Books : Water for Elephants: A Novel

Rating: - Discover an unknown modern classic
Let me be the 1,455th to tell you about this modern classic!

Poignant, funny, happy, sad, violent, tender, this circus story hits every emotion in perfect pitch and pacing, told through the eyes of an old man (not sure how old) abandoned (not quite) by his family (large and loving and dutiful) in a nursing home who is spurred to remembrance of his Depression years on the circus by the sight of a circus outside his nursing home room.

The title job is what kicks off the remembrances in a fit of anger, but the personality of Jacob Jankowitz grows stronger and younger in the telling and the present.

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Rating: - Awesome fiction!
I loaned this book to my best friend who reads non-stop and it is now one of her favorite books. I loved reading this book because I felt like I was apart of it. Very exciting and fun to read!

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Rating: - should I finish it?
I'm only a third of the way through, and bored of the contrivance of the characters. I'm particularly bored of seeing the world (past and present) only through Jacob's eyes, and he seems to have non-curious eyes like a camera rather than as a real person with feelings and understanding. The odd sexual references seem very juvenile, voyeuristic and very off-putting. I'm seeing reviews that my disbelief in the narrator's voice is felt by others, and am also seeing that "it starts off strongly, but then it lost me". If the last half isn't as good as the first half, and I don't like the first half, then I'm wondering whether I should continue. Very disappointed. I usually get books from the library, but treated myself to a new book to celebrate an accomplishment at work. I wish I'd ignored the positive reviews of this trifle of a novel.

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Rating: - great book
Wonderful book.I learned more about life in the circus than I ever thought.Well written,and hope to read all of her books soon.It deserved to be on the NY Times best seller list.

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Rating: - Water for Elephants--a long cool drink for lovers of good fiction!
Loved the premise, loved the characters, loved the descriptions, loved the time period, and as a child, loved the circus. After reading this book, the circus never looked quite the same. A great story filled with historical detail, romance, mystery, animal cruelty--you name it, this great read covered it.