Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is a great, fast read with a satisfying ending. We have two settings in the novel. The first takes place in the present from the perspective of a nursing home occupant named Jacob. His repetitious routine is startled by an attention-seeking new resident who upon seeing the circus in town claims he used to bring water to the circus elephants. Jacob knows for a fact this is untrue but none of the workers nor fascinated women residents care to listen to his ranting protests. This leads into our other setting, the 1930's, where Jacob recalls the death of his parents and the end of his upper-middle class life as he knew it. He unknowingly boards a train of The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth and his life is turned upside-down.
What I liked most about the novel wasn't the love story between Jacob and the star performer, Marlena. I was expecting it to dominate the story but found it to be slightly undeveloped. What caught my attention most were the unusual setting and the reflections of a 90 or 93 year-old. From Gruen's detailed account of the hierarchy of circus workers, it is obvious that to present such an extravagant show took its toll on all types of workers. In reality, circus life of the 1930s was much more grueling and political than glamorous. The realizations of the elderly lifestyle Gruen revealed were honest and saddening but the sarcastic tone in which they were presented helped lessen the truth.
"When you are five, you know your age down to the month. Even in your twenties, you know how old you are. I'm twenty-three you say, or maybe twenty-seven. But then in your thirties, something strange starts to happen. It is a mere hiccup at first, an instant of hesitation. How old are you? Oh, I'm--you start confidently, but then you stop. You were going to say thirty-three, but you are not. You're thirty-five. And then you're bothered, because you wonder if this is the beginning of the end. It is, of course, but it's decades before you admit it."
I also have to add in that I was fascinated to read about the animals, especially Bobo the orangutang and Rosie the elephant. They provided some heartbreaking moments but also some necessary happiness to the story. Here's one:
"I open the orangutan's door and set a pan of fruits, vegetables, and nuts on the floor. As I close it, her long arm reaches through the bars. She points at an orange in another pan.
'That? You want that?'
She continues to point, blinking at me with close-set eyes. Her features are concave, her face a wide platter fringed with red hair. She's the most outrageous and beautiful thing I've ever seen.
'Here,' I say, handing her the orange. 'You can have it.'
She takes it and sets it on the floor. Then she reaches out again. After several seconds of serious misgivings, I hold out my hand. She wraps her long fingers around it, then lets go. She sits on her haunches and peels her orange.
I stare in amazement. She was thanking me."
I have yet to the see the
movie version. Obviously, the love story will be amplified but I won't complain about that. What I am most interested in seeing are how the train and circus sets will look. Hopefully, it will not disappoint and will do the novel the justice it deserves.
