Book Review 
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
This is the third novel by Ms. Gruen. Based in the US Depression /Prohibition era (is this an era? how long is an era?), we follow a specific time in a young man’s life in the circus – basically a ‘how I met my wife’ story – told by the man named Jacob now quite elderly,
“I’m either 90 or 93, I forget.”
I wanted to read this book foremost because of the time I am spending visiting nursing homes with my dog as part of a volunteer, pet therapy team. I enjoy connecting and making new friends with people who don’t have to tell me how busy they are. (I hate the word ‘busy‘. It implies overscheduling and little choice. It is such a cop out word. Anyway…)
Jacob, age 23, is almost finished with his Veterinary Science degree from an Ivy League institution when his parents are killed in a motor crash. This event rocks his world and he ends up working on a circus. Who and what he meets on this train journey provide much adventure and Gruen gives us a fast-paced story with lots of fun circus details.
I read this book in two days which says a lot considering my pace for books in the first half of this month!
However. This book isn’t staying with me. It’s quickly fading already. I felt drawn to and forced into conclusions and emotions felt by various characters. I doubted not the context but the depth of many relationships. This book was well-structured. TOO well-structured – perhaps to the point of formulaic.
I won’t say that I did not enjoy this, I did. I wanted to read and read and keep reading and not put it down. Could be that I had a good weekend to do that (weekend before the Super Bowl – NOTHING going on!) But this won’t go on the list as a favorite. I do think this would be a good book club book – lots of discussionables.
If anyone has read this book OR wants to read this book and explain to me any references/parallels to Jacob in the Bible, please feel free! I don’t get it.
The ending was terrific. Charming, even. So much so that I’ll give 3 stars out of 5. Two and half out of five? No, I’ll stick with 3 stars out of 5.
Care's Books and Pie 
I wonder if maybe it’s not sticking with you because you read it too fast? I read it for my book club so I was more careful, I guess, marking pages and passages to refer to later and going over discussion questions. It has definitely been one to stick with me. The Jacob/Bible connection was lost on me and on others in my group, even one who studies the Bible, but I did read an interview with Sara Gruen where she explains the whole thing. I’ll look for it later (have to get the kids to school now) and email it to you if I find it.
Here’s an excerpt from the interview I mentioned:
Your narrator is Jacob Jankowski. I was wondering why you decided to tell the story from his point of view, instead of, for example, telling it from the point of view of the female protagonist, Marlena.
SG: A couple of reasons: First, I thought if I used a male point of view, I might be able to extend my audience to include men as well. The more important reason is that many of the plot points are parallels to the biblical story of Jacob, so I wanted to tell it from Jacob’s point of view.
Something I didn’t pick up on when I was reading it.
SG: It’s funny—most people don’t. My original title for it was Jacob’s Ladder, but then, I guess that’s a movie about a heroin addict, so I changed it.
But Uncle Al, his full name is Alan Bunkel, which is a phonetic anagram for Uncle Laban. And Catherine Hale: Hale is an anagram for Leah. And Marlena L’Arche: L’Arche for Rachel.
Could you go into a little more detail about the story of Jacob?
SG: He’s cast out of his home and everything he knows. In the Bible, he takes care of Uncle Laban’s livestock, and they thrive under his care. At he end of the biblical story, he gets tricked into marrying Leah first. But in order to also marry Rachel, he has to give Uncle Laban another seven years of servitude looking after the livestock.
At what point in your research did it occur to you that this novel could be a parallel to the biblical story?
SG: I did that going in. I enjoy books where there are “Easter eggs,” where there are things that if you notice them, then it’s great, but if you don’t, it doesn’t detract from the book.
Hi again, I tagged you for a reading meme.. go see.
Even after the explanation, I don’t get the Jacob parallel. Thanks for the link!