[M. Romain Gary's] The Colours of the Day was set in the highly civilized, sophisticated jungle of the South of France. Now looking for bigger game he has turned to elephants and made them the pretext for an unusual work [The Roots of Heaven] that is part adventure story, part fable and part the record of a philosophical search for an answer to the increasing materialism of the world….

From the start M. Gary treats Morel as a legendary figure and as a result he remains rather indistinct as a person while being fully appreciable as a force….

In his own attitude, which sets the tone of the book, M. Gary might possibly be described as a realistic romantic, since he has a journalistic eye for, and knowledge of, the sufferings and problems of the contemporary world, and yet remains an invincible optimist and believer in mankind. He...