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Moduc, by Ralph Helfer, tells the touching and inspiring story of Bram Gunterstein; a young boy with a peculiar love. Bram’s father worked for a local circus in Germany as an elephant trainer all his life. He understood and adored elephants in an unexplainable way. Bram inherits this admiration for the great creatures and forms an unbreakable bond with an elephant named Moduc.

Bram and Mo are born on the same day and immediately become best of friends while learning their way around the world. When Bram looses his father to an untimely death, he refuses to loose Mo too. The young man goes to extraordinary lengths to stay close to his beloved companion and endures more than he could have ever thought possible. The loving relationship between the two is prevalent throughout the story. Although an elephant and a boy can clearly not carry out a romantic relationship, it transcends what most people search for their entire lives. Bram constantly puts himself in dangerous and even life threatening situations for Mo. The dedication shown by Bram is surprisingly reciprocated by his elephant. At several points during the course of the story where Mo seems as though she understands what Bram has done for her and feels the need to repay him.

The first half of the biography is phenomenal and sucks in the reader like a whirlpool. The feats accomplished by both Bram and Mo are unbelievable; together, they beat all odds. The fast paced and exhilarating story gradually begins to slow about half way through but by that point, the reader will be dying to know how this gut wrenching love story ends.

Although Moduc is a love story, it is not the cliché sappy romance that could be made into a hit “chick flick.” Anybody with a heart not made of stone should be moved by this incredible True Story of the Greatest Elephant that Ever Lived. Bram makes a promise to his father to always take car of Mo; a promise that kept until the day she dies. I recommend reading Moduc to anybody who can relate to loving someone or something with an indefinite passion.
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