The 1930s world of the traveling circus is the backdrop for Sara Gruen’s book Water for Elephants. The book was released in 2006 in hardcover and was a New York Times Bestseller, but the release of the movie (starring Robert Pattinson of Twilight fame) this month has regenerated a great deal of interest in the book, which will be released in paperback this month.
The novel tells the story of a young man named Jacob who is ready to graduate from an Ivy League university with a veterinary degree. A week before graduation, his world is turned upside down when both his parents are killed in a car crash and he’s left to fend for himself. He leaves school, and on an impulse, jumps on a train car leaving town—which turns out to be a circus train.
Many of us have been to a circus before, usually the big spectacles such as Ringling Brothers with the big top, aerialists, clowns, and animal performances. It seems like a beautiful, exciting world with the exotic animals, dangerous stunts, and glamorous costumes. But in Jacob’s decade, circuses were completely different. Jacob finds himself in a small circus operating by the skin of its teeth; filled with danger, murder, and deception
The narrator is Jacob, who is now 90 or 93 years old (he can’t remember which). Although he has trouble remembering the events of his everyday life, his memories of the past—especially during his time with the circus—are crystal clear.
When young Jacob is accepted into the circus as a general laborer setting up tents and selling tickets, he discovers a world he had never imagined before in his privileged life. After the owner finds out that he has veterinary training, he is put to work taking care of the circus animals, including 12 horses. These horses work in an act with August—the dangerous but brilliant head trainer hated by most of the people in the circus—and his beautiful young wife Marlena. Jacob is immediately drawn to Marlena and repulsed by August. August is cruel to both people and animals—but he knows how to “put on a great show.”
But when the circus owner, Big Al, buys out the animal stock from a circus that has gone under, Jacob meets the real star of the circus (and the book)—an elephant named Rosie. When Rosie begins acting up and not following directions, angering August, Jacob makes a startling discovery about the animal that changes Jacob’s place at the circus. His love of animals leads to a relationship with Marlena who, like Jacob, has a deep bond with the animals.
Gruen has clearly spent a lot of time researching Depression-era circuses and how they impacted people’s lives. She incorporates a great deal of information about animals, especially horses.
At times, the gritty details of human and animal suffering can be more than the reader is prepared for. There is not a lot of beauty in this book; it’s graphic and tells a sad story for the most part. But the ending gives you a lift and shows that good triumphs over evil.
The novel tells the story of a young man named Jacob who is ready to graduate from an Ivy League university with a veterinary degree. A week before graduation, his world is turned upside down when both his parents are killed in a car crash and he’s left to fend for himself. He leaves school, and on an impulse, jumps on a train car leaving town—which turns out to be a circus train.
Many of us have been to a circus before, usually the big spectacles such as Ringling Brothers with the big top, aerialists, clowns, and animal performances. It seems like a beautiful, exciting world with the exotic animals, dangerous stunts, and glamorous costumes. But in Jacob’s decade, circuses were completely different. Jacob finds himself in a small circus operating by the skin of its teeth; filled with danger, murder, and deception
The narrator is Jacob, who is now 90 or 93 years old (he can’t remember which). Although he has trouble remembering the events of his everyday life, his memories of the past—especially during his time with the circus—are crystal clear.
When young Jacob is accepted into the circus as a general laborer setting up tents and selling tickets, he discovers a world he had never imagined before in his privileged life. After the owner finds out that he has veterinary training, he is put to work taking care of the circus animals, including 12 horses. These horses work in an act with August—the dangerous but brilliant head trainer hated by most of the people in the circus—and his beautiful young wife Marlena. Jacob is immediately drawn to Marlena and repulsed by August. August is cruel to both people and animals—but he knows how to “put on a great show.”
But when the circus owner, Big Al, buys out the animal stock from a circus that has gone under, Jacob meets the real star of the circus (and the book)—an elephant named Rosie. When Rosie begins acting up and not following directions, angering August, Jacob makes a startling discovery about the animal that changes Jacob’s place at the circus. His love of animals leads to a relationship with Marlena who, like Jacob, has a deep bond with the animals.
Gruen has clearly spent a lot of time researching Depression-era circuses and how they impacted people’s lives. She incorporates a great deal of information about animals, especially horses.
At times, the gritty details of human and animal suffering can be more than the reader is prepared for. There is not a lot of beauty in this book; it’s graphic and tells a sad story for the most part. But the ending gives you a lift and shows that good triumphs over evil.
