Document in“DIOPTRA-L”

Saul Barnard comes from a long line of woodcutters in the Knysna forest of South Africa. Only Saul is different...he begins to question some of the lore and is accused of having his head in the clouds. He realizes what all the cutting is doing to the future of the forest, and he gets wise to the unscrupulous dealings of the wood-buyers in the village. But trying to make his family and relatives aware of what's happening labels him as a traitor. He wants to fight to save the forest and the elephants. In fact, he seems to have a strange understanding with one elephant in particulr, Old Foot. Years later he hears that the elephants have been on a rampage and he must go back. The storyline goes back and forth between the "present" day return to the forest and his experiences growing up to get to this point. Although I've never actually been to the Knysna Forest, I feel as if I have - the descriptions are THAT good. I found myself really feeling for Saul with the emotional roller coaster and also for Old Foot and the elephants as their habitat was destroyed. I definitely want to read this again - as I'm sure that there are events at the beginning that, knowing the end, I'll catch earlier.