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Rachel M.'s Reviews > Water for Elephants
Water for Elephants
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* * REVIEW CONTAINS SLIGHT SPOILERS * *
I really wanted to like this book. I think my low opinion is partially my fault, because I drove into the story with high expectations due to rave reviews. I need to learn not to do that.
The beginning of this novel was excellent. A Ivy League dropout, who formerly studied to be a vet, runs away and joins the circus. The time period? The Depression and Prohibition America - a historical era of uncertainty and chaos. I was looking for an intriguing tale of a college youth thrust into an unfamiliar world, along with a dose of touching animal stories. What I got was a romance. Pure and simple.
A major issue in this novel is the characterization. The characters, with the exception of Walter (aka Kinko) and his dear Queenie, were flat and predictable. Marlena and August bothered me the most - Marlena being beautiful and kind and boring, and August being a cruel husband due to his mental illness. Besides the hackneyed stereotype of the mentally ill being violent, August's schizophrenia appeared to be a plot device to bring Jacob and Marlena together without making them look like bad people for cheating. I didn't buy it for half a second. I think the affair would've been much more interesting if August was...well, basically a normal husband who was maybe a little too obsessed with his own accomplishments.
The romance between Jacob and Marlena made me yawn. While Jacob was a fairly developed character, Marlena was the epitome of a side-female love interest: gorgeous with little beneath the surface. Barbara, the "cooch girl", had more depth than her. If Marlena were developed further (and if she had a flaw or two), I could buy their love story. And hey, maybe one day I'll appreciate where the characters ended up. Today is not that day. On a similar note, I've heard some people complain about the sex scenes, and while the descriptions are a bit odd, I had no problem with there being sex in the book. The setting is a circus, there is booze everywhere, and sex is gonna happen.
Again - I think I went into this novel with high expectations and if I'm getting the wrong idea or whatever, that's my own doing. I'll probably pick it up again in the future to see if I think differently then.
I really wanted to like this book. I think my low opinion is partially my fault, because I drove into the story with high expectations due to rave reviews. I need to learn not to do that.
The beginning of this novel was excellent. A Ivy League dropout, who formerly studied to be a vet, runs away and joins the circus. The time period? The Depression and Prohibition America - a historical era of uncertainty and chaos. I was looking for an intriguing tale of a college youth thrust into an unfamiliar world, along with a dose of touching animal stories. What I got was a romance. Pure and simple.
A major issue in this novel is the characterization. The characters, with the exception of Walter (aka Kinko) and his dear Queenie, were flat and predictable. Marlena and August bothered me the most - Marlena being beautiful and kind and boring, and August being a cruel husband due to his mental illness. Besides the hackneyed stereotype of the mentally ill being violent, August's schizophrenia appeared to be a plot device to bring Jacob and Marlena together without making them look like bad people for cheating. I didn't buy it for half a second. I think the affair would've been much more interesting if August was...well, basically a normal husband who was maybe a little too obsessed with his own accomplishments.
The romance between Jacob and Marlena made me yawn. While Jacob was a fairly developed character, Marlena was the epitome of a side-female love interest: gorgeous with little beneath the surface. Barbara, the "cooch girl", had more depth than her. If Marlena were developed further (and if she had a flaw or two), I could buy their love story. And hey, maybe one day I'll appreciate where the characters ended up. Today is not that day. On a similar note, I've heard some people complain about the sex scenes, and while the descriptions are a bit odd, I had no problem with there being sex in the book. The setting is a circus, there is booze everywhere, and sex is gonna happen.
Again - I think I went into this novel with high expectations and if I'm getting the wrong idea or whatever, that's my own doing. I'll probably pick it up again in the future to see if I think differently then.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
December 1, 2007
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Finished Reading
December 27, 2007
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Elizabeth
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rated it 3 stars
Dec 30, 2007 08:42AM
Thank you!!!!!!! I felt the same way. One night while talking about books with a group of people in the book club I am in someone menntioned this one to see if anyone had read it. I said my thoughts and you would have thought I just announced I liked to eat babies or something. Thanks for making me feel like less of a freak.
