Keeping up the appearance of having all your marbles is hard work, but important

Water For Elephants
by Sara Gruen

Again, I shamelessly read this book after finding out it was a Reese Witherspoon/Robert Pattinson soon to be flick. And it's been in the back of my mind to read anyway because it was another one of those books that were on the bestsellers for months.

I love that it's one of those flashback novels that cross between the past and the present. In the present, you get Jacob Jankowski, who can't remember if he's 90 or 93 (But at the age, does it even really matter?) that's living in a nursing home trying to hold on to the bit of sanity he has left.

The heart of the story is that the circus comes to town and one of the new people at the nursing home claims he carried water for elephants, which all the old ladies go ga ga for, and  pisses Jacob off.

1. Jacob knows its impossible to carry water for elephants. 2. You find out why throughout the book with his series of flashbacks to his life working for a circus.

And this is where the past Jacob comes in. After the tragedy of losing his parents and being left with nothing, he irrationally jumps a train (a traveling circus of all things) and he ends up getting a job as the circus vet. And he ends up falling in love with not only the animals and Rosie the elephant, but the boss' wife, Marlena.

And so the story begins.

Without giving out too much detail, the book from this point on is literally a circus. The shows were entertaining to watch, but Jacob quickly finds out that the circus is a cruel and cold world to be working in. You almost have to be able to have no conscience working for The Benzini Brothers Greatest Show On Earth. And for a little background color, you also get a little history of life during The Depression and Prohibition Era too.

By the end of the book, 2 things have happened that I thought was a nice little bow ending. In the beginning, he escaped his uncertainty about life by joining the circus. In the end, he escapes his uncertainty about life back to the only thing he knows, the circus. Fitting, I think.

I can't really give you an awesome review like I want, because I would tell the whole story. So read the book, or wait until the movie comes out. I'm excited to see what it's going to look like on screen. =)

Water For Elephants: Approved