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Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen


Janet

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I thought this had been reviewed already but I've searched and I can't see one. This is only a short review, I'm afraid!

 

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

 

The ‘Blurb’

 

When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters and misfits – the Benzini brothers Most Spectacular show on Earth – a second-rate travelling circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town.

 

Jacob, a veterinary student who almost earned his degree, is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her.

 

Water for Elephants is illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. It tells a story of love between two people that overcomes incredible odds in a world in which even love is a luxury that few can afford.

 

Jacob Jankowski lives in a nursing home and is 90. Or is he 93? He can’t quite remember. However, he can remember a time in the 1930s where he ran away and joined the circus and all the adventure that followed as though it was yesterday.

 

Narrated by Jacob in flashback form, this book is unlike anything I’ve read before but I really enjoyed it. I was captivated by the characters from the start and the story is enthralling.

 

2008 is shaping up to be an excellent year book-wise!

 

The paperback is 331 pages long and is published by Hodder. The ISBN number is 978-0340935460.

 

9/10

 

(Read January 2008)

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I've just finished this book and really enjoyed it, I couldn't stop reading. Wouldn't recommend it for people who are sensitive to animal cruelty, and the violence is pretty graphic at times. Imagine this is pretty true-to-life to what circus life would have been in the 1930's in the USA, not an easy time, but a fascinating insight.

I wonder if you didn't know the author was a female, you would have thought this was written by a male? I found her style very gritty, maybe it was because it was narrated by Jacob.

Thank you for the recommendation Janet, a thoroughly good read :D

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I've been trying to read this book for the past month or so. I got distracted by other books, but I'm planning on returning to it soon. I'm about halfway through, and though it's good, I've read better.

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It was one of my favorite reads last year, I think it did a great job portraying the dark, seedy part of circus life and yet it still managed to show the pull that it can have.

 

I thought the author did a great job with the characters, the setting and as Poppy said telling it from a male point of view, had she used just her initials instead I may not of guess it was a woman.

 

I want to read her other book Riding Lessons, about a teenage girl and her horse training for equestrian jumping in the Olympics, that has an accident (it looks as if she has two books about the same character/them because the other Flying Changes had much the same description as Riding Lessons. Has anyone read either of these or know if one is a sequel?).

 

I saw she has a new book coming out in I think 2009 called Ape House while I was on Amazon too, but there was no description yet..

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I just received this book recently in a box of books that arrived unexpectedly. Glad it is having good reviews on here as I was wondering what it was like, didn't really look like my kind of book, but might give it a go now.:readingtwo:

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  • 3 years later...

Does anyone have any input on WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, by SARA GRUEN? I saw the just-released movie here in the US, and rather enjoyed it. (Have to say, though, that I thought the chemistry was lacking between Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson.)

 

Having seen the movie, I'm wondering whether I ought to pick up the book.

 

Anyone here read it?

 

Thanks.

Ken

Edited by Michelle
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I read it and really enjoyed it, excellent story, great characters, I found it quite a vibrant book, here is my review from the first time I read it :) ~

 

'Water for Elephants' was recommended to me by two friend of mines and it took me awhile to get around to buying it and eventually reading it, so thank you to my friends for the recommendation because (and believe me it deserves the capital letters) I LOVE THIS BOOK, I have never been so engrossed in a story since 'A Wild Sheep Chase' by Haruki Murakami and have never loved a character more than Jacob Jankowski, the story is told brilliantly, visually stunning, you can imagine the sights and sounds of the circus, Rosie the elephant, the main heroine of the story, is described so well and despite the fact she is a elephant she will always be a beloved character for me, she is shown in a way that despite her size she is delicate, loving, funny and stubborn.

 

As mentioned the characters are written well, it feels effortless to read them, you feel the love that author has for her characters and you will share it because in their own way they are all amazing people and animals, the story of the circus is told from a historical point of view, many of the tales shared in the story actually happened in various circuses (one example being, the lion and a dishwasher hiding together under a sink).

 

An amazing story of love, courage and how much circuses were a part of American history.

 

I know I will read 'Water for Elephants' again and again.

 

:bookworm:

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Sounds great, Weave. I have just added it to my wish list. :)

 

 

Good stuff Bobblybear, looking forward to reading your thoughts when you read it. :)

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I thought this book was utterly fabulous. Also, I'm really looking forward to the movie, starring Reese Witherspoon.

 

I'm looking forward to see Christoph Waltz in it, he is a great actor, and even though he was somewhat evil, I loved him in 'Inglourious'

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I just finished Water for Elephants. It was pretty good surprisingly. I have seen it in the bookstore for a while but I never was really enticed to pick it up. With the movie coming out I decided to give it a go - as it must be at least a decent read if it was turned into a movie. It was, now I'm looking up movie times!

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I just finished Water for Elephants. It was pretty good surprisingly. I have seen it in the bookstore for a while but I never was really enticed to pick it up. With the movie coming out I decided to give it a go - as it must be at least a decent read if it was turned into a movie. It was, now I'm looking up movie times!

 

I'm glad you enjoyed it so much Mountaingirl, I have read it twice now and it took me ages to read it when I first bought it, a nice surprise of a book I thought, enjoy the movie :)

Edited by Weave
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  • 3 weeks later...

I finished this today (just in time to go and see the film later this week!), and I enjoyed it. It was a very quick, easy read (took me about 3 hours in total), but I have to say I didn't find any benefit in having the story of the elderly Jacob intermingled with the young Jacob, and wished it had concentrated on the running away to the circus story and given that a bit more depth. I have a feeling I might like the film more for some reason.

 

Entertaining, and an interesting read, but felt like I wanted more intensity and depth to the characters relationships.

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