false 43641 1565125606 9781565125605 87531 17767 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170161179m/43641.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43641.Water_for_Elephants 24556 Sara Gruen 93709 19732 2 26 false Sat Apr 05 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jan 23 05:14:39 -0800 2008 Mon Apr 13 15:36:14 -0700 2009
First, the main "heroine," Marlena, is incredibly flat & boring. The narrator/main character, Jacob, is clearly infatuated with her, but I'm not sure why other than she looks good in pink sequins. She's married to her arrogant, bipolar boss, so maybe there's some sort of damsel-in-distress complex triggered in our hero. Regardless, I don't care about her. She doesn't engage me or hold any allure. The novel really ends up being more of a romance tale, and to be honest I think it would be just as interesting (more so?) without Marlena.

There were several instances of sexual encounters fairly close together that annoyed me. Perhaps I'm "too modest" but I got tired of the sex. Not even actual sex as much as "sexual elements." The instances of it are over-the-top, and slightly grotesque, to the point of distraction. It's like the author was trying to prove something: "Look, I can write like a man: men think about sex all the time!"; or maybe "Americans are so prudish, they need to realize sex is everywhere since the beginning of time." It's just distracting. It calmed down, but it distracted me through the center of the novel.

Furthermore, I'm not even sure the narrator is believable/realistic. It takes him too long to figure things out; he likes to describe a scene in excruciating detail before he "realizes what's going on." If I had been standing next to him, by the time he "realizes what's going on," I would have smacked him over the head and left. Too often he encounters situations in a total stupor. OK, so people don't always react instantaneously. But when you describe it in particular detail, it doesn't make me think something is happening quickly. Additionally, I can't quite reconcile the young Jacob to the 90/93-year-old Jacob. A lot can change in 70 years, but I can't see the sensitive, humble Jacob I meet in large stretches of the novel with the bitter, crotchety old Jacob I meet in shorter excerpts.

Speaking of descriptions, every strong smell is described as "overwhelming." Really, is that the best adjective you've got?

The story has so much potential in its unique setting: Depression/Prohibition-era traveling circus. This alone keeps me reading because I'm curious at least to see where the narration is going. Will it end with Jacob's death or something else? How long does he stay on the circus, etc? So I guess kudos to the author for that: at least the uniqueness of the setting & atmosphere keeps me intrigued.

Maybe I expected too much. Although, in the book's defense, despite my disappointment, I was curious to the end.]]>