Water for Elephants

Author: Sara Gruen

One-sentence summary: A life-changing event propels young Jacob into the circus life in the 1920s just before he would graduate as a veterinarian and his older-self reminisces about his months spent with the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 7

Our favorite thing about it: We loved learning about what the circus was like in that time period and also how the book alternated between Jacob as an old man and as a young man.

Our least favorite thing about it: We disliked some of the predictable parts and the fact that we weren’t as engaged with the characters as we would have liked.

Main Topics of Discussion: Character development, Circus life, Relationships, Plot

Our favorite quote: My brain is like a universe whose gases get thinner and thinner at the edges. But it doesn’t dissolve into nothingness. I can sense something out there, just beyond my grasp, hovering, waiting.

Notes: We all liked that the historical parts of the book were accurate and enjoyed learning about them. We really enjoyed moving between Jacob’s current experiences in the nursing home and his adventures with the circus. Somehow, those two very different lives were well-woven into one story, which was entertaining. We all pretty much agreed that the most moving part of the book was not when Jacob’s friends (Walter and Camel) got redlighted but when his family stood him up the day they were supposed to take him to the circus. We really wished that we could have cared more about those characters and had a more emotional response to their tragedy, but we didn’t. We had very little sympathy for August, despite his probable mental-illness and we all had varying thoughts about Jacob’s attempt at murdering him. Some of us thought that he was going to do it and some of us thought he was careless for leaving his friends at such a critical time, but all of us agreed that leaving the knife on the pillow was stupid. Surprisingly, we didn’t talk that much about Rosie, the elephant, and most of us didn’t really count her as a main character, although, she plays a huge role in the love affair of Marlena and Jacob. None of us really thought that the ending to the book was that plausible although it bothered us (or not) to varying degrees.

Memorable Meeting Moments: Josh made us a wonderful gourmet meal (recipes found on recipe blog) and we celebrated Rachel’s birthday with chocolate peanut butter brownies with cinnamon ice cream and book gifts.