HomeWater for Elephants

Water for Elephants

Sara Gruen

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Description

When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters, and misfits the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth a second-rate travelling circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. Jacob, a veterinary student who almost earned his degree, is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her. Water for Elephants" is illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. It tells a story of a love between two people that overcomes incredible odds in a world in which even love is a luxury that few can afford.

Water for Elephants is illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place.

Comments & Discussion

tarawillbern rated this book

No it is not on youtube

tarawillbern rated this book

by the way my name is tarawillbern

tarawillbern rated this book

Have you seen this becuse I dont know if it is on youtube?

Strawberry2016

Books! Friends! Messages! :)

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runic rated this book

This is just really funny cause I just barely like a week ago watched this movie :)

A_Nightstorm

Enjoy the book ladies!!!

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A_Nightstorm

Finally I am on here! Jebus! Yes, Jebus! Anywho, I am pretty stoked about this finally starting. The book keeps talking to me since I finished my previous book within three days :P The only thing that I want to suggest when it comes to the reading, I was thinking that we shouldn't go about how much we read by amount of pages but by chapters. I glanced at what page 100 looks like in the book and we'd stop in the middle of chapter. So what I was thinking was since we were aiming for 100 pages we'd read up to chapter 8, then it would be til chapter 16, then we'd finish the book til chapter 25. What do you guys think?

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2 users like this

EvSan commented:

I agree Jess! Just to be clear though, does this mean we stop at the END of Chapt 7, 15 etc?

A_Nightstorm commented:

Well I was thinking we could read ALL of Chapter 8 and STOP at 9. Its a little over 100 pages but do-able :D

Jodes rated this book

I was like you thefluffyowl, I also got halfway through the book and could not feel anything for the characters. I did finish the book but did not enjoy it.

alifant likes this

alifant commented:

I couldn't warm to any of the characters either. Interesting insight into the old travellng circus but that was about it for me

dixiechick

I just finished reading Water for Elephants and I couldn't put it down, it was wonderful. The author does a wonderful job of describing the ongoings of this depression era travelling circus. I highly recommend it.

8 users like this

Tayubi commented:

Yes it is, and its good.

spowers08 commented:

Great book! Haven't seen the movie yet. Heard that is good too.

View 29 comments

emmykathryn12 rated this book

I loved this book! I read it when it first came out and couldn't put it down! Wonderful author and beautiful, tragic story and love, business, and memories. I would defintely keep this one of your list of "must-reads"!

iman20678 likes this

Amelia68 commented:

I loved how the story is told through the eyes of an old man telling his life story. I work in a nursing home and some of these people have led amazing lives, yet all we see sometimes is this old body and not the person behind it. the story was beautifully told and the whole circus worlds really came to live when reading it. One of my all time favourites as well.

iman20678 commented:

so wht book was it

esther1234 rated this book

best book ever!! full of compassion, joy, bitter and life..

never a second of boredom reading it :) love jacob!

Powellla

Hi! My name is Lisa and just joined your book club. I've never been involved with a book club but my husband just got me a kindle fire so I thought I'd give it a try. Looking forward to good discussions!

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sharon.and.michael

Hi! I just joined this book club. I'm not sure how this works but I would love to discuss great books for fun. I've already read Water for Elephants. Would love to discuss!

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alize123456 rated this book

i love this book

thefluffyowl rated this book

This was actually a book I couldn't finish :/ I got several chapters in, and really could care less about the characters. For those of you that enjoyed the book, what about it did you like about it?

2 users like this

Jennifer Hartzog-Price commented:

It wasn't the chatacters so much as the story its self. I could myself sitting in a nursing home listening to this man tell me his tale. I could see his old face and hear his voice. I wanted to be there, at that time, riding the rails and being part of that amazing traveling circus.

