In keeping to my New Year's resolution I went to the NY Times best sellers list and plucked out Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen. The book was made into film. After seeing the trailers I was uninterested, simply dismissing it as another sappy Hollywood love story. (I'm not too partial to chick flicks). But my interest was piqued when I read all the wonderful reviews. Besides, if it made the list obviously it must be a great story.
Water For Elephants is the story of an old man who recalls the story of his youth. It is of a time when he meets tragedy and very quickly finds himself in the midst of a traveling circus. Along his journey he meets some very interesting characters including a very narcissistic ring master, a highly over powering chief operator, drunken works men, a grumpy midget, a mysteriously beautiful young woman and more. Jocab Jankowski's tale is an engaging depiction of a great adventure one can only dream of.
I loved this story because it was the complete opposite of what I thought it would be. I expected unrealistic accounts of a fairytale like situation encompassed in some glittery feats of love. In fact the story was about adventure. It was about mystery. It was comical, provocative, and heart felt. (Well maybe the end is a bit unrealistic. You'll see when you read)
I believe the author did an incredible job. The story was packed with details. She did extensive background research on the circus including making several trips around the US to collect data. So as expected from her dedication to extracting such information, the story uses vernacular familiar to people in the circus business, and circumstances not to far from reality. I recommend this book to everyone!
After reading this I may actually go give the movie a gander.
Enjoy
xxx
No comments:
Post a Comment