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You're welcome! I'm not bothered that people like the book (each to his own and all), but the amount of rave reviews surprise me. I wish less time was spent on the romance, and more on the historical aspect of life on the circus along with a focus on the animals. That was another thing... Jacob always said his father would've wanted him to protect the animals and then August goes off to smack Rosie around and he does nothing. Argh!!I'm glad you liked the review! :)
That part of the book made me sick! I just wasn't impressed. Nothing about it made me excited or really like it that much. I agree maybe if they had scratched the boring part (romance) and focused of life in the circus and the animals it would have been better!
Yeeeeah, I totally agree with you. I suppose I could've handled the animal cruelty if the narrator, you know, did something like he said he would. Pish posh.
Great review. Well stated on all points. Except for the parts about the elephant this book was like a junior high after-school special. LAME. The main character is a complete wussy. A virgin hero with a puppy love for somebody else's wife? Jeez. I kept flipping to the back and the writer's picture and thinking she looked like a stoned kitten. I highly recommend "Spangle" by Gary Jennings if you like the circus setting. It is a truly great story.
This sums up my thoughts on the book exactly. I didn't like Jacob's character at all. Why was he even a vet? He barely seemed to like animals. I was way more interested in the elephant. Any "Life of Pi" readers? The first part of that novel took place in a zoo, and I loved the author (narrator's) passion for animals, quirky descriptions. I was hoping for that.
Well stated! Although I didn't have any problems getting through the book quickly, I was decidedly underwhelmed by the human characters. I found it ironic that the author's comments in the end of the book said she liked to write real characters with flaws - in contrast, I found them to be rather flat. Will definitely keep an eye out for Spangle instead.
I read Life of Pi and, while I was reminded of Pi while reading this novel, I think Pi is in an entirely different class than this book. Only the zoo/animals as participating in the story link the two novels. Life of Pi is philosophical and thought-provoking. This book is a romance novel with little more to offer than some notes about what a train-circus life might have been like during the Depression.
The most exciting and interesting part of this book, life in a train circus during the Depression, just got shoved aside for a trivial romance and as I read along, I became mora and more disappointed. Luckily it's a fast read or not just the characters in the book would have been feeling and suffering a Great Depression, I would have to for having to finish it.
Wow, I thought that I was the only one that thought that Barbara was way more interesting than Marlena!
Excellent review, finally someone voices the fact that this book is absolutely overrated.My friend told me I had to read to read this book, so I bought it (will never again buy a book without reading it first!) and read it. But I was so pissed off by the way it turned out to be, I almost didn't finish it. In the end I decided that even bad writing is educating (mainly in the field of how NOT to write), and kept on plowing through. One of my most disappointing reads in living memory.
Iida, then I suggest you stay far away from The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards too. I found it even more disappointing.
Great review, spot on - I felt the exact same way about this book, although could not have worded it as eloquently!
Hey... Nice to know my book-instinct is still operating - I've been seeing this book on the shelves ever since it was released, and the title being eye-catching and all, would pick it up every time. But somehow, I just couldn't make myself buy it, it seemed like a lemon everytime I opened a page at random... Now I feel good about having saved that money!
Hmm I recognize some of the faults of the book you mention but I quite enjoyed it anyway. It's structurally very cinematic too, so I hope the filmmakers do a good job. I only wanted to comment on one line in the original review: "Besides the hackneyed stereotype of the mentally ill being violent, August's schizophrenia appeared to be a plot device to bring Jacob and Marlena together without making them look like bad people for cheating."First of all, August is not a paranoid schizophrenic by a modern definition of the word. Secondly I also dont think it's meant to be a plot device to excuse his behavior or Jacob and Marlena's affair because I think Big Al was meant to be just making it up. That's why he mispronounces it. August wasn't diagnosed with anything, Big Al was thinking on his feet, looking for excuses, especially ones he thought made him sound educated and on level with a Cornell educated doctor. And, back in the 30s, it would have been a phrase he would have heard in radio dramas or read in pulp novels where it was very popular and used interchangably with "split personality" (the two disorders are not at all related however).
