feel that these attributes are mistakenly impressed upon them? How does one’s opinion on this subject contribute to one’s understanding of the relationship between man and animal, or is it irrelevant? How does the use of an elephant as a main character in the novel affect your thoughts on this subject? How do the author’s choices in this area help to shape the trajectory of the novel and influence the way a reader might interpret it? Tania James is the author of three works of fiction, most recently the novel The Tusk That Did the Damage (Knopf). Tusk was named a Best Book of 2015 by The San Francisco Chronicle, The Guardian, and NPR, and shortlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize. Her short stories have appeared in One Story, The New Yorker, Granta, Freeman's Anthology, Oxford American, and other venues. James is an associate professor at George Mason University, and lives in Washington DC. Her forthcoming novel, Loot, will be published by Knopf in June 2023. Everyone in Sitamala thinks they know my brother’s story. On the contrary. They may know the tune, but I would bet a half bag of pepper the words are all wrong. I blame his wife’s people for spreading slander, all those perfidious huge-hipped sisters, not a one half as lovely as Leela.

VERDICT: Fascinating facts and fiction about elephants are presented, and James’s gift for the side-by-side portrayal of different cultures is evident here, as in her previous books. The complexity of the issues involved make this a perfect book club choice.” The last piece of the narrative puzzle is Emma, who is in Kerala with Teddy to shoot a documentary in a wildlife park. They film an elephant calf being rescued from a ditch and reunited with its mother, and also interview Samina Hakim, Divisional Range Officer for the Forest Department. In the process they stumble upon what looks like a conspiracy: the Forest Department has been authorizing Shankar Timber Company to fell trees, putting them in conflict with villagers who rely on the forest for their livelihood. What else might this government body be willing to turn a blind eye to? This book started with the potential to reel me in and become one of those addictive books I couldn't put down. Yet for some reason it didnt work that way for me. I seemed to loose momentum toward the middle of the book but thankfully it recaptured my attention and overall I rated it as a solid 3.5 stars.And we learn so much about the elephant. Naturally, the most captivating and heartbreaking tale is told by the Gravedigger: his early life with his mother, how he became orphaned as a young calf, his later time in captivity with his beloved pappan, Old Man and everything that led to his "going rogue" and killing (and tenderly burying) humans. The Gravedigger has us question elephant intelligence and sensitivity -- how much are they like us? Several times in the novel when he comes across the smells of rotting pineapple and gunpowder, they trigger painful, anxiety-provoking memories for him. This leads to a very interesting question that James poses regarding the gift of memory - both for the ellie and for us. Namely, is memory really a gift - or more of a curse? Some say my brother stepped into the very snare he laid for the elephant. I say opinions are cheap from far. I will take you to the Gravedigger myself and let you meet its honey-colored eye. I will show you the day it first laid its foot on our scrawny lives. Then you tell me who was hunter and who was hunted.

The Tusk That Did the Damage by Tania James is a highly recommended novel set in southern India, that covers the illegal poaching of ivory through three unique viewpoints. These three viewpoints are presented in alternating chapters. In “Tusk,” a character declares the poachers the bottom of a larger pyramid. In other words, just like gorilla poaching isn’t about gorillas, elephant poaching isn’t about elephants — and here, it’s not even about poachers. It’s just another war being fought on behalf of distant interests, through which people live and love. The book is amazing - she makes you want more of the stories of elephants, makes you want to sit down with Old Man and listen to his stories, the ones he's heard from his Appachan, the ones about elephants and their pappans. (a huge Thank You! for not using "Mahout" throughout the book - in Kerala, there are pappans, pronounced "paappan", not mahouts, which comes from a Hindi word.) She makes you want to be more inside the head of the elephants, and converse with other elephants. Such amazing, spiritual creatures! And she gets them like no other authors, giving them their own mind, own stories - that have been passed over generations - and that's the best part, to have stories passed over generations between elephants. Although not quite as compelling, the chapters told through the poachers point of view are certainly enlightening. The financial reality of poverty and the money that can be made through poaching is brought out, as well as the problem of elephants destroying the farmer's crops. Certainly the actual poachers are low on the list of those who benefit from their illegal acts. The least successful chapters are those of the filmmakers. Q: I’m curious about the title, THE TUSK THAT DID THE DAMAGE. It’s drawn from a myth told at the crux of the novel. Where did that myth come from? Did you write it with the rest of the novel in mind, or was it the germ from which the rest of the novel came?

Compare The Tusk That Did the Damage to other stories that include examples of anthropomorphism. Among the works you have considered, do the authors seem to use this device for a similar purpose? Do you think that each of the authors believes that the animals they write about truly possess the “human” characteristics attributed to them? How does James’s anthropomorphism compare to or differ from the other examples? Why do you think this is so? About this Author There are parts which try to portray romance, friendship, mental health, assault, alcoholism, deaths and grief. I would say the writing is decent at these parts. The characters in the novel are faced with complex ethical choices. Does the novel provide us with a clear sense of who is “right” and who is “wrong” in the story—or who is “good” and who is “bad”? What seems to influence the characters’ decision-making process? For example, how does the economic status of each character affect his or her decision making? Do you agree with the decisions made by Ravi and Emma at the end of the book? By Jayan and Manu?

This complex story is highly unique and very lyrical, as told in turn from the varying perspectives of a poacher, a filmmaker and the giant Gravedigger, the magnificent, yet deadly elephant who is the pivotal figure in James' terrific novel. The cover of this book is pretty gorgeous, too.Brisk as a thriller. . . . Although the focus is primarily on poaching, the story’s true subject is larger and more profound: How do humans and animals—whose lives at times seem at cross purposes—co-exist? . . . [James’s] elephants loom larger than life.”— The Washington Post Ultimately, it is the Gravedigger’s story of freedom that holds us: a fable as magical as an elephant with wings.