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I loved this story -- as predictable as it was -- and yet somehow hated the ending. I felt like ... I felt like it wasn't set up to have a happy ending, and yet it got one. I would have far preferred -- and thought it would have been far truer to the overall story -- if the ending had been a little bittersweet instead of saccharine.
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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
A good story about life in a Depression-era traveling circus told in retrospect by a 90 (or 93) year old man in a nursing home. The main story is centered around a love affair, but what's really fascinating is the whole circus milieu. The author did a lot of research on circuses from that time and many of the details in the book are based on real life happenings. I really enjoyed this book--both the circus story and our narrator's dealings at the nursing home later in life--so much that I found
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Kept my interest but didn't really like it until the very end.
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What a subject, what a ride. I was right there with the main character... loved this book.
Sep 06, 2008
Jen
marked it as to-read
Dec 16, 2008
Ching-In
marked it as to-read
Jul 15, 2010
hannah
marked it as to-read
