Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The whole thing made me think of ‘The Great Gatsby’. I don’t know if that’s because the time periods were the same or the author captured some of Fitzgerald’s style. I haven’t seen the movie, I wanted to read the book first. I don’t think I’ll go see the movie now – some pretty graphic scenes in the books that I wouldn’t want to see on a screen.
I know it was a different time, but I can’t fathom the outright cruelty that not only the animals endured, but also people. I guess I’m sheltered because I’m sure that there are places in the world (and in the US) that this situation wouldn’t seem so unbelievable.
On a lighter note, it was a great look into the old circuses. I’ve never seen a Ringling Bros. circus (I can’t remember the name of the one that used to come to my hometown all during my elementary school years), but I still remember how sparkly and glamorous that life seemed. Water for Elephants showed the dark side of the traveling circus, but kept some of the glamor too.