What readers think of Water for Elephants, plus links to write your own review.

I loved this book. I have little time read these days, but I saw a review on this novel and decided to check it out at the local library. I read the WHOLE BOOK in only a week, which is awesome considering my lack of personal time (I have 3 kids). I think I spent hours in the bathroom, whether I was using it or not, just hibernating and reading, every chance I could. I am now trying to find pics of circa 1930's circus trains and the like. This is a very very good book totally worth reading!

I love stories about or that include animals. However, I go into them knowing that most such stories have sad endings. I was bracing myself all the way through this for terrible things to happen to the people and the animals. In some cases, this was true. But, at certain point in the book, it just seemed everyone was scooped up and taken to Nirvana.

I also wondered why the conflict between Marlena, Jacob and M's husand couldn't have been resolved by getting rid of him. After all, Jacob was good with Rosie, spoke Polish, as did another circus worker. M's husband was bad with the elephant and did not speak the language she was trained in. Why didn't Uncle Al get rid of him? He obviously caused other problems in the circus and I can't for the life of me see why he would be in charge of the animals. Dreadful man.

At the semi-conclusion, where Jacob was scooping up Rosie and the horses, I was yelling in my mind, 'Don't forget BoBo!' And, of course, he didn't.

Almost too good to be true. However, I would love a follow-up novel by Ms. Gruen, going into more detail about the zoo years and the farm years. With lots of happy stories! If the worst thing that befalls them is the boys spilling milk 4 times that day, I can handle that.

I grieve the end of this book. If it were three feet thick I would still be sitting on my numb butt unable to extricate myself from finishing it. There are just some stories you don't want to see come to an end and this is one of them. I cannot wait until a movie is made. It would make a great movie. I think most people wonder at some point in their life what it would be like to join a circus. this book satisfies a lot of that wonder. If you have not read it. go out and get it now! I am very impressed by the amount of research Sarah Gruen did on this. She is a very talented story teller.

One of my discussion groups here in Spokane read this book and it was one of the rare books that we all enjoyed reading. Most of us like books that are more in depth than this one is but enjoyed the story line and how Jacob would "come out" at the end. (The deeper books don't appeal to our one or two older ladies who want a "good" read, i.e., something gentler and no sex-drugs-rocknroll.) However we all agreed that this was an enjoyable book.

I personally enjoyed this book very much. I was looking for a good book to read and I had no idea what to choose. I asked a co-worker and she told me that she just finished "Water for Elephants" and she loved it. The next day I went to the book store and bought it. I really didn't know what it was about and I hadn't heard a whole lot about the book. I started it right away I thought that the beginig was a little depressing and I was confused, but once I got into the plot I enjoyed it to the full extent. I loved the connection that Jacob had with Marlena and the way that he spoke of the circus reminded me a little bit of being a kid and finding things to be so magical. It was also interesting to hear all the conflicts that go on behind the scenes. Overall I found it to be a very good book and a great read.

The novel was easy to read as the vocabulary and storyline were not complex. I found some of the older Jacob's ideas and lines interesting, but whenever I doubt the honesty/bias of a narrator, I often do not enjoy the story. (i.e. The Catcher in the Rye)

The abuse of the animals was difficult to read about and just barely scratched the surface of reality. The relationship between Jacob and Marlena was not believable, perhaps because I found Jacob's character so underdeveloped.

It was a cute story, simple to read, but not the glorious novel others believe it to be.

Water for Elephants is an enchanting tale of life, love, and the gruesome details that come with each. Gruen traps you in her magic spell as murder and majesty combine to make one of the most spectacular tales of all time!

This book was hyped as something special...what a disappointment...the writing struck me as coming from an average high school person...the dialogue was predictable and the flow of the action equally so. The only thing that I found interesting was the
depiction of circus life.

My conclusion is ...don't waste your time.

P.S. The vintage photographs were interesting.