Paul Weiss's Reviews > Water for Elephants

This ain’t ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL!

Jacob Jankowski, a promising veterinary student, is advised that his parents have been killed in an automobile accident. In the course of settling their estate, he is shocked to learn that the only reason he was able to afford the costs of university education is that his parent had mortgaged everything they own. The devastating shock of learning of their death and his discovery that he is a completely impoverished, penniless pauper render him virtually incapacitated and mentally unable to deal with the difficult reality of his final exams. Walking away from the university, he surrenders to a reckless impulse and fate prods him into jumping aboard a train destination unknown. That train was the mobile home of a third rate circus, “Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth”. WATER FOR ELEPHANTS is the story of Jacob’s life in a Depression era circus and what a story it is!

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS is a warm-hearted romantic tale that ultimately comes to a close on a fuzzy feel good tone, but it is also a profoundly moving and gritty story of the reality of the animal abuse and mistreatment that was historically endemic in zoos and circuses. Sara Gruen provides her readers with a lot of meat to chew on and consider – racism and bigotry, misogyny, animal abuse, class elitism, labour relations, economic theft, greed, the plight of homeless people, the difficulties of untreated mental illness, domestic abuse and more. You’ll care about the characters – whether they are human or not. The list of lovable critters is lengthy – a lion, an orangutan, an elephant (well, of course), a dog, a chimpanzee, a camel, a stable of horses and more!

Definitely recommended.

Paul Weiss