I just finished Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants, and I feel like shouting “I LOVED THIS BOOK!” It’s one of those times when I wish I could talk to another enthusiastic reader of the book right away.
Here’s a synopsis from the author’s website:
As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers’ Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the Great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie.
It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.
What no synopsis can tell you is just how magnificent Gruen’s writing is. How vivid and real she makes Jacob’s world, both in the assisted living facility where he is narrating this story, to the circus life on the train and under the big top. Each and every character is finely drawn, complex, almost breathing in sync with the reader.
I should mention for anyone sensitive to certain content: there are a few scenes I would qualify as sexually graphic. But while they are graphic, they are not what I would consider gratuitous. Meaning, the scenes were few and far between and were actually relevant to the main character’s experiences; I’m not sure we would have understood the complexity of what he was going through without them.
Water for Elephants is intense and heartbreaking and hopeful. Gruen crafts an unexpected ending to the circus tale and a delightful surprise at the end of Jacob’s present-day.
I honestly felt like cheering when I finished this book. I loved it!
BOOK:30 