Adam & Amber’s Blog

As I mentioned in my review of The Devil in the White City, I really only read on vacation.  So it should come as no surprise that after my return from a summer vacation visiting family I am again writing a book review.  I again read a historically placed book, although this time the book is pure fiction (which is good, because it means it can be my next book club selection, and yes I see how the fact I am in a book club and yet only read on vacation is a bit odd).  Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is a novel the combines many stories from the history of the circus, but rolls them up into one solid plot line.

The book revolves around Jacob, a second generation Polish Immigrant who is either 90 or 93 years old.  The book has two main plot lines,  the first follows the 90ish year old Jacob in an assisted living facility as he deals with getting older, loosing memory, trying not to go senile, and looking forward to attending a traveling circus.  This small part of the story is very well crafted and really made me think about what it must be like for the millions of elderly that live in assisted living facilities.  It isn’t that Gruen paints an awful picture of nursing homes, it is more about the dehumanizing of the elderly, and recognition of one selves slow march to the end.  For me, even though at this point in his life Jacob is bitter, frustrated, and generally not very nice, through his inner dialog I really became connected to him and sympathized with what it feels like to get older (regardless of how full your life has been).

It is through this 90ish year old Jacob’s dreams that the major plot line of the book is told.  It starts with Jacob studying to follow in his father’s footsteps as a veterinarian.  However, as with many people in depression era America, plans do not always go as planned.  He ends up joining a “Train Circus” and through him we are introduced to the very complicated and telling world of the depression era circus.  Complete with racism, classism, sexism, cruelness, comradery, friendship, love, and caring.  The story is gripping, not so much because the plot is exciting, but because Gruen does such a great job of getting you connected with the characters.   From the working men, to the ringleader, to the midget clown you meet and get an understanding of each of them and through them understand the complex world in which they live a little more.

Overall, I learned a great deal more about the hey day of the circus, which for me has always been a small spectacle attended by children, and being able to learn something while being entertained is always cool.  I was also so drawn in by the story that I finished the book in under 24-hours, which for me is quite a feat.  The book is definitely, at its heart, a love story, and if it were made into a movie could easily go the “chick flick” route, but it is also historically interesting enough and has enough other action that it is really a good read for anyone.