Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

This week, looking forward to my school's prom this weekend, I decided that I wanted to read a good, quality, modern love story, but something a little more edgy with a bit of grit! I settled on the 2006 novel Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, and I was not disappointed in the least!

Water for Elephants is the beautiful, captivating tale of a young Polish boy named Jacob who, in the wake of a personal tragedy, embarks on a tumultuous and riveting career as the veterinarian for a travelling circus in Depression-era America. Told in first person by Jacob himself, the book alternates between the voice of a young, spirited Jacob and an elderly, ninety-something year old Jacob who is struggling with the hardships of memory-loss and his dull life in an assisted living home. Jacob, in his delicate storytelling, narrates the three or so months he spent falling in love with a magnificent, married circus performer, Marlena, and a majestic, hulking bull elephant, Rosie.

Gruen's pure writing talent is definitely something to be admired and part of the reason this book is so appealing and enjoyable. Gruen has an admirable and extensive vocabulary which she efficiently utilizes to carry out her best talent: imagery .Gruen is truly able to paint a picture with her words, while avoiding the perils of elaborating too much and boring the reader. Her descriptions of the circus and its freaks, menageries, and spectacular performances put the reader on the floor of the hippodrome, allowing them to feel as if they are there themselves, breathing in the smell of peanuts and cotton candy.

In addition to her elegant writing style, Gruen develops extremely complex but yet very simplistic characters. The book is almost Gatsby-esque, with a narrator who, despite being the very center of the book and the viewpoint through which the readers experience the story, is almost elusive and difficult to understand by the end of the novel, slightly similar to Gatsby's Nick Carraway. Even more resembling of F. Scott Fitzgerald's magnum opus is the similarities between Marlena and her brute of a husband, and Daisy and Tom Buchanan. As the book evolves, the characters become figures regarded by the reader with great passion. In fact, I have just spent a couple hours (it is now 1 a.m.) in an anxious rush to finish the book, wanting to know the outcomes for my beloved circus friends.

Of many of the recent fictional novels that I have read over the past couple of years, Water for Elephants has definitely taken its place as one of my favorites. The book exudes a passion for the ideals of love, art, and good writing. If you are looking for a great, romantic, but slightly unnerving book, Water for Elephants is perfect for you!


Thank you for reading, and I hope you have enjoyed my take on the book. Feel free to comment below or email me about your opinions on the book or for suggestions for my posts in the upcoming weeks. Have a wonderful week, after all, "Life is the most spectacular show on Earth!"

"I want her to melt into me, like butter on toast. I want to absorb her and walk around for the rest of my days with her encased in my skin. I want."

-Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen