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Loading... Water for Elephants: A Novel (original 2006; edition 2007)by Sara Gruen
Work InformationWater for Elephants by Sara Gruen (2006)
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I LOVED this book. I can't believe that I waited so long to read it. It's sat on my nook since back around April and I'm just kicking myself for waiting so long to read it. I love the character Jacob. The story itself was fabulous. When a book sucks you in from the first page, you know you have a winner. ( ) Summary: An old man in his 90s reminisces about his time in the circus. My Opinion: I'm writing this a little differently because this is pure fluff for me. I loved this book. It's funny, it's disturbing, it's gritty, it's incredibly sad, and there is a love story intertwined within the pages. It's about love, friendship, the fragility of life, and the need for remembrance--not just in memories, but in our relationships, too. This is short because I don't want to give too much away!
It's a favorite of book clubs and reading groups, and is supposedly rife with parallels between the protagonist, Jacob Jankowski and Jacob, grandson of Abraham, in the Bible. I wish one of you would tell me what they are. They are not obvious to me, other than a cryptic "Jacob's ladder" parallel to the ladder on the train cars that give access to the roof and that will be important late in the story. What is obvious to me is this is a book about memory, something elephants are famous for and something humans are famous for treating as reliable when it isn't. At its finest, "Water for Elephants" resembles stealth hits like "The Giant's House," by Elizabeth McCracken, or "The Lovely Bones," by Alice Sebold, books that combine outrageously whimsical premises with crowd-pleasing romanticism. But Gruen's prose is merely serviceable, and she hurtles through cataclysmic events, overstuffing her whiplash narrative with drama (there's an animal stampede, two murders and countless fights). What goes on under the big top is nothing compared with the show backstage. Has the adaptationHas as a student's study guideAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
A novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932. When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob 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.--From publisher description. No library descriptions found.
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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