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Water for Elephants A Novel Sara Gruen 9781565125605 Books

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Water for Elephants A Novel Sara Gruen 9781565125605 Books

I almost exclusively read nonfiction, with perhaps one or two novels a year thrown in for a diversion. This book was given to me and came with highest recommendations, so I started reading it on a plane trip. I am normally not especially captivated by fiction, but suffice it to say that I read the book over the course of one day because I enjoyed the characters so much. The book is told in flashbacks by a 93 year old man, and addresses his years as the vet on a circus train. I found the wraparound scenes of Jacob useful for the introduction and the wonderful conclusion, but if there was one thing I would have changed about the story it was the incessant excursions to the present sprinkled throughout the story which really don't advance the plot other than to explain some issues about senior care in an assisted living community.

The book begins with a delightfully deceptive prologue, setting the reader up for a surprise at the climax. I must admit that I had my suspicions about the murder in question, but found the execution to be more skillful than I had imagined. The victim, August, is a megalomaniac with a temper and forms one point in a love triangle with the protagonists, Jacob and Marlena. The circus, run by slimy vermin "Uncle Al" is well fleshed out with interesting characters and terminology that Gruen incorporates flawlessly into the book. I found the character of Walter (Kinko the Clown) to be the perfect complement to play off of Jacob and their relationship was one of the most interesting parts of the novel for me.

Gruen handles difficult situations well, even delving into dreams vividly, as when she relates Jacob's nightmare of struggling to get back on the train while pursued by malevolent animals ("Behind us, a wall of badgers. In front of us, a dozen alligators.") Her turn of phrase and tendency to sly understatement is notable throughout, and adds to the story as much by omission as by overt statements. The pivotal murder is one of the most brilliant ever concocted, and the subtlety of its telling, particularly in contrast to the version in the prologue is exquisite: the wording was changed very slightly to enlighten the reader to a plot twist that may or may not have been expected, but nonetheless was wonderfully executed. The ending of the book was likewise unexpected inasmuch as the reader is so focused on the story of Jacob in the circus, they aren't giving as much consideration to the 93 year old who is actually narrating the book.

As I mentioned before, there is more narration here than is absolutely necessary (but then again I normally read technical nonfiction), and as an animal lover the cruelty to animals is appalling (even if it's fiction, and despite it being historically based) although admittedly necessary to develop the plot. I mention this as the book may not be suitable for some younger readers for this reason. I found Gruen's choice of the name Jacob, and the obvious Biblical references to Jacob found in Genesis compelling and one of the things that separates this book from most contemporary fiction.

Although light reading on one level, this book also deals skillfully with difficult issues, has excellent character development, and a couple of great plot twists. Also included are interviews with the author and a set of book group discussion questions, which were not written by Gruen, and which I found contrived and dull.

"Water For Elephants" did what a good novel is supposed to do: it captivated my interest from start to finish, and I couldn't put it down. I recommend it without reservation for anyone wanting to read a wonderful contemporary novel about true love, murder, and reflection.


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Water for Elephants A Novel Sara Gruen 9781565125605 Books Reviews

This book was amazing! I loved all the action and throughout the whole book, I was constantly thinking, what's going to happen next. There wasn't ever a time that I thought there was a boring part in the book either- hard to do, since it's so long.

I can see how making a movie would be difficult since there was so many things going on, including all the animals. Your imagination is probably much better than the film (I've heard the film is not great, so I'll stick with my imagination on this one).

I would totally recommend this book. I'm not a fan of the circus. Mostly because of how cruel they are to the animals, and I think this book shows exactly how it is. I don't think the author glamorized the circus much. There were points in the book that were hard to read since I'm such an animal lover, but I wanted to see how it all ends.

