Water for Elephants

Yeah, I've read it.

I found the bits where it was set in the 'present' quite depressing, really. I hate the thought of feeling that way when I get old... Hopefully I'm more optimistic and can avoid it

The bits with the circus were good, interesting, but the ending was a bit... Unrealistic? At least it was happy, I suppose.

Overall, a pretty good book, probably not one of my top books, but each to their own.

I read it about six months ago and enjoyed it very much. Agreed that it's not a top ten, but worthwhile all the same.

Meh- I didn't particularly care for it. I realize I am in the minority here, but that's ok.

liked it.

much better than some of the crap on the shelves these days...

(broken finger)

i liked it too. it wasn't profound or anything, but enjoyable all the same. i liked the attention to historical detail. that's always appreciated on my end.

I struggled to get into it but, when I did, I enjoyed it. It's not perfect by any means, has some flaws for sure. I actually liked the present-day frame of the old man in the nursing home. It seemed more real and believable than the circus stuff. I also liked the elephant very much.

I liked it, though I agree the ending was a little unbelievable. But how are you going to end a book about a 90 or 93 year old man happily, especially one confined to a nursing home?

But the circus history blew me away. I understand she did lots of research on depression-era circuses before she wrote it.

Online Book Group - Discussion thread for Water for Elephants

Ok, discuss away! It's been a year since I read this one, but I still remember most of it, though I can't recall the main characters name...

Either way, I enjoyed the book - I really felt comfortable with the "older" character telling his story. I guess having had a close relationship with my grandparents, one of which lived in a senior home, helped me "feel" the environment of the nursing home as it was supposed to be felt.

Let your thoughts roll!

Main character's name is Jacob.

Anyways, here's my thoughts (POST CONTAINS SPOILERS):

I thought the author was pretty good with details. For example, in the beginning there was a sentence that really struck out at me, something that I never thought about before, but could immediately envision in my head. And that was the first girl he was "in love" with (Catherine maybe? Can't remember her name) was left handed. And he noticed that because she was left handed and writing in pencil that she had smudge marks all the way up her arm. i thought that was a really cool detail.

The second thing I was impressed with was just how well this female author was able to capture the male mind and write a male character. Most of the time when authors try to do this, they only get it about halfway write, but this was a case where I'm seriously questioning whether the author is truly a woman. lol She understands the male mind pretty well, and she captured that nicely.

The story itself was interesting. I was able to to read it in like 3 sittings, so it was a decent enough story to keep me hooked. There were some boring parts here and there, and the beginning seemed a little shaky for me.

The biggest part about what I didn't like was that the story was fairly predictable. I mean, I knew as soon as Marlena told Jacob to put the elephant in the tent that that was going to be the thing that made August flip out and accuse them of having an affair.

I was really sad to hear that they through Camel overboard. I didn't give much a shit about Kinko. His transformation was way to fast for me. It was like one moment he hated Jacob and the next moment he was like his best friend until the end of time.

Finally, I was impressed that the author actually let Jacob and Marlena end up together. It was the only thing about the story that I didn't see coming. This story had unrequited love written all over it. Or the death of the girl. It was really nice to see the relationship work out for a change.

All in all, it was a decent read. I'd recommend it to people and maybe give it like a 3.5 out 5.

I enjoyed this book. Sure, I think the ending was very convenient (like James, I was thinking unrequited love), but a happy ending is rather nice every once in a while. When I first realized the book was "about" the circus I groaned. Is there any topic less interesting to me? I was pleasantly surprised by the characters and their interactions and even the descriptions of the day-to-day working life of circus performers, et al.

Above all of that, what really struck me about the book - and something I think Gruen pulled off very well - was the prologue. We AWers seem to not be fans of prologues. I know I'm not a fan. But this is a case where a prologue was used very well. Instead of a prologue that is a dream (yawn) or backstory (yawn) or what the Big Baddie is doing when the hero discovers he's a hero (yawn), we are instead introduced to what we believe is the conclusion to the story. Except that it isn't. If you are like me, you read through the book believing Marlena is the one who kills August. It affected the way I looked at the characters and anticipated their moves and, in the end, left me with a pleasant surprise when I found out who really killed August.

I thought Kinko/Walter's turn around was believable, actually. Why? Because Jacob helped his dog. Walter was written as a friendless freak of a character that had been unloved and spit upon all his life. His dog was his deepest relationship. It meant something to Walter that Jacob was able to heal the dog. We like people who do meaningful things for us.

Finally, I though the scenes in the retirement home were great. The workers ran the gamut from sinister, stressed-out meanies to compassionate but realistic caretakers. Pretty representative of reality, seemed to me.

Overall, I found it to be a smooth, pleasant read. There wasn't anything particularly groundbreaking (besides the prologue), but I was entertained all the way through. Oh, and did anyone else find themselves getting hungry as they read? All those pork chops and ham and eggs scenes . . . yum.

MissKris said:

Above all of that, what really struck me about the book - and something I think Gruen pulled off very well - was the prologue. We AWers seem to not be fans of prologues. I know I'm not a fan. But this is a case where a prologue was used very well. Instead of a prologue that is a dream (yawn) or backstory (yawn) or what the Big Baddie is doing when the hero discovers he's a hero (yawn), we are instead introduced to what we believe is the conclusion to the story. Except that it isn't. If you are like me, you read through the book believing Marlena is the one who kills August. It affected the way I looked at the characters and anticipated their moves and, in the end, left me with a pleasant surprise when I found out who really killed August.

