Sara Gruen-"Water for Elephants: A Novel"
Algonquin
April 9, 2007

I got this book for Easter, not really knowing anything about it, especially the cyclone of hype surrounding it. I put it in my pile of books to read and took it with me one day when I couldn't find the Tom Waits book that I started. I found it hard to put it down after that.

Jacob Jano is an old man, old enough to not know his true age, looking back at his time working as a vet at a circus while rotting away in a nursing home. This is up there with one of the saddest things that I have read, knowing that old age is a dark mist looming over everyone's head and that they will eventually be reduced to nothing (or less than nothing) when the body stops working, no matter how great or interesting life before that was. And J did lead quite an interesting life while in the circus. He lucked his way from stowaway to the vet who shared a train cabin with an angry midget and his protective dog. He cared for the horses, put up with an asshole of a boss, fell for the boss' wife and figured out that an elephant the circus picked up had a language barrier. Yes, J goes into great detail about all this and more, making it sound much more interesting than I ever could, but you should read that for yourself.

The forgotten part of the story comes in a murder at the prologue. J witnesses this as the animals are running loose and can't stop it, despite his pleas. The payoff is absolutely wonderful with this, as is the unexpected ending, a happy one for all involved.

Written by: RF
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