( #WaterForElephants, #SaraGruen )
I finished reading “Water for Elephants
Who doesn’t love the circus? Animals, peanuts, drunk little people. Writer Sara Gruen picked this fertile backdrop to tell a love story and it was a good choice because I hate reading love stories. Getting right to the point, the most interesting aspect of this book is the actual circus history that Gruen cherry-picked for the story. The background characters, the economics of the circus, and the stories about the animals sell this book.
The dynamic of the “love triangle” and the main character’s circumstances are overly convenient and contrived. Within a few pages, the main character Jacob loses his family, his family’s business, drops out of school, and magically finds a circus to work at. I can forgive that because Gruen gets right to the meat. The “love triangle” setup was harder to swallow. Like any other book that has a likable lead that hooks up with a married woman, the husband has to be a complete sociopath. The husband beats the wife, the animals, and throws sick employees off the train. The hero Jacob sweeps in to save the beaten Marlena, ensure the crazy husband gets what he deserves, and of course saves the animals. All is wrapped up with a pretty little bow (forgetting the characters that paid the price for Jacob to have his affair).
Gripes aside (because honestly I would have issues with any romance novel), I liked the book because it was well researched and told interesting side stories. Now I am going to go rummage through my DVD collection and start watching Carnivale
Oh yeah they made a movie out of the book too (I have not seen it).
