Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, 331 pWhat an Animal! challenge
This book is getting great reviews everywhere and I can see why. I'm not putting it on my best reads ever, or even of the year, but that is because I knew about the raves and this book had a lot to live up to. But it's a great tale, with interesting characters and told in a very engaging style. There is something romantic about the 1930s and hopping the rails and the circus coming to town.
Part of the appeal of the story is the immersion into life in a circus, because everyone loves a circus. A simpler time when the trains carried a circus into small town America, and the reader gets to see what it would be like to live on the edges of society. Gruen tells her story in a way that makes you want to find out, what it is that Jacob doesn't want to remember. Jacob is now ninety or ninety-three and living in a senior's home. The arrival of a circus next door brings back his memories of his years in the circus. The images are very vivid, so much so that I imagine this could as a movie, with the setting and the plot and the characters and the action.
If you've reviewed this book, feel free to leave a link in the comments.
I really enjoyed this book when I read it.
ReplyDeleteMy review is here
Here is my review. I loved this book, especially Rosie!
ReplyDeleteEverytime I see a review of this I am reminded how much I want to read it! So many books .... But wait Gruen is Canadian! I'm definitly going to try and read this for the Can 2 Challenge.
ReplyDeleteGreat review.
I loved this book! It did go on my Best Reads of 2007, but I read it when it first came out - nothing to live up to. Isn't that a bummer when hype messes up a read?
ReplyDeleteI found this book kind of disappointing, but still a good read. My review is here.
ReplyDeleteHere's my review: http://bookclubclassics.com/Blog/2007/11/14/water-for-elephants/
ReplyDeleteI thought it was pretty good, until the end... :)
Oops -- let's try this...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bookclubclassics.com/Blog/2007/11/14/water-for-elephants/
Sorry!! :)
I've got this in my TBR and it's on my personal TBR challenge list for the year. Even people who don't love it usually say it's good.
ReplyDeleteI felt the same about Water for Elephants as you do. I really enjoyed it, but it didn't make it onto a favorite list.
ReplyDeleteMy review can be found here:
http://nyssaneala.blogspot.com/2007/02/water-for-elephants-by-sara-gruen.html
I enjoyed this one, too. My review is here/
ReplyDeleteI liked the story as well but it's not going on my best reads either. I don't think I've seen the cover that you've shown. My review is here.
ReplyDeleteI loved it! I linked your review to the bottom of my review. Here's the link to my review of it:
ReplyDeletehttp://teddyrose.blogspot.com/2008/01/water-for-elephants-by-sara-gruen.html
i've just posted a review of this one here.
ReplyDelete