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Water for Elephants”
A Novel, Written By Sara Gruen

Book Review by Jay Gilbertson

Who, in their right mind, doesn’t like the circus? If you answered “yes,” then this book is for you. If you answered “no” then this book is for you too. There is something for everyone in this tremendously well-researched novel of schizophrenic madmen, a possible murderer in pink sequins and a towering heroine who happens to be addicted to lemonade. What could be more fun?

A depression-era circus can be the best place to be if you’re Jacob Jankowski and you just buried your parents, found out they mortgaged everything they owned to send you off to veterinary college and ultimately you had nothing left to lose.

Some of the central themes of this page-turner are to follow your instincts, stay true to what you believe in and try to survive no matter what. It’s the what part that kept me flying through the book. The story shifts back and forth from Jacob at ninety (or ninety-three–he’s not sure) to his incredible life on the train with the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show On Earth–the circus! By incredible, I mean that there is a constant fear-factor woven underneath every nuance, every situation is rubbed raw in not ever being entirely sure of just what the future holds, or even if Jacob has one. That dread is dolled out in buckets-full by the head honcho of Benzini Brothers–Uncle Al–who can have you “red-lighted” (tossed off the train) for any number of indiscretions, or simply to lesson the load. The incredible part is that, in the end, Jacob not only manages to become the circus veterinarian, he also gets the girl, a bereaved dog, one elephant (Rosie) and eleven horses. Who could ask for more, you ask? Jacob Jankowski, that’s who.

Then there are the animals. A team of “Liberty” horses, lions and zebras and llamas, giraffes, chimps, panthers, and Rosie–the elephant–the Polish elephant no less. The elephant that, like all elephants, drinks far more water than anyone cou
The seven musts priority

While I don’t completely regret reading this book about a young man who joins the circus as a vet in the 1930’s, in hindsight I defintely would have chosen another book. It starts off with a bang, then slows down significantly in the middle, and it ends quite nicely. It’s your typical boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl story. I did enjoy the historical fiction aspect of it and I truly enjoyed the final portion of the book where the author writes about why, how, and what she did to write this book.

I’d recommend it to the causal reader, but a more sophisticated reader may want to look elsewhere.
Seven Homilies On Ethnic