Roman Rolland once said, "It's the artist's job to create sunshine when there isn't any."
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I'm a student, a wolverine (grrr), an artist, a reader, a fiancee, a daughter and these are my thoughts...

June 21, 2010

Moving Right Along!

Another one off the list!  I received Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen from Paperback Swap and finished it in a few short days.  The story follows the memories of "90 or 93 year old" Jacob Jankowski, a former vet for the Benzini Brother circus.  He relates the story of meeting many interesting characters such as Walter, the dwarf clown, Marlena, the liberty horse performer who is married to August, the schizophrenic animal trainer.  The history of Depression era circuses is related through this tale of love and survival as the elderly Jacob reminisces about his former lifestyle.  The characters are slowly developed and blossom into well-rounded and believable members of this traveling show and the juxtaposition of assisted living-bound Jacob offers unique parallels.  Of course, one of the characters is an elephant, whose name is Rosie.  I don't want to give any more away because I might ruin the simple sweetness of this quick read novel!    

2 comments:

  1. I saw that book a lot when I worked at the library - I'll definitely put it on my to-read list now!

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  2. It can be part of your 50 books :) I'm currently reading People of the Book and its delightful so far...all about a book conservator and the journey of a text she's working on...I'm loving it!

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