Book Review: Water For Elephants

Title: Water For Elephants

Author: Sara Gruen

ISBN: 1565125606

Pages: 335

Release Date: April 9, 2006 

Publisher: Algonquin Books

Genre: Fiction

Source: Personal Copy

Rating: 5 out of 5 Bookworms

From Goodreads.com:

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.

Review:

Water For Elephants is one of the best books I have read this year. Initially, I did not have any interest in reading this book because it involved a circus and I am not a huge fan of circuses. But at the insistence of some friends, I picked it up and began reading. Boy am I glad I did!

Jacob Jankowski is a young man who is thrust mercilessly into the aftermath of the cruelties of life. Despite his circumstances, however, he is a good and honorable man and his compassion and honor shine through on every page of this book. He is a character that reader's immediately fall in love with and can relate to on some level or another. The story itself grabs you instantly and takes you back to a time where traveling circuses were the biggest events in town.

Set in the 1930's, Water For Elephants offers a glimpse into a very strange and wonderous world of circus folk during a time when many, if not most, of the country was unemployed and doing anything they could to earn a buck or at least a meal. It was fascinating to read of the lifestyle of the circus workers and how they were treated, how they related to one another, how they treated their animals and what they thought of the townspeople they traveled the country to entertain.

Water For Elephants is also a story that tells of the love and life of Jacob and Merlena and their love for the animals that they come to know while working with them in the circus. The book is beautifully and vividly written, the characters well developed and easy to love (or hate as the case may be) and the animals' antics, especially Rosie, will make you laugh out loud.

Water For Elephants is a wonderful read and I highly recommend it!