The Bottom Line
Pros
- Water for Elephants is a great story from start to finish.
- Water for Elephants has interesting, well-developed characters.
- Water for Elephants is a well-researched glimpse into circus life during the Great Depression.
Cons
- I don't have a con.
Description
- Jacob is orphaned during the Great Depression.
- Jacob runs off with a circus.
- Glitz, glamour, murder and mayhem under the Big Top.
- Seventy something years later, Jacob finally tells his story.
- From train to tent to nursing home, the pages turn.
Guide Review - Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - Book Review
Water for Elephants moves between the story of the traveling circus in 1930 to the story of the older Jacob’s fight to maintain sanity. While most of Water for Elephants is about the circus, the chapters about the older Jacob provide a depth to the novel and a poignancy to the story that makes the whole book richer and more real.
Gruen researched circuses and animal behavior extensively before writing Water for Elephants. Her careful work manifests itself in writing that is descriptive, easy-to-read and made me feel as if I were part of the circus community. From the whistle of the train to the burn of moonshine against the back of the throat, Gruen engages all the reader’s senses.
I fell in love (and hate) with many of the characters as well. As the adventure and details of Jacob’s secret unfolds, it is impossible not to become attached to Jacob, Walter, Bobo, Rosie, Marlena.
I highly recommend Water for Elephants.
