May 20, 2008

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Out of the last five books I've read, this was my favorite. I picked it up at the airport on Sunday based on a recommendation from a ton of people and finished it before I went to bed Sunday night. Maybe it's because the storyline was so new to me or the idea of circus life just fascinated me, I really don't know. The basic storyline is an old man is living in an assisted living home when a circus comes to town. The circus brings back memories of one summer when he worked in the circus back in his younger years. The book jumps between the old man's current experiences at the assisted living home, and his past experiences as a vet for the circus.

I don't remember being bored at all during the entire novel. From the experiences of an agitated elderly man to a mentally unstable ringleader, I was captivated by the different characters and the circus life. I've never actually been to a circus, but this book definitely made me want to go and see the horse and elephant show now that I have a better glimpse at what goes on behind the scenes. There's not really anything extremely surprising about this book, the plot plods along mostly like you would expect it to with some basic twists and turns. But surprisingly even though I could see the end from the beginning, I still really enjoyed the path Gruen took me on.

3 comments:

  1. You know, I almost picked this up at Borders this weekend, it looked interesting but I just wasn't sure. Now I know. Thanks!

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  2. You've never been to the circus? I remember going a couple times when I was real little, but I lost interest after that.

    This sounds interesting, but I have such a long list of books I want to get to. If the list starts to winnow down, I'll try to remember to add this one.

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  3. This was a wonderful book that engaged me from the start. I curled up with it on my day off, and devoured it, never wanting it to end, and I loved the ending. It amazes me that anyone who had not grown up as part of a traveling circus could write such a detailed passionate account. Now I want to read her other books.

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