Thursday, May 19, 2011

Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen

Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen

Year Published: 2006

My Rating: 4 stars

331 pages

I read this book because it was recommended to me by my friend Rana as a reading for a Book Club, although I'm not sure I will be participating in the club but it was on my TBR anyways so I thought I would give it a try.
I never thought I would enjoy Circus life so that is why I was postponing it and sliding it down my TBR for a while.

I'm glad I gave it the time and read it. I so enjoyed the writing style.. It's was so gripping that I just lost track of time while reading it.

Jacob Jankowski is now a ninty something old man in a home for the elderly and the Circus is in town. So he remembers his days with the Circus at the time of the Great Depression.
He was in Medical school studying to be a vet and is shocked by the sudden death of his parents.
With no family left and no money to his name he wanders aimlessly and finds himself working for the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth as the show's vet.
There he is taken under the wing of August but falls in love with his wife, Marlena - the star of the show. Rosie the elephant is the hope for taking the show to a higher level.

The details are amazing, and the terminology used just helps sets the atmosphere even more.

I loved the writing, the story was great up until it started to show the mean streak of Augustus and giving Marlena the excuse to betray her husband who adores her. I found it hard then to sympathise with their love affair. I just couln't stomach the idea of idolizing Jacob for betraying his boss after what he had done to him. That's why I gave it the four stars. That's just my opinion.
But as I said I enjoyed the writing and would be looking for other books by this author.

A Quote I enjoyed from the book:

I stare at her for a long moment. I want to kiss her. I want to kiss her more than I've ever wanted anything in my life.

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  • The Sins of the Fathers by Lawrence Block
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