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Have you been to the circus? You've not seen it like this. Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants takes us behind the tent flaps of a fictional 1931 circus, as experienced by protagonist Jacob Jankowski. It's from his reluctant place in life as a nonagenarian that Jacob relives, in dreams, his youthful days as veterinarian to a menagerie of show animals. But the horses, the lions and chimps, they aren't the only cast of characters in Gruen's novel. We read, too, of the performers and sideshow freaks, the laborers and the seedy frontmen -- and the sickening existence that surrounded them all. Still, if it hadn't been for that existence, and how it came to define him, Jacob would have had nothing.
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Through heartache, error in judgment and moral disappointment, Jacob remained ever the hero. After loss, deception, near destruction, he found purpose and redemption. Happiness.
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Parts were difficult to read, because of content and implication. But this fiction does what fiction can do so well: It takes us to the depths and darkness of the human condition, makes us feel it like it's hurting for real... just before shining the bright light of goodness.
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I was particularly interested in this book because, like Jacob Jankowski, the main character of my current WIP is of an advanced age. And I wondered, how does that play out on the page? Can it be unforced and endearing, something that doesn't distract from the story?
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Turns out it can be quite good. Especially if you throw in a scene-stealing elephant.
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Thanks to Melanie Avila, for the recommendation of Water for Elephants. And thanks to Tess Hilmo, for the Amazon gift card that paid for the paperback.
