The Elephant Man, Sir Frederick Treves
The Elephant Man, Sir Frederick Treves
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The Elephant Man

Author: Sir Frederick Treves

Narrator: Cathy Dobson

Unabridged: 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/03/2016


Synopsis

Sir Frederick Treves, 1st Baronet, GCVO, CH, CB (1853 – 1923) was a prominent British surgeon of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, best known for his friendship with Joseph Merrick, "the Elephant Man".

"The Elephant Man" is Treves' own first-hand account of how he met and befriended Joseph Merrick (whom he mistakenly calls John Merrick), a young man with very severe physical deformities, who was being exhibited as a side-show freak as being half-man half-elephant. Treves initially invited Merrick to his rooms in the London Hospital so as to examine him, and to ensure Merrick's admittance he gave him his card. Two years later, when Merrick arrived back in London, abandoned by his freak-show handler and chased by a mob, he showed the police who rescued him Treves' card. Through this fortuitous chance, Merrick came to live at the London hospital under the care and guardianship of Treves. The two men developed a great friendship and Treves was astonished to discover that Merrick was not only a highly intelligent man, but also a hopeless romantic.

Reviews

Goodreads review by David on June 21, 2010

I checked this book out from the library because I'm going to be watching The Elephant Man by David Lynch and according to IMDB the film is partly based on this book. The writing so far is a bit droll, and the author goes off for several very long paragraphs detailing the life and career of a man wh......more

Goodreads review by Kalliope on November 23, 2008

Really, truly fascinating. Contains much fact about Joseph Merrick's life, as well as intricate theories regarding his psychology. I can't get enough of Merrick, and this book is a must read for anyone who feels the same.......more

Goodreads review by Kaye on July 18, 2012

Good background about Joseph Merrick, but the last few chapters were kind of superfluous and unconvincing (ie, mother love and trying to draw parallels with Alexander Pope).......more

Goodreads review by Rhianon on June 02, 2017

Having always been curious about this story, I could not resist reading this book. Many people today would not even know Joseph Merrick by his real name, but they have heard of The Elephant Man. Regretfully, they associate him with the Disney version of the Hunchback, rather than a real person who s......more

Goodreads review by Tom on December 02, 2020

This is a sort of anthology and assay of the tragic biography of Englishman Joseph Merrick, often erroneously called John Merrick, known for his severe deformities. The collection includes the biography written by doctor benefactor Frederick Treves as well as other academic bulletins and a couple of......more