Jennifer Hartzog-Price rated this book

Quite possibly the best book I have ever had the pleasure of reading. I never thought a book about the circus could make me feel the way this one did. I am not sure another book ever will. It touched me.

linda.vaughn1 rated this book

I loved this book...it had everything in it! Made me mad, happy and made me cry...I have to say it's one of the best that I have ever read!

houzhongwei rated this book

Write a review...

shmimimo commented:

have you read this book? is it any good?

Daniellepennell rated this book

I love novels like this one. i throughingly enjoyed it, it warmed my heart.

Annie 123456 rated this book

This book made me think of older people in a completely different way.

thembu rated this book

The book is written as flashbacks for a 93 year old Jacob who is now residing in an assisted living home. As he watches the circus come to town and is incensed when one of the other residents says that he used to carry water for elephants, Jacob is propelled back into old locked away memories and secrets. I did not enjoy the beginning of this book and struggled to stay with it, but towards the end it really came into its own and was a fantastic escapist novel. Check out my full www.ourbookclub.net.au review at

http://www.ourbookclub.net.au/LiteratureAndFiction2010.php#water for elephants

Reeflovesthesurf commented:

I was the same Thembu. I enjoyed the first part of the book but it did seem to drag in the middle. I did persevere and did not regret it. The characters really developed themselves into a lovable story.

I am not a movie-book type of person though.

barbara b rated this book

cannot WAIT for the movie!! loved this book!!

harryknuckles

The story of "Water for Elephants" takes place over two timeframes - 1932 and the present day. In the present day, 90 year old (or is he 93?) Jacob Jankowski frets over the indignities of living in a nursing home while his children ignore him, except for token rotating visits on Sundays. One day the circus comes to town and this sets the cantankerous Jacob off on a nostalgic journey, reliving his time as part of The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It's... more

7 users like this

Bamide commented:

you should because it was great

akku commented:

great indeed

View 36 comments

Maria5 rated this book

I read this book as well. Extremely entertaining. I couldn't put it down either. It paints a very strong picture. Excellent read.

readsalot rated this book

I enjoyed this book very much. It has a very non-fiction feel to it. The characters are well developed, and many of the scenes are unpredictable. Some of the "adult" scenes were a little more than I need to visualize, but it made the book have a raw honest feel to it. It wasn't my favourite book that I read this year, but a good read anyway.

Notty rated this book

Couldn't believe I would like this, but I did! Am now wondering about the Ape book.........my brain says no, but I suspect the rest will love it!

JensenRaye rated this book

:] it is becoming a movie. and i hope it doesnt get ruined.

Robert Pattinson && Reese Witherspoon.

tricialoui rated this book

This is a lovely book, I couldn't put it down, it is so interesting, captivating would be a better word. Its now one of my very favourites, it has so much in it. Definitely recommended by me.

Alisa1231 rated this book

I picked this book up on a whim, not knowing anything about it. I ended up really enjoying it. The author did his homework on circus's of that time period, not to mention what was going on in the country in general. Good characters that you can root for and an engaging read. I highly recommend it. Oh, it is an adult read, though, due to situations that occur in the story.

ekim5remarc rated this book

a wonderfull read. very visual. jacob jankowski is in mmy mind. thanks for this novel ms gruen...

ekim5remarc rated this book

a wonderfull read. very visual.

Bec rated this book

I listened to this as an audiobook. Not only was it a good story with characters that you really cared about; but the audio presentation was well done.

staci01 rated this book

I picked this book up at Borders and just fell in love with the characters and the story. I recommend this book to everyone I talk to.

Bernadette Patterson rated this book

I really didn't want to read this book but it was picked in my Book Club. I loved it! Its just a wonderful story with wonderful characters and it was surprisingly funny.

pan rated this book

One of my favorite books. We read this recently in our Book Club here in town. It was a great favorite. The book has stayed with me...this alone makes it worth a read.

christiniat commented:

I loved the way this book joined the past current life of Jacob. I was trying to do a facebook discussion of this book but it kinda fell through. People liked it just no one discussed

crschlossr rated this book

Ahh...this is one of my favorite books. You meet the main character and follow him through his life. It's one of those books that when you finish the book, you truly feel finished.