Sunday Review: Water For Elephants

It's been a while since I've done a Sunday book review. But last night (this morning, really) I stayed up far too late because I could not put down Water For Elephants until I knew what happened next. And after that, and after that, and...you get the idea.

Water For Elephants spent some time on the New York Times Best Seller List. Written by Sara Gruen, it's the story of Jacob Jankowski, told through his eyes as a "ninety or ninety-three" year-old man (he can't quite keep track of how old he is). He is widowed, living in a nursing home, and unsatisfied with where he's ended up in life. When the circus comes to town and sets up across the street, it makes him go back to the days when he, as a young man, worked a traveling circus, the fictional Benzini Brothers' Most Spectacular Show On Earth, run by the sadistic Uncle Al. It is the summer of 1931, and Jacob, after the recent deaths of his parents, is looking for a way to survive the Depression. Because he was educated as a veterinarian at Cornell, he lands a job as the vet in charge of the circus menagerie.

As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie.

It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival. (Source: Sara Gruen Web Page)

I've passed this book on many a shelf at many a bookstore for the past couple of years, always thinking I ought to give it a read one of these days, but never committing to it. There were always other books I wanted to read first, before giving an untried story by an author I'd never read a go. Finally, last week, I saw a new paperback version at Target. I threw it in the cart. That night, I started reading--and it was a very quick read after that.

Ms. Gruen brings to life the desperation of the Depression, and the brutality and "survival of the fittest" mentality of the traveling circus life. It was not a romantic life--it was grueling, dirty, and with the more cruel circus managers, one's place was never a sure thing. The glamour and romance projected on circus posters was a thin mask that hid the sometimes ugly underside of the life. All of this is captured brilliantly through Jacob's experiences, dealing with the mercurial August, befriending the downtrodden roustabouts and defying, at every turn, the caste system in place in a traveling show.

The magic of Water For Elephants truly comes from its characters, both animal and human. Jacob's story shows the reader the heights of cruelty that man can reach. Circus manager Uncle Al "red lights" men who are no longer useful to the show, having them literally tossed from a moving train, sometimes even from a trestle bridge to their deaths below. August, the animal trainer, ruthlessly beats Rosie the elephant when she will not perform for him, and later, his wife when his own jealousy gets the better of him.

Yet among the cruel men, there are good people. Jacob is forced to share sleeping quarters with Kinko, a dwarf who works as a circus clown. Initially, Kinko hates Jacob, but a powerful friendship is forged and Kinko, now allowing Jacob to call him by his given name, Walter, helps Jacob hide an old circus hand, Camel, who has been partially paralyzed from drinking Jamaican Ginger.

Though Marlena is a central character in the story, she remains almost two-dimensional. We see her as Jacob sees her--beautiful, kind, scared, in need of protection. Perhaps this was Gruen's intent; for us to see her through the same lenses that a man in love would see her through. This is not to say that she is a simpering flower; no, Marlena holds her own in the world of Benzini Brothers.

The book is by no means predictable; some of the most important events in the story are also the most shocking, and the story doesn't necessarily progress as the reader might think it is going to. I don't want to spoil any of the plot points for people who haven't yet read this, so I hesitate to say too much. I will say, however, that the ending was satisfactory--the realists of the world may complain things work out too easily, but after all of the struggles of the characters, one does wish them a happy ending.

My one complaint, however, is a slight lack of development in certain important character relationships, most especially that of Jacob and Rosie the elephant--I only wish Ms. Gruen had given the reader a little bit more time with just these two characters, so that we could witness the growth of trust that happens between man and elephant. Jacob's love of Rosie seems to just happen, without any exploration of why these two lost, downtrodden souls might have found comfort in each other.

I look forward to reading other books by Ms. Gruen, especially if they are as entertaining and engaging as Water For Elephants. The highest compliment I can give a book is to lend it to my mom, write a blog about it, and keep it on my bookshelf instead of taking it to the used bookstore. Consider this book complimented.



Al G. Kelly & Miller Bros. Bandwagon, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Mar-Apr), 1959. Front Cover.

Source: Circus Historical Society



Water For Elephants has been made into a movie starring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson. It will release in April, and I, for one, can't wait to see it brought to life on the screen.