Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

I can't remember the last time I visited the circus. However, after reading Overton's review I think I might see it in a different way (if the author can hold my interest), then I am willing to look past the fact that clowns roam the circus, just like flies roam... You know what I mean. Enjoy the review.

Water for Elephants

I do not read romance novels as a general rule. I have nothing against them, but I generally prefer non-fiction or action novels. So I was pleasantly surprised when I read Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. At its heart it is a love story, really a love triangle. Jacob, who has just dropped out of college, finds himself falling for Marlena, who is married to the abusive August. And that story is well drawn, and definitely holds the reader’s interest throughout the novel. Jacob is such a good man, and yet is put in such a difficult situation; it is fascinating watching him try to navigate the morality of his precarious situation.But what really makes this novel shine is the setting. I do not like circuses. I never go to circuses. I have turned down free tickets to go the circus. So I have no real love of the circus, but in Gruen’s capable hands the circus came alive in a way I could never imagine.

The novel is set in the depression, and Jacob catches up with a train circus. The lingo, the description, and the social order on the train are all just fascinating realities that make this novel so interesting, and so much more than just a romance novel. It makes you want to go to a big top somewhere and spend the day looking at the things which are described in such detail in the novel.

The other layer to the novel is that the entire story is being told by Jacob in a nursing home, as he is now 93 and remembering his life as a young man. This detail allows the novel to explore aging, death and the purpose of life. Jacob as an old man can be very cranky and forgetful, but he is still lovable. And the way the book ends in one of the best touches of the entire novel, showing that even at 93 Jacob still has some life left in him. This was really a fantastic book, and it works on so many different levels, that most people will find something to enjoy.

How it all began

It was this book by Johanna Lindsey that ruined me for all other genres. I didn't intend for it to happen. I was... I dunno... 14? and had been plenty happy reading all the Christopher Pike, Richie Tankersley Cusick, and Sweet Valley High books I could get my hands on.

It didn't occur to me until later that there was a love story in almost all of them. There was always a boy and a girl falling in love. Well, maybe "love" is a stretch (they were just teenagers, after all) but there was a serious crush, usually a first kiss, and an ending that left a possible future of Happily Ever After to the imagination.

Then I found The Magic of You in my sister's bedroom. She was 19. I thought it was all very scandalous and exciting and I immediately stole the book with the sole intention of seeking out the, ahem, "love" scenes. Hey, I was curious!

Except, while I was flipping through looking for those, er, parts, I found myself becoming more and more intrigued with the actual story. Eventually, I went back to page one and started reading.

Oh. My. God. I was in love. That was it for me. I was an instantaneous romance novel sucker for life. I never did give that book back to my sister. (And, T, if you're reading, you still can't have it.)

After that, there was no going back. God knows how many Johanna Lindsey books I went through, but let me just say this. Trying to buy them was a freaking nightmare. I was fourteen. When I needed another book, I had to beg my parents to take me to the bookstore. And at that age, having your dad take you to buy a book with this on the cover...

...pretty effing embarrassing. I'd pretend to continue browsing until he looked preoccupied enough for me to hurry and make the purchase. And, yes, I would like a bag.

It surprises me that I am so crazy about romance novels. Because, really, I'm not a touchy-feely-let's-declare-our-love-in-big-public-displays-of-affection romantic kinda girl. I don't like to dress up, flowers always die, chocolates just make me fatter, sex in real life is way different, and I'd rather talk things out than have the big misunderstanding-leading-to-heart-wrenching-reconciliation that I so love in my novels.

But, with that being said, I seriously can't get enough.