In addition, I would say August IS mentally ill but not the way Big Al means, and certainly not the way a schizophrenic is. Schizophrenics are out of touch with reality. August has a personality disorder - he is a sociopath and a narcissist - and a touch of some kind of mood disorder, maybe bipolar. The alcoholism only made it all worse.
Anyway just my two cents...
I adored this book and couldnt disagree more.I thought the characters were well developed and loved that I could literally hear, smell, and see the circus.
I loved the way the book went back and forth between old and yound Jacob. Loved the prologue at the begining. And I loved that the characters were flawed. Who wants to read a story about perfect people who do perfect things?
Sometimes a "simple" written "romance" novel is just what I need. I dont need to always have an elevated work of literatuire in my hands to be happy with the read.
i agree! when i finished the book i was just like, "okay, i'm done." there was no good feeling left from the story i read or any desire to read more of it! i'm hoping that the movie will delve al ittle deeper into the characters and plot!
I totally agree with you. I actually like Jacob, but I never actually saw why he fell in love with Marlena, other than their shared love of animals; and could never justify their affair. I don't really like justifying affairs anyway, but sometimes I can understand why people do it. With J&M, I sort of felt like August was right. I would NEVER justify spousal abuse and don't in this case, but August was suspicious and had every right to be.The only place we differ is I did think the sex could have been toned down. I understand it's going to happen and am glad is was worse, but scenes like Barbara stripping and the two women with drunk Jacob was a bit much for me.
i was lucky to have read it before it became a best seller. no reviews no high expectations....which is why i guess i enjoyed it so much.I loved the characters, the setting, the era and the mentality of it. I felt the characters fit with the era they were in perfectly.
You're spot on with the characterization of the female characters. I thought they were all very boring and tame. It's really not fair that females are still represented as passive characters. It's the 21st century people!
Wow... I actually liked Marlena -- all that foot-wiggling and all. But you're right. Stereotypic as heck. Disagree re Walter though... he was as bad as the rest. Oh well.
Very very well said. One of my biggest problems with the book was the poor development of most key characters. Walter being a very significant exception, and probably my favorite. And just like you said, the story is just a romance -- nothing more. Nothing wrong with that... but it's been getting so much buzz, no wonder you, I, and by the looks of it many other readers, expected more.
Liska wrote: "Hmm I recognize some of the faults of the book you mention but I quite enjoyed it anyway. It's structurally very cinematic too, so I hope the filmmakers do a good job. I only wanted to comment on o..."
I agree Liska. I think Uncle Al was just making shit up. I also liked the book, though I agree with your analysis . r a c h a b e t h . I found the researched items that Miss Gruen took and implemented were real gems. I liked the elements outside of the romance enough where it counteracted my disappointment in Jacob and Marlena. I especially love Rosie taking out August, which I'm sure makes me a little eVil. I do wish Jacob would have at least went back and looked for Walter, after all they went through and all that.
Thanks for the great review! I'm glad I wasn't the only one who had problems with the character development.
I agree Liska. I think Uncle Al was just making shit up. I also liked the book, though I agree with your analysis . r a c h a b e t h . I found the researched items that Miss Gruen took and implemented were real gems. I liked the elements outside of the romance enough where it counteracted my disappointment in Jacob and Marlena. I especially love Rosie taking out August, which I'm sure makes me a little eVil. I do wish Jacob would have at least went back and looked for Walter, after all they went through and all that.
Thanks for the great review! I'm glad I wasn't the only one who had problems with the character development.
I agree with a lot of this review. I think the atmosphere and circus history were wonderful to read about, but as I got further into the story, I realized that I was mostly skimming over the romance and focusing in on the history. Jacob had some development, but I mostly felt he was too goody-goody and his happy ending was undeserved. Marlena was just dull. The side characters were all much more interesting then the lead couple, which is not a good thing for a novel.
It is very cinematic, I know a movie is soon to come. But 1 star, really? Come on...
