It seems strange that the publicists escorting ["The Roots of Heaven"] to its American debut have not compared it to "Moby Dick." M. Gary is not an imitator of Melville, but this latest, deep-searching work of his has many points of similarity to the American classic.

Elephants, rather than whales, are the subject. But they are treated, a la Melville, on two levels—both as symbols and as straightforward noble mammals. M. Gary's hero, Morel, is, like Ahab, a man possessed. What's more, following Morel in his pachyderm-obsessed mission is as motley a collection of adventurers, misanthropes, idealists, and mixed nationalities as ever sailed on the Pequod. Morel's expedition, like Ahab's, is punitive in nature. And both books are a complex mixture of gripping physical action and rather prolix metaphysical search….

M. Gary manages to say a lot about the march of civilization in Africa, about man's extinction...