"Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Finished: July 19, 2009 (2 days before library due date)
Page Count: 335

Why I read it:
One of my (many) bosses at school recommended this book to me. He enjoyed it and when I told him I was reading "Columbine" he suggested I read this because it is not as dark.

Wikipedia Synopsis:
Set during the Great Depression of the, Water for Elephants tells the story of a young man who leaves his life as a Cornell University veterinary student after losing both his parents in a car accident, and jumps onto a train that happens to house the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. After a short confrontation with Blackie, a bouncer that stops stowaways, and Camel (a limp old worker) promising him a job and an audience with Uncle Al (The Ringmaster) Jacob decides to stay aboard the train. Since his parents have died in an automobile accident, and he has not a home to call his own, he decides to remain with the circus. Jacob is employed as the show’s veterinarian and he faces a number of challenges in dealing with the head trainer, August, while also learning how to function in the hierarchy of the circus and falling in love with August's wife, Marlena.

The story is told as a series of memories by Jacob Jankowski, either a ninety or ninety-three year-old man who lives in a nursing home.

As the memories begin, Jacob Jankowski is twenty-three years old and preparing for his final exams as a Cornell University veterinary student when he receives the news that his parents were killed in a car accident. Jacob’s father was a veterinarian and Jacob had planned to join his practice. When Jacob learns that his father was deeply in debt because he had been treating animals for free as well as mortgaging the family home to provide Jacob an Ivy League education, he has a breakdown and leaves school just short of graduation. In the dark of night, he jumps on a train only to learn it is a circus train. When the owner of the circus, Uncle Al, learns of his training as a vet, he is hired to care for the circus animals.

The head trainer, August, is a brutal man who abuses the animals in his care as well as the people around him. Alternately, he can be utterly charming. Jacob develops a guarded relationship with August and his wife, Marlena, with whom Jacob falls in love. August is suspicious of their relationship and beats Marlena and Jacob. Marlena subsequently leaves August, which is the precipitating event leading to the ultimate demise of the Benzini Brothers circus.

What I thought:
I immediately really liked this book but it took until the library deadline to get me to sit down and read most of it in a day. I'm glad I did because there were little parts to the story that I feel like I would have forgotten.

"Water for Elephants" is about a man who used to work for the circus and is now 93 and living in a nursing home. He recalls his time at the circus and every few chapters the book talks about his present life and how miserable he is at the nursing home. The book paints an amazing picture of the circus, a show I went to once when I was younger but was so much different when this book was set.

Lots happens at this circus, good and bad, and there was a love story, which is my total weakness, so I was pleased. The book had an ending I was hoping for after so many trials and tribulations in this man's life. It wasn't the most light-hearted of books but it was still a great read and I'm glad to have taken Ron's advice!