I'm one of the ones who complains about the sex, and I just want to offer that while I realize's the setting made it very realistic that "middle class morality" did not apply to this microcosm (despite how Jacob ironically tries to impose it), I felt like the sex was just grotesque to the point of distraction. It didn't lend an air of realism to it because it was too heavy-handed. Funnily enough, I was talking with a friend the other day and I realized this might be one of the few times where the movie is better than the book. Most of my issues with it were narrative, so it might actually translate to screen better than others. Still, I am making no plans to run out and see it in theaters!
I'm only about 10 chapters into this book...I do like it, but when Jacob kisses Marlena, it just seems to have come from out of no where. I mean, there really was no "I thought she was beautiful" sort of thinking, atleast not that I remember reading thus far. So when he kissed her it almost just seemed like it was thrown in there.Am I wrong?
I feel better that I'm not the only one who wanted to like this book & then didn't.
WOW. I'm surprised this review got so much feedback, considering I wrote it such a long time ago! :O
I think your review nails it! I'm making reference to this review in mine! ;)
I liked this book because of the Old man side of the story. It got me thinking about how old people are shoved aside and their stories ignored. Jacob led a very colourful and rich life, but was left to just rot. I loved the ending and think the book.
I'm not against sex scenes or sexual content, but I want them to be well written. Every sexual encounter was sloppy (no pun intended) and when we finally reach the sex scene with Marlena, it made me cringe.
I can't remember the sex scenes since I wrote this review a few years ago (and I'm pretty sure I mentally blocked out the part when Jacob and Marlena got together hahaha), but I agree with you, Brandy. Ever since I've read GRRM's series, I've developed a passionate hatred for poorly written sex scenes. I'm sure if I went back to this book and checked out the explicit bits, I'd roll my eyes and wonder why the author didn't hire a ghost writer to write the sexy bits!
. r a c h a b e t h . wrote: "I can't remember the sex scenes since I wrote this review a few years ago (and I'm pretty sure I mentally blocked out the part when Jacob and Marlena got together hahaha), but I agree with you, Bra..."Sorry, I didn't realize the review was a few years old! lol. But yeah, the book was just poorly written. I've decided that life is far too short to waste it on books that just make me groan and roll my eyes, much like this one did. It wasn't just the sex scenes, it was almost all of it. I didn't believe for one second that the narrator was a man, because it felt like a woman trying her best to prove that the narrator was male. I'm sorry but thinking about sex all the time doesn't give you a believable male voice.
I fully agree with everything you said. Thank you.
I liked this book more than you did, probably because I had low expectations to start with, but you make some great points.
I loved the book, but I kinda agree about Marlena.
Maybe she should have "ghosted" the whole novel, it probably would have been better. What another, overhyped book by an author that seems to have put little effort into her work. Thank gosh I bought a used copy.
Rachel, Someone gave me this book a year ago, I did see the good reviews but I just can't seem to pick up this book, maybe that's for the best after reading your review.
This book touches people in very different ways. The sex scenes seemed well placed and appropriately written and I didn't see the main characters as flatly written. Perhaps because I grew up in an era of poorly understood and untreated paranoid schizophrenia. Women married to these men really did live in constant fear. They buried any personality just to survive. Either they died or they woke up and ran away. The thing that "woke them up" was usually protecting their children or being loved by another man strong enough to rescue them. The setting is the '30s. No welfare, no social security, no church support for vagabonds. To eat, you needed to work or someone needed to give you food. Else you died. And jobs were dirty, miserable and sparse.
I found it very believable that a young man wanted to rescue a young woman trapped in that situation. Even more believable that a young woman would turn to him to find escape.
If August had loved Marlena and was not a cruel person, there would have been no point in Jacob and Marlena falling in love. So in that you are most correct. That was what brought them together.
I liked how you included some details that would help someone want to read the book
I completely agree with the wanting to like it I've heard so many good things about this book!On the other hand though, I did enjoy the book. It was a cozy read for me. I just expected a bit more...
Well it’s not the gritty “the postman always rings twice” is it an oldie but a goodie - betraying the hand that feeds you ….Good Review
I was thinking of reading this book, but once I saw that it takes place in a circus, my shackles went up because I think of animal cruelty. Nevertheless, reading everyone's reviews tells a different story from what I thought, but not enough to actually read it. Thanks, everyone.