Click to expand...

Oh yeah! I forgot about that. Honestly, when I read the prologue I had no idea where that was going to fit into the story. Then again, I, like you, wasn't particularly thrilled with the idea of reading a story about the circus and I didn't warm up to the book until about 50 pages in.

But yeah, I thought it was really cool how the prologue was used.

MissKris said:

Oh, and did anyone else find themselves getting hungry as they read? All those pork chops and ham and eggs scenes . . . yum.

Click to expand...

Heck yeah I did. At one point I had to put the book down and go make me a plate of scrambled eggs.

James81 said:

Oh yeah! I forgot about that. Honestly, when I read the prologue I had no idea where that was going to fit into the story. Then again, I, like you, wasn't particularly thrilled with the idea of reading a story about the circus and I didn't warm up to the book until about 50 pages in.

But yeah, I thought it was really cool how the prologue was used.



Heck yeah I did. At one point I had to put the book down and go make me a plate of scrambled eggs.

Click to expand...

I don't recall so well, but I think it was the first dinner invite that Jacob went to Marlena and August's car that entertained me so much. The tension in the air, the drunkenness, I loved it.

And I do recall all the food. I love reading scenes with food/dining. Love it.

I am very selective in what new books I buy but this book was one I bought with delight. I had heard just a little previous to purchasing it and reading it but I was hooked almost immediately.

Since I am a heavy, avid reader and have been for many years, my tastes are often jaded. I finish every book I start but many fall short of my expectations.

Water For Elephants exceeded them. I enjoyed the tight, descriptive writing and the story told in two time periods, Jacob's present in the nursing home and his past with the show.

I'm no expert on circuses but the book matched what I recall and for evoking the 1930's, I thought Gruen did an outstanding job of making the reader see and feel the times.

The vintage pictures throughout the book added to the story and enhanced it too.

I actually hated the pictures. Not that they were that big a deal. I thought they seemed a bit tacky.

Well, until I got to the woman with her naked breasts. Then they were ok I guess.

While it took a while for me get into it, I ended up really enjoying this novel. I cared about the characters -- felt anger toward the bosses and empathy toward the performers, including the elephant, of course.

I very much enjoyed the nursing home frame and found I wanted more of the aged Jacob as opposed to his memories.

James81 said:

I actually hated the pictures. Not that they were that big a deal. I thought they seemed a bit tacky.

Well, until I got to the woman with her naked breasts. Then they were ok I guess.

Click to expand...

To each, his or her own, I guess.

I truly liked the pictures because they illustrated the realities that inspired the novel and because I like vintage photos in general anyway, as a "window to the past".

Read this a couple of months ago...really excellent!

I liked the photos! I found the vintage pictures made the story come even more alive, but I really like vintage photographs, so might be biased on that one.

CaroGirl said:

I liked the photos! I found the vintage pictures made the story come even more alive, but I really like vintage photographs, so might be biased on that one.

Click to expand...

Well, I didn't like them because I don't really like a novel that has pictures. I like to use my imagination way too much for the author to try and show me what he/she things I can't imagine on my own.

That kind of thing.

The pictures themselves are kind of cool. Just not in the book.

James81 said:

Well, I didn't like them because I don't really like a novel that has pictures. I like to use my imagination way too much for the author to try and show me what he/she things I can't imagine on my own.

That kind of thing.

The pictures themselves are kind of cool. Just not in the book.

Click to expand...

I didn't see them as pictures about the novel per se, considering the book is fiction and all. They're merely a depiction of circuses from that era, to evoke a feeling. Almost like using a photo as cover art. Like if you had a novel set in 1930s New York and used a photo of the era on the cover.

CaroGirl said:

I didn't see them as pictures about the novel per se, considering the book is fiction and all. They're merely a depiction of circuses from that era, to evoke a feeling. Almost like using a photo as cover art. Like if you had a novel set in 1930s New York and used a photo of the era on the cover.

Click to expand...

Actually, I did indeed see them as pictures about the novel and I had fun trying to guess what the next chapter was going to be about or was going to feature based on the picture. Even if I didn't guess right, I found that the pictures were an accurate lead-in/clue to the contents of each chapter. The picture with the fat lady? Preceeded the fat lady's death in the book, etc.

Yeah, the pics were tacky, but so were second-rate circuses in the 1930's. I didn't love or hate them, but I do think they added something to the fullness of the novel, especially since I didn't live in the 30's. I wouldn't have imagined things quite that over-the-top without them.

johnnysannie said:

I'm no expert on circuses but the book matched what I recall and for evoking the 1930's, I thought Gruen did an outstanding job of making the reader see and feel the times.

Click to expand...

I believe she did tons and tons of research before tackling this project.

CaroGirl said:

I very much enjoyed the nursing home frame and found I wanted more of the aged Jacob as opposed to his memories.

Click to expand...

She did a great job of making me want to know more about his present day family, and his life in the home also.