I would even read this book again!
Author, Sara Gruen is an excellent novelist. I read Water for Elephants a few years ago and from time to time, I reread my favorite novels. This novel is one of them. While I enjoyed the movie with Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon, the novel is far better.
Sara’s research on traveling Circuses during great depression is richly detailed without overtaking the essence of the story or characters. The novel opens with ninety year old Jacob Jankowski ensconced in a dreary nursing home. He’s grumpy and taciturn. The food is bland and the old ladies are to him, a gaggle of hens. More and more, Jacob finds his thoughts turning to the past and the life he once lived long ago as a circus vet. Jacob remarks that he is ninety or ninety-three, but at his age, he is not longer counting. We are drawn into his memories and so the story begins.
When Jacob’s parents are killed in an auto accident, he is forced to leave his last year at Cornell where he’d been studying to become a verternarian. Penniless, he hits the road and hops a train that happens to be the Benzini Brothers traveling circus. He is hired as the show’s vet.
Jacob faces danger on a daily basis, not only because of his growing attraction to Marlena, the beauty who is the star equestrian act of the circus, but because of her husband, August, a ring master who is a bully and quick with a jealous, evil temper. These are hard times and circuses are failing. The boss, Big Al, who decides the life and death of many of the hired hands, desires an elephant, a trained elephant that can bring the rubes (hapless townspeople) into the big tent.
Big Al gets his elephant. Her name is Rosie and she doesn’t seem to understand any directions at all. She’s sweet, but gets into trouble. August, the bad tempered husband of Marlena, cruelly beats Rosie to get her to perform. Jacob finds that Rosie does not understand English. Her former trainer was Polish. Together, Jacob and Marlena strive to protect and save Rosie. August sees their attraction and attempts to get Jacob Red-lighted, which means to be thrown of the moving train at midnight. No spoilers here.
Water for Elephants is a fascinating read, filled with danger, acts of evil, overwhelming kindness, and enduring love.
I highly recommend this wonderful novel.
This is a book where I had actually seen the movie first, which then made me want to read the novel. The circus seems to bring out the optimistic and wide-eyed child in us all, and this story was no different. You come to care about the animal and humans alike in this novel and find yourself wrapped inside their world before you know it. I fairly much inhaled this book over two evenings, and seeing the movie didn't curb my sense of excitement and mystery as I worked through the story. At the end I had the thought, yet again, that we all seemed to be doomed nowadays to reaching our end of life years and being forgotten by our families regardless of how amazing our former selves have lived our lives. This book helps to remind us all that ordinary people have extraordinary tales to tell if we would just bother to slow down and listen.
I almost exclusively read nonfiction, with perhaps one or two novels a year thrown in for a diversion. This book was given to me and came with highest recommendations, so I started reading it on a plane trip. I am normally not especially captivated by fiction, but suffice it to say that I read the book over the course of one day because I enjoyed the characters so much. The book is told in flashbacks by a 93 year old man, and addresses his years as the vet on a circus train. I found the wraparound scenes of Jacob useful for the introduction and the wonderful conclusion, but if there was one thing I would have changed about the story it was the incessant excursions to the present sprinkled throughout the story which really don't advance the plot other than to explain some issues about senior care in an assisted living community.

The book begins with a delightfully deceptive prologue, setting the reader up for a surprise at the climax. I must admit that I had my suspicions about the murder in question, but found the execution to be more skillful than I had imagined. The victim, August, is a megalomaniac with a temper and forms one point in a love triangle with the protagonists, Jacob and Marlena. The circus, run by slimy vermin "Uncle Al" is well fleshed out with interesting characters and terminology that Gruen incorporates flawlessly into the book. I found the character of Walter (Kinko the Clown) to be the perfect complement to play off of Jacob and their relationship was one of the most interesting parts of the novel for me.

Gruen handles difficult situations well, even delving into dreams vividly, as when she relates Jacob's nightmare of struggling to get back on the train while pursued by malevolent animals ("Behind us, a wall of badgers. In front of us, a dozen alligators.") Her turn of phrase and tendency to sly understatement is notable throughout, and adds to the story as much by omission as by overt statements. The pivotal murder is one of the most brilliant ever concocted, and the subtlety of its telling, particularly in contrast to the version in the prologue is exquisite the wording was changed very slightly to enlighten the reader to a plot twist that may or may not have been expected, but nonetheless was wonderfully executed. The ending of the book was likewise unexpected inasmuch as the reader is so focused on the story of Jacob in the circus, they aren't giving as much consideration to the 93 year old who is actually narrating the book.

As I mentioned before, there is more narration here than is absolutely necessary (but then again I normally read technical nonfiction), and as an animal lover the cruelty to animals is appalling (even if it's fiction, and despite it being historically based) although admittedly necessary to develop the plot. I mention this as the book may not be suitable for some younger readers for this reason. I found Gruen's choice of the name Jacob, and the obvious Biblical references to Jacob found in Genesis compelling and one of the things that separates this book from most contemporary fiction.

Although light reading on one level, this book also deals skillfully with difficult issues, has excellent character development, and a couple of great plot twists. Also included are interviews with the author and a set of book group discussion questions, which were not written by Gruen, and which I found contrived and dull.

"Water For Elephants" did what a good novel is supposed to do it captivated my interest from start to finish, and I couldn't put it down. I recommend it without reservation for anyone wanting to read a wonderful contemporary novel about true love, murder, and reflection.