Water For Elephants

I am a sucker for animals. That Sarah McLaughlin commercial has me in tears every time I actually manage to sit through it. And the one with the polar bears floating on the melting icebergs? Forget it.

When it comes to books, it's sometimes the silent creatures that make the best characters. Wilber. Marley. Old Yeller. Black Beauty. Even if you're not an avid reader, these names are ingrained in your heart. In Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants, that character is Rosie. 

If you are like me, you may have already seen the movie before you discovered the book, and are already familiar with the storyline. If you're not, Water for Elephants is the story of a young man who joins up with a traveling train circus in the early 1930's.

During his final days of veterinary school, Jacob Jankowski loses his parents, and everything he has to his name along with them. Facing an uncertain future and on the verge of breakdown, he walks away from his final exams and ends up jumping a train on impulse.

He soon discovers that it is a circus train, and with the help of an old working man and his near veterinary degree, Jacob earns a job working in the menagerie. He begins to learn how things work in the business, and doesn't like what he sees.He does, however, like the shows liberty horse show, or more specifically, the rider. He falls for Marlena almost instantly, despite her being his bosses wife.

Jacob travels with the circus for the summer, befriending a drunk old man and a stubborn dwarf. His relationship with Marlena grows, as does his hate for her violent husband, August. When the circus obtains an elephant named Rosie, Jacob soon sees Augusts true colors.

The story follows Jacob through the ups and downs of this summer. The violence, the passion, the friendships, and the revenge. 

I really liked this movie. I really loved this book. I loved the characters. I loved Camel, the drunk old man who welcomes Jacob into the show. I loved Walter, the cranky dwarf that loves his dog more than anything. I loved Bobo the monkey, and I especially loved Rosie. Her personality and her pain were both so touching and heart wrenching that she became real to me without saying a word.

I loved the historical aspects of the story as well. Centered during prohibition and the Great Depression, the story deals with the poverty and desperation of the people, as well as the painful effects of make-shift alcohol. Also, most of the events in the story are based on real occurances in the traveling circus.

I also loved the way the story is told from a 90 year old Jacob looking back on his life. The moments with elderly Jacob really make you think about all the stories that these people have to tell, and how they are often ignored. It was also so moving to hear him reflect on the early years of his marriage, struggling with babies and making ends meet, knowing that in the end those were the best years of his life.

I loved this book. And not only am I going to re-watch the movie, but I am going to the zoo to see the elephants as well.