Water For Elephants

July 18, 2012

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Water for Elephants

Water for Elephants (Photo credit: Djumbo)

The first time I started reading Water for Elephants, I put it down after about a dozen pages.  It didn’t grab me, so I stopped reading and went to something else.  Then I decided to give it another chance and quickly finished it.

Plot

The story in set in the 1931 and follows Jacob as he runs away from his life after a personal tragedy.  He jumps aboard a train bound for parts unknown.  Had this been a normal train, Jacob may have ridden for several hundred miles, jumped off, and found a job in a factory somewhere.  But this is no normal train – it’s a circus train.  After a rough introduction, Jacob’s training as a veterinarian lands him a job as the circus vet.  Jacob soon falls hard for the beautiful Marlena – who is, of course, married to a sadistically cruel man.

The book pulls back the tent flap and gives an interesting look into the life of the circus workers.   Not just the more glamorous lives of the performers (who are granted two buckets of water per day for washing!)  The working men often didn’t get paid, and at times would just be thrown from the moving train (redlighted).

Characters

The book’s characters are definitely very entertaining.  The love triangle of Jacob, Marlena, and August forms the backbone of the plot.  It’s very easy to cheer for Jacob and Marlena, even though Marlena is cheating on her husband.  (However, he’s jerk, so he had it coming).

The supporting case is also strong.  While the Jacob and Marlena are clear protagonists and August is the main antagonist, several of the other characters flip between roles; at some points helping Jacob and at other points hindering him.  The circus animals also play a large part in the book, notably Rosie the elephant.

Gotcha

One thing I enjoyed about the book was a very clever “gotcha”.  I enjoy being tricked by an author as long as it’s not something completely out of right field (such as a character presented as a human suddenly becoming the pet goldfish in the last scene).  In Water for Elephants, we are tricked, but the author is being completely fair.

Verdict

I loved the book.  Those who are interested in circuses, life in the 1930s, or animals may enjoy the book.  Sara Gruen’s other books also have animals as a central focus.  Although I really enjoyed Water for Elephants, I’m not sure I’ll read her other books, as I don’t generally read animal books.
 


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6 Comments (+add yours?)

  1. Barbara Plotkin
    Jul 18, 2012 @ 14:03:56

    Hi Kosmo,

    FYI: The book started out as as a Nanowrimo novel. Nanowrimo is a crazy annual event where people from around the world try their hand at writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. In fact in 2007, she was one of about ten authors to write all participants a “you can do it” letter. I loved this book as well and had no trouble getting into it. However I was greatly disappointed with her follow-up novel, Ape House. I almost felt as if it was a draft and that her publishers rushed it out to take advantage of the Elephants momentum. From what I’ve heard, her earlier novels arer really good and I look forward to reading Flying Lessons.

    Hey Kosmo, hopefully one day you’ll be reviewing one of my novels. I’ll let you know when that day comes!
    Barb

    Reply

  2. kosmo
    Jul 18, 2012 @ 15:40:10

    That’s right – it did start out as a NaNoWriMo book. I actually mentioned that in an email to Martin last night, but forgot to include that info in the article.

    I’m a bit wary of the other books because the appear (at least at a glance) to be very animal-centric. Quite honestly, I don’t have a great amount of interest in domestic animals (sorry if that sounds bad, but it’s the truth). In Elephants, the animals have some good roles, but aren’t the complete focus of the plot – and many of them are “wild animals”.

    I probably won’t officially participate in NaNoWriMo this year, but I might try to get my novel’s outline fleshed out a lot more before November and see how close to 50K words I can write in the month. That’s cheating, of course, since I have already started.

    I definitely look forward to reviewing your book some day.

    Reply

  3. Martin Kelly
    Jul 18, 2012 @ 17:19:36

    Come on in, the water is fine! You really should participate. Having an idea before the contest is allowed, you are just supposed to refrain from actually writing. I will be trying agian this year. I finished in 2009 and 2010, but came up short last year. We will have to see how things work out in 2012.

    Reply

    • Barbara Plotkin
      Jul 18, 2012 @ 18:06:53

      I agree– Kosmo do it this year and we can help each other! This will be my sixth year and I’m already excited about it. I’m trying to get the local bookstore to have a write-in and hope to give a little talk about it and get things going. Two years ago I wrote a novel that took place in Brighton England. Having never been there, I enlisted the help of the Brighton Wrimo’s and it was a fantastic experience.

      Reply

  4. kosmo
    Jul 22, 2012 @ 22:10:07

    I’d definitely be “cheating”. If I’m going to write tens of thousands of words in the single month, those words are going to go toward my most important project, and that’s my serial killer novel. I have a decent start already, so my effort wouldn’t fit within the rules of NaNoWriMo.

    Basically, I’d be doing “Kosmo Writes A Lot This Month” (KWALTM) at the same time everyone else is doing NaNoWriMo.

    Reply

  5. Martin Kelly
    Jul 24, 2012 @ 17:25:03

    Sign me up for KWALTM watch!

    Reply

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