African adventure
Natural Enemies is about environmental terrorism and manipulation. Almost every character in the book is a victim of some kind. All are struggling to find a way out but none of them can succeed without leaning on others for help. There's a interesting parallel between the dependency of human lives and the lives of the elephants Cameron portrays. It is possible to read the book superficially, just for the action, but there are also profound undertones.
Love this book!!!
I read it in one go. Couldn't put it down. The character of Silvia was really well done. She has done really terrible things but you still feel sympathy for her. The elephant descriptions are very powerful. The whole book is fast moving. You never know what is coming next.
Elephant Talk
Natural Enemies provides a dramatic portrait of elephant life, behaviour and communication in the context of a fast-paced action thriller. The writing is vivid, conjuring strong images of Africa. "The wind blew across the Amboseli Pan drawing up small twisters of white dust that the Masai call "women's tempers" because they flare up out of nothing so easily..." The characters are powerfully drawn, especially the assassin Silvia and the Kikuyu detective Wangai. "Natural Enemies" won a Turner Tomorrow Award (judges included Nadine Gordimer, Wallace Stegner, William Styron, Ray Bradbury, Carlos Fuentes, Peter Mathiesson among others.) It also won the Edward Abbey Award for Eco-Fiction. I recommend it to anyone who loves elephants AND a good book.
Could Sara Cameron be her own Natural Enemy?
Previous to reading the novel Natural Enemies by Sara Cameron, I did a little research on the author. It came to my attention that previous to writing this novel she had conducted research on the Amboseli Elephants with the Amboseli Elephant project. I for one believe, that because of this, the novel could have been and should have been, written in a new light. Not the negative light, that outsiders observe. Cameron only focused on the negative of the ivory trade. When infact there are some positive things and progresses that are being made. Another bothersome quality about Cameron is the simplicity in her use of words. A novel of this caliber should challenge the mind, and send the reader running for his dictionary. Her writing style is that of a fourth grader. There is no order to it what so ever. I suppose this is why some regard her as a great novelist. I would not reccomend this book to someone who is looking to expand his or her horizons.
