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What Members Thought
I was first impressed by how well Gruen handled first person, present tense narrative. Not once did it distract me or annoy me, as it tends to do. Water for Elephants was a definite page turner, and immensely heartbreaking. The characters were vivid, and my opinions of many of them changed as I "got to know them." For instance, August, who aroused me at the beginning of the book inspired hatred by the conclusion. Oftentimes, even after I had put the book away, I'd find myself steaming over somet
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I never would have read this if it wasn't chosen by the book club I just joined. I'm pleasantly surprised at how good it is. Only problem I'm having (and it might not be one that everyone would have) is that I STRONGLY associate depression-era travelling circuses with the HBO show Carnivale, so I keep picturing the characters from that show as I read, and I really do NOT think that is the image the author is striving for.
Update: Absolutely LOVED this book. Ms Gruen is just a wonderful wonderful ...more
Update: Absolutely LOVED this book. Ms Gruen is just a wonderful wonderful ...more
For a while now I've had this growing infatuation towards circus life, during the 1920s and 1930s in particular. I was kind of hesitant about buying this one because the quality of bestsellers have been less than pleasing to say the least. But I want to gulp everything concerning the subject so I definitely don't regret my purchase. The story itself is somewhat entertaining but I'm still convinced there are real gems out there which dig into the life style even deeper.
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There's many things to like about this book: A fun setting, a great ensemble cast of characters, good prose, and a good head for plot development. My favorite thing, though, was the narrator. The story of his younger years is wonderful -- but it was the narration of his time in the nursing home that most moved me.
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This was good, but it didn't knock my socks off, hence the three stars. I think I may have been expecting a bit more scandal and ended up slightly disappointed. I liked the setting of the travelling circus around the time of the Great Depression.
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I liked this a lot. I didn't really know what to expect when I got it from the library, but it was good. The ending surprised me; however, some of the characterization was very stereotypical. Great storytelling.
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I didn't think I'd like this book because I have little interest in Circus's, but it was actually a nice, easy, and quite interesting read that I breezed through in a few days.
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this is a book club selection. This book was okay. It was quite a journey into the land of the circus.
This was such a wonderful tale, filled with historical facts about a forgotten era.
Dec 22, 2008
alana
marked it as to-read
Feb 08, 2009
Ali
marked it as to-read
Dec 14, 2009
Elizabeth
marked it as to-read
Nov 14, 2012
Laura
marked it as to-read
