Taller than trees

by John Gordon Davis

For many years hunters had tried to kill Dhlulamiti, but he had survived. An elephant some thirteen and a half feet tall – his name translated to ‘Taller than trees’ – and weighing in at twelve tons he was a giant even amongst the largest species of mammal ever to have inhabited the earth. In his early days, he had roamed the savannah in Africa as a killer, attacking every man that came his way, but now wiser thoughts prevailed. Inevitably, one day Dhlulamiti met up with Jumbo McGuire, a hard hell-raising Irish hunter who was renowned for the number of ‘kills’ to his credit. As the predators circled with a hope of cashing in on what would seem to be the inevitable outcome and an easy meal, the final epic struggle between elephant and man began.

Genres: Fiction

186 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

John Gordon Davis was born and grew up in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He had a degree in Political Science and an LLB. He served on the bar in Southern Rhodesia, before UDI in that country.

He became a full time writer after the success of his first book Hold my hand I'm dying.

He ran a course in fiction writing from Andalusia in Spain. He passed away in November 2014 and is survived by his wife Rosemary.

Reviews

[Wade Burgess · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a double-edged sword to me. Much of the book was interesting and I learned things I didn't know. The writing style at times was unpleasant. Sometimes the author took too long to get to the point. I enjoyed parts and was disappointed with other parts.

[Graham · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably the worst book I have ever read and yes, I finished it in a day. Why you may ask? Because I speed read just to get it over with. The language is a series of run on sentences( if you can call them sentences) that ramble on with lashings of repetition and even made up words. I understand that the author was trying to create an atmosphere of tension, but he has a total disregard for correct English and sentence structure. One gets the impression of being forced to rush to a disappointing conclusion and when the reader reaches the end there is a sense of disappointment. At least it does not take long to read. Especially since the reader can skim through the story without losing continuity. Lots of gory repetitive scenes that accomplish very little.

[Nigel Copeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

They died together

A story of how an animal can survive for so long and then being chased by an elephant hunter for days both hoping to survive both end up critical wounded. Not one of best books I have read.