After previously reading The Help which was centered in the early 1960's, Water for Elephants took me back even further in time to the early 1930's. This is a great story that retells the life of a man in a train-pulled circus. It is filled with drama, love, hate, abuse, and problems faced during the depression. By choosing to write in this time frame and about this type of circus, the author was able to add a lot more interest I think than if she had written about a circus in present times.
Gruen uses more popular diction than not, making the book easier to read. Each of the characters in the book uses their own dialogue. The performers have their own language as well as the working men. Some of the content is probably for an older audience, I guess if it was a movie it would probably get a pg-13 rating.
The book basically has two main sections, a story of an old man named Jacob Jankowski as well as a section of the same man when he was younger and in the circus. When I started reading the book, I was a little confused on what the story of the old man, and then the man in the circus related to. It was not until the first few chapters that I figured out what was going on. I was pleased to find that the two stories connected at the end.
I think I fell in love with the book not only because of the storyline but also because of the depth. Because the author wrote two parts to the story, the old man and his younger self, I think it really added depth and created empathy for the old man. Even though I thought the old man was pointless at the beginning, I figured out what his purpose was which really tied the book together for me.
Like the The Help, this book was also exceptional. I was blown away by how emotionally attached I got to the characters and their experiences. I would absolutely recommend this book to everyone (again, probably over thirteen) because it is phenomenal and so cleverly written.
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