The summaryIt's 1931. Jacob Jankowski has lost everything near and dear to him. During the middle of a lecture at Cornell, Jacob is called out of the room and informed that his parents have been killed in a car crash. No longer able to join his father in his veterinary practice and overcome with grief, Jacob runs away from Cornell and hops a train. He discovers that it wasn't any old train that he jumped, but the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Jacob becomes the circus's vet and cares for the menagerie. August, a paranoid schizophrenic and trainer of the animals, takes Jacob under his wing.
Jacob endures the squalid, filthy, and generally horrible conditions with traveling with the circus. Jacob is forced to sleep on an old, moldy horse blanket. The animals aren't cared for properly and are often abused by August. Uncle Al, the boss, doesn't pay his workmen and redlights them seemingly at random. August beats his wife, Marlena, the star performer and equestrian for the Benizi Brothers.
And Jacob falls in love with Marlena.
Jacob decides to take a stand and protect those who have been treated badly. He hides one of the sickly workmen in his room so that they won't get redlighted by Uncle Al. He stands up for the animals and for Marlena. One animal he stands up for in particular is Rosie, a bull elephant acquired by Uncle Al. August mercilessly beats Rosie when she doesn't obey him. Jacob discovers how to communicate with Rosie and forms a bond with the elephant.
Of course, because of Jacob's moral compass and his need to protect those who can't protect themselves, he just gets beaten up by August.
The book goes back and forth in time, between a 23 year old Jacob at the circus and a 93 year old Jacob in a nursing home. Living out his days in the home is frustrating to Jacob as his mind is still sharp but his body is decrepit. Jacob ruminates on the pains and frustrations of old age. A circus is coming to the nursing home, which prompts Jacob's memories of working for the Benizi Brothers.
The verdictWater for Elephants is a beautiful book. It's emotionally heart-wrenching, but humorous at the same time. The juxtaposition of Jacob's colorful, action-filled past and mundane, dull present is brilliant. At first, I was taken aback with the chapters with Jacob in the nursing home. You get into a groove, a state of mind, when reading about Jacob and the circus, and then to suddenly be brought back to a nursing home is jarring. However, it creates such a rich and deep narrative, past versus present. Questions become more prevalent as you read since you know Jacob survived the whole circus, so you wonder, what happened? It moves the story forward, having these two, almost separate, narratives.
You can tell that Sara Gruen did lots of research before writing the book. The book is such a detailed account of circus life during the Great Depression. Gruen did a spot-on job of utilizing circus terminology and creating the atmosphere of the Depression. The story feels so real, as if it isn't fiction. You become so invested in the characters and feel as though you're in the book.
It is a little graphic in some parts, and I thought, oh I really didn't need to know that. But, I can really only think of two instances and it really doesn't detract from the book as a whole at all. I suppose the whole circus life was graphic. That's just how it is.
The ending is so strange, yet so satisfying (I don't want to give anything away!) You think as you read along, "Oh there's no way this can end well," but then...
Well.
You'll just have to read it and find out!
Grade: A
