Water for Elephants by Sara GruenI know I keep saying this about most of the books on this blog, but this is another engaging, quick read. The book begins with a 90-, or 93-, year old Jacob Jankowski who is a cantankerous patient of a nursing home. He tells the reader that he has kept a secret all his life, and thus begins his narration of when he ran away, after the death of his parents and weeks from finishing a degree to become a vet, to join the circus: The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. The book chronicles his first few months in traveling with this circus during the Depression in the United States. Since the book deals with the lives of circus workers and performers in the 20s, it is not without gritty, sometimes hard to swallow, details. I found it especially difficult reading about the mistreatment of animals. However, Gruen has obviously done her research and it was a successful mix of repelling and intruiging.
No comments:
Post a Comment