Water for Elephants Book Review

This semester I have been able to finish around eight books but when I sat down to write this book review the only book that screamed for my attention was Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen. I began this book when my family and I took a road to Phoenix in our motorhome and I finished it within the first hour of coming back home two days later.

Water for Elephants begins with an elderly man who is unhappy in a convalescent home that his family stuck him in. Listening to the old man gripe about the baby food that he eats is NOT the interesting part. What yanked me in this novel is when the circus comes to his town and he begins to reminisce on his circus days. His memories are truly what make this book recommendation-worthy. The memories range in emotions from hilarious to poignant. He discusses losing his parents, losing his education, his almost-heart-break, and struggling to survive on the circus train. Sara Gruen has the skills to make you genuinely giggle over a well written scene, and she is even better at making your heart sink down in your stomach. There are so many gripping tales pertaining to the old man's circus life that you will be kept guessing up until the very end when he makes a life changing decision to leave the degrading convalescent home. The old man felt out of place when he was in college and he found himself in the circus, and once he again he found himself being the pariah at his convalescent home so he went back to what he did best.