Water for Elephants

Water for Elephants
by Sara Gruen

For a while, it was the book to have on the subway or train to read. And then the not-too-great movie came out, and I've been seeing Water for Elephants everywhere. I just wasn't sure it was the book for me.

For starters, I heard that the main character was really old, and he was retelling his youth. Those stories never seem to work out well for me (as in, I usually cry and feel depressed). Then, a story about a circus--really? I'm freaked out by clowns and am allergic to hay. After I got over the fact that I'd never be a trapeze artist (see: how to give your dad a heart attack when you're 5), I kind of lost interest in the big top.

On a whim, I decided to try it anyway. How bad could it be?

So not bad. In fact, I was skipping my usual morning nap on the train just to get a few more pages in. Sara Gruen's prose was smooth and easy to read. Plus, the number of clowns making appearances was kept to a minimum.

The story is of Jacob Jankowski, a veterinarian who is forced to leave Cornell just before finishing his final exams. He finds himself on a circus train, manages to get a job (something of a miracle in the Depression), and becomes a part of the circus family, more or less. He also falls in love with the star, a woman who's able to command her show horses with an ease and skill unmatched. Naturally, she's married to the hot-headed animal manager, who's got more than a morbid sense of humor and an unpredictable nature.

From there, the story takes shape. I was captivated by not only the story--though it's just a simple love story--but with the description of the circus as it made its way to depressed towns along the train route. Thank goodness I never had to work as a grunt setting up the Big Top. Or had to do the backbreaking work during Prohibition.

Overall, the story gives a nice payoff at the end, and though I got a little teary-eyed, it was a far cry from the deluge that happened after The Notebook.

Recommended for: women who want Nicolas Sparks without the cliche, those who like Seabiscuit (the book and the movie), anyone who thinks the current depressed economy matches the one in the late 1920s (it doesn't...so far).