Water for Elephants

After reading Water for Elephants, I was very pleased with the novel. It was exciting, emotional, surprising, and very well-written. There were so many unpredictable events that left you eager to keep turning the pages. Some examples of these events were when Jacob makes the shocking decision to travel with the circus, when a new animal is brought onto the circus who connects with Marlena and Jacob, or when the stampede occurs. The novel was full of love, grief, surprises, evil, courage, and strength. Despite the unexpected events, the book was not a thrilling and action packed book; it simply tells the story of a young man who joins the circus, falls in love, and faces many hardships. Telling the story in both young and old Jacob Jankowski’s perspectives gives a brilliant insight to his character and the thoughts he has throughout the novel. The author’s writing was very detailed but not too descriptive to the point where it was overwhelming. The structure of the book gives it a unique twist because it changes between two different time periods throughout the story. The most exciting part of the book is the climax where the truth is unleashed about who killed August. This is the moment where the reader can see how the prologue connected to the novel, and all of the questions that were forming inside the reader’s thoughts are answered. Overall, I thought this book was very intriguing and engaging to read. The story and plot were developed in a sophisticated way that allowed the reader to easily follow it. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a romantic book that also explores deeper themes of determination, loss, and many more.

Water for Elephants was nothing like I expected it to be like. I expected it to be just some boring summer reading book that I would have to force myself to read. Once I started reading it however, I seriously could not put it down. I read this book where ever and when ever I could. The way Sara Gruen starts the book and has him as an old man and his past self is so funny and cool to me. Jacob's old man self has lots of kick in him still, I was smiling the whole time he talked about walking over to the circus and meeting that nice man that let him rejoin it after all those years. His younger self I fell into absolute love with too, how kind he was towards everyone and just wanted the best for them. The way he starts off his journey and just HAPPENS to jump onto a at train that needed a veterinarian is so ironic. His extremely stressful and caring relationship with Marcela is so sweet too, they both share so much compassion for both the animals and each other. When August beats Rosie with the bull hook, Marcela and Jacob are so enraged and saddened for the poor innocent elephant. Everyone in the book (except August and the ringmaster) are so kind and helpful towards each other. My favorite character duo in the book was definitely Kinko and Queenie. They were so funny and cute together, Kinkos love for Queenie was so moving and adorable, you could truly feel his heartbreak when he thought he left Queenie behind on the train. I loved how all of the good characters cared for each other and how Sara Gruen truly wrote an amzing book. At some points during the book I was actually laughing, in awe, or had my mouth wide open in surprise. The ending was so sweet and giving. I honestly loved this book and wished there was a a part 2 to it.

I read Water for Elephants this past summer for a school summer assignment and I for the most part enjoyed it. I mostly loved the setting, because a circus is so uncommon and it introduced so many diverse and new types of characters that I have never encountered in any of my other book. The book is set in the 1930’s and it focuses on a 20 year old boy named jacob who falls deeply in love with a woman named Marlena who is married. As you can expect this creates many berserk scenes which were so fun to read. Also I, being a girl, fell so in love with the main character Jacob. He is so kindhearted, smart, intelligent, and he stands up for Marlena and his friends throughout the whole book which easily made him my favorite character. Things I didn’t like as much about the book is that it was very descriptive about all the settings or people's appearances and some scenes were slightly provocative so anyone who is deciding whether or not to buy this book I would suggest being of the mature age. Another critique I had was that there were some scenes that seemed very unrealistic, mostly referring to one toward the end with the elephant and Marlena's husband August. Overall I thought it was a very interesting and exciting book that I would recommend to anyone who loves epic love stories or someone who is wanting to get out of their comfort zone and read a book with a completely different plot and setting than they have ever read before. I don’t think anyone will regret reading it.

I avoided this novel for a long time because I have never been a fan of the circus (especially because of documented animal abuse and its exploitation of human oddities for amusement and profit.) However, I adore period novels that truly immerse you in another era and I decided to try the book and abandon it if it became too unsettling.Unfortunately, it did.Water for Elephants is beautifully written and the author is remarkably gifted at transporting you back in time. She has an inexhaustible imagination and jam packs her story with dozens of quirky and compelling characters who spring off the page with the agility of acrobats. This is not a soporific tale. In addition to all the eccentric characters bounding around the plot of Water For Elephants is as big and blinding as a massive disco ball and about every other chapter bursts like a pinata. Something is always happening: someone is being punched in the nose or high pitched shrieks are coming from the big tent or a mustached villain is hurling insults at some hapless circus employee. This novel is brash and brazen and graphic and I didn't have a problem with most of it. I enjoyed the frenetic pace and the sparkly madness of it all and the tale itself is truly original and engrossing.My problem with this novel is that it does involve animals that are confined and mistreated and it also discusses the custom of displaying humans with physical deformities as sideshow 'freaks'. I am well aware this could not be avoided considering the subject matter and I'm certain the author wanted to paint a vivid and historically accurate portrait of the circus in the early 20th century. However, she does her job a bit too thouroughly and there were times I had to skip or skim entire paragraphs. I simply couldn't tolerate the highly lurid descriptions of horses throats being sliced open, lit cigarettes being tossed into the beguiling elephant's mouth. or desperate people being gawked at because they were obese or sprouting a parasitic twin from their chest.That being said, Sara Gruen is an amazingly talented writer and after reading her bio and learning about her small menagerie at home and her penchant for saving orphaned cats I am certain she did not write this book to rejoice in the mistreatment of animals. She also sounds like a kind and compassionate person who definitely wouldn't be eager to view 'freaks' at a circus sideshow. Water For Elephants is a fascinating and dazzling tale but if it makes you uncomfortable to read about animal or human abuse I would probably avoid it.

** spoiler alert ** Like many people before me, I picked up this book after having seen and enjoyed the movie. This is one rare occasion where I loved the movie more than the book (but that may just be because I saw the movie first.) In some ways this is like an amped up romance novel. There's so much focus on the romance between Jacob and Marlena but she has the personality of a wet napkin so I really don't get the appeal. When I read the negative reviews for this book a lot of people made issue with the " graphic and frequent sex scenes" it made me somewhat hesitant to read it but those concerns were unfounded. There was some sex, and some thoughts of sex and some lit nips BUT the story is being told by a sex-deprived geriatric/ a horny teenage VIRGIN! If anyone was shocked that a 19yo was obsessed with scoring a little trim they should walk directly off the nearest cliff. It was a bit more detail than necessary but I've read sex scenes that made me cringe from the details and this wasn't that. If I had to list my own personal complaints I would start with the ending, that was literally my biggest issue with this novel. There are some big, gaping, elephant sized holes my friends. I mean, what did they do, stand around Bumpuckey West Nowhereland with 12 horses and and elephant for however many days until Ringling could come pick them up? I mean I get that it was a happy ending, the sun will come out tomorrow etc. but the author basically did a Sopranos style fade to black. What about the other animals?! Whatever, don't get me started, I could go off on an all day tangent.... point is there was something to be desired. My favorite parts of the book were mostly centered around Old Jacob, he was by far the best written (and my favorite) character. Curious as to why they cut the Rosemary character out of the movie, because their relationship was a nice really sweet. Overall it was a good read, I enjoyed traveling back in time to the circus and I am willing to overlook the flaws to take the trip.