| | |  | Magna | Home » » » Water for Elephants: A Novel | | | | | | | Description: | | As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival. | | | Features: | |
• ISBN13: 9781565125605
• Condition: New
• Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
| | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Sara Gruen | | Paperback:
| 350 pages | | Publisher:
| Algonquin Books | | Publication Date:
| April 09, 2007 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 1565125606 | | Package Length:
| 8.1 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.4 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.9 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.9 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 1987 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
 Don't botherSep 08, 2010
All I have to say is this book was poorly written and painful to read. I would never recommend it. Why so many people thought so highly of it is beyond me.
Poorly writtenSep 08, 2010
After seeing over 1,000 five-star reviews, I feel an obligation to let people know how bad this book is. It has been a couple years since I read it, so unfortunately I can't remember a lot of details about what I hated about it. I actually finished it, but only because I was in a foreign country and couldn't get my hands on anything else to read. I spent the whole time I was reading it ranting to my husband about how bad it was, then threw it in the garbage when I was done.
I am not an expert on the era, but I could never get past all the anachronisms. The dialogue in particular did not seem believable for its time. All the characters spoke with the same voice, and the author was completely unable to capture the voice of an older man. It is not enjoyable to read fiction when you do not experience any suspension of disbelief. This author might have some potential to write a decent book, but only if she sticks to characters who are exactly like her. She has no business writing historical fiction.
Unlike some other negative reviewers, the profanity and animal abuse was not an issue for me.
Rotten job of what could have been a great ideaSep 08, 2010
I never write reviews, but when I saw how many five stars there were in comparison to one stars, I had to support those fellow readers who disliked this book as much as me. I was hooked by the time period and the circus idea, and I was looking forward to being drawn into that world, but the author did not deliver on either of those points at all. I felt like she created a pretty shabby structure for her novel by throwing a bunch of "well researched" pieces of information together. She then attempted to flesh in a story around this rickety structure with hollow, card-board, characters. The voice of young Jacob is meant to carry us through the story of the past, but I felt nothing for him or anyone else in the story. The relationships were so very empty, there were no reasons for anyone to have any connection to anybody else. I was not interested or invested in a single character. I kept reading in the hope that something would change, but it never did. It's really too bad when an idea that has such potential turns out be such a disappointment. Why on earth so many raved about this book is beyond me. Maybe it's the same reason crappy movies do so well at the box office...the general public have no clue about what's really worthy of our time, attention, and praise.
 Interesting CharactersSep 06, 2010
As most previous reviewers have said, this is a rich tale of circus life in the '30's. The protaganist, Jacob, is appealing with personality and real human emotion. I feel the author Ms. Gruen has well-researched everything-circus in writing this book.
I felt while reading this book I was actually seeing what transpired in my mind's eye-
I could see the rough characters come alive and could smell the sawdust, cookin grease, animals and popcorn. I felt what the characters felt when they fell upon hard times. This book also opened my eyes regarding how a rough slice of life a small circus can be.
Bring on the circus parade!
 Better Books Are Out There!Sep 04, 2010
I listened to the unabridged audio CD version as I drove the last couple of weeks. I know that the book was (and is) a wildly popular bestseller, but I have to confess that the thought that kept nagging at me as I listened was why? I'm not saying this is a bad book. It is somewhat engaging. However, I didn't find any of the characters particularly vivid or humanly multi-dimensional. And as soon as Rosie the elephant was added to the circus, halfway through the book, I had a (correct) feeling as to where the plot line was moving, so no surprise ending. I have no idea whether circus life in the prohibition era was anything like this, so can't comment on the authenticity of the backdrop, but I found it pretty depressing. Altogether, a pretty so-so read.
| | |
|
