In the mid-10th century, King John III of Portugal gifted his cousin, Archduke Maximilian of Austria, son-in-law of Emperor Charles V, an elephant that had been in Lisbon for two years, having come from India. Based on the scant details found, but mainly with his powerful imagination that has given us so many masterpieces, José Saramago creates a story where reality intertwines with fiction, irony with humor, and critical disposition with sympathy for the human race.
"The Elephant's Journey" coincides with the ten-year anniversary of the author receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature.