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The Green Elevator Cage
Ever since Max was a little boy too many things didn’t quite add up about his life. On his quest for answers, he’s confronted with three life-changing revelations. This is his journey.
“The Green Elevator Cage”, a whole-of-life novel, spans five continents and over 50 years—1962 to 2019. Max’s journey takes him to boarding school in Belgium, expatriate life in Saudi Arabia, a diamond mine and love in Tanzania, and happiness in Australia. At its core is the relationship between Max, his mother and his sister people who love each other but don’t know each other well, having spent their lives largely apart. The book explores Max and Claudia’s search for answers about what happened when they were small children in the then Belgian Congo.
“The Green Elevator Cage”, a whole-of-life novel, spans five continents and over 50 years—1962 to 2019. Max’s journey takes him to boarding school in Belgium, expatriate life in Saudi Arabia, a diamond mine and love in Tanzania, and happiness in Australia. At its core is the relationship between Max, his mother and his sister people who love each other but don’t know each other well, having spent their lives largely apart. The book explores Max and Claudia’s search for answers about what happened when they were small children in the then Belgian Congo.
280 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 28, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 19, 2026
An incredible whole-of-life novel. A must read.
February 13, 2025
I really enjoyed this novel. It's an elevator-ride of emotions as we learn of family secrets, family recriminations and ultimately, the power self-discovery.
April 19, 2026
Really enjoyed this! Such a special read
February 7, 2025
The author has written a wonderfully enlightening book of Max's journey from childhood to adulthood, living in five continents: from Brussels Europe to Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, New York and he finally arrives, where else, in lovely Australia. I couldn’t stop reading this enchanting novel. In short, this is a mysterious life saga. Just read it - I couldn’t put the book down till its' very end.
August 8, 2025
Review by Stephanie Koorey
“I’m just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe”, Jango Fett, Star Wars; Attack of the Clones.
From the AI-generated cover of a young boy in shorts, waving to his mother as she descends in the Victorian-era European metal elevator, a svelte early 1960s figure dressed stylishly yet turned from the viewer, this book covers spans decades of memories, crosses continents, and questions identity, loyalty, truths and family. Never knowing when his adored mother would again ascend the elevator cage in between her jetsetting lifestyle, young Michel is raised by his grandmother in post-WW2 Belgium.
In an almost Beat-literature style, the reader is never certain where the next chapter will take us. Back to Brussels, to dusty pre-oil Saudi Arabia, the democratizing resource-rich central Africa both pre- and post- independence, to the New Worlds of Canada and Australia, and the elusive ‘Swiss connection.’ Each chapter offers immersive soundtracks to the story of Michel, transmuted into Max, with a ‘listen along at home’ playlist from Spotify, from Dean Martin to Deep Purple via soft jazz and timeless classical, and the gnawing Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor at his mother’s funeral.
Written as a novel, albeit with a fair smattering of inspiration from the author’s own actual experiences, and indeed his own godless witty observations – the “sick sense of humour” regarding the Florida aged care home called Renaissance “there was no re-birth once you passed the front door; only a wait to cross the great divide into the abyss” and softer, kindly reflections of a time of visceral envelopes tarred with exotic stamps harbouring handwritten letters.
The sudden introduction to his new father, and indeed much of Michel/Max’s identity is around who is his real father, although there are no sudden James Lucas-style clangers there. A clever and totally surprising trap-door like finale raises more questions than it answers, coming unexpectedly as a casual remark but leading the reader to question the narrative of the book in a whole new way.
Elizabeth Gilbert’s “The Hero of this Book” about her own mother, is worth reflecting on at his point, for in many ways while this book is about growing up, learning about love, sexuality and bombshells like “What?! I have a sister?”, the book like Gilbert’s is also about what a mother is to their child, and how she is seen by them. In this case, glamourous, adoring, yet largely absent especially in his childhood.
A small comment in closing for a book I picked up and down over several months, some of the female character’s names became confusing with many starting with a G or a J – was this his wife, sister, sister-in-law or daughter?
Best known for his scholarship on the Pakistani military, this is Claude Rakisits’s first novel. And it does not disappoint.
Music listened to writing this review was albums by Congolese singer Kanda-Bongo-Man, and the Moody Blues’ Knights in White Satin.
“I’m just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe”, Jango Fett, Star Wars; Attack of the Clones.
From the AI-generated cover of a young boy in shorts, waving to his mother as she descends in the Victorian-era European metal elevator, a svelte early 1960s figure dressed stylishly yet turned from the viewer, this book covers spans decades of memories, crosses continents, and questions identity, loyalty, truths and family. Never knowing when his adored mother would again ascend the elevator cage in between her jetsetting lifestyle, young Michel is raised by his grandmother in post-WW2 Belgium.
In an almost Beat-literature style, the reader is never certain where the next chapter will take us. Back to Brussels, to dusty pre-oil Saudi Arabia, the democratizing resource-rich central Africa both pre- and post- independence, to the New Worlds of Canada and Australia, and the elusive ‘Swiss connection.’ Each chapter offers immersive soundtracks to the story of Michel, transmuted into Max, with a ‘listen along at home’ playlist from Spotify, from Dean Martin to Deep Purple via soft jazz and timeless classical, and the gnawing Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor at his mother’s funeral.
Written as a novel, albeit with a fair smattering of inspiration from the author’s own actual experiences, and indeed his own godless witty observations – the “sick sense of humour” regarding the Florida aged care home called Renaissance “there was no re-birth once you passed the front door; only a wait to cross the great divide into the abyss” and softer, kindly reflections of a time of visceral envelopes tarred with exotic stamps harbouring handwritten letters.
The sudden introduction to his new father, and indeed much of Michel/Max’s identity is around who is his real father, although there are no sudden James Lucas-style clangers there. A clever and totally surprising trap-door like finale raises more questions than it answers, coming unexpectedly as a casual remark but leading the reader to question the narrative of the book in a whole new way.
Elizabeth Gilbert’s “The Hero of this Book” about her own mother, is worth reflecting on at his point, for in many ways while this book is about growing up, learning about love, sexuality and bombshells like “What?! I have a sister?”, the book like Gilbert’s is also about what a mother is to their child, and how she is seen by them. In this case, glamourous, adoring, yet largely absent especially in his childhood.
A small comment in closing for a book I picked up and down over several months, some of the female character’s names became confusing with many starting with a G or a J – was this his wife, sister, sister-in-law or daughter?
Best known for his scholarship on the Pakistani military, this is Claude Rakisits’s first novel. And it does not disappoint.
Music listened to writing this review was albums by Congolese singer Kanda-Bongo-Man, and the Moody Blues’ Knights in White Satin.
May 25, 2025
Claude tells a very human story with sensitivity, humour and well-directed scorn on occasion. Vivid descriptions of vast landscapes and rickety aeroplanes blend seamlessly with intimate conversations in cosy cafés half a world away. Through it all, the reader can’t help but reflect on their own sense of loss, home and family. A cracking read.
March 26, 2025
self indulgent
I didn’t find this particularly interesting, which is a shame. It doesn’t really tell a tale of personal development and it is stiltingly written.
I didn’t find this particularly interesting, which is a shame. It doesn’t really tell a tale of personal development and it is stiltingly written.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews