Tuesday, July 21, 2009

running away to join the circus

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Genre: historical fiction
Review: I spent most of this book wondering why Gruen chose to intersperse her primary story of a young man who found himself thrust into the circus life in 1931 with the musings of that same man at the age of 93. The story of how Jacob came to be in the circus and what happened to him there seemed like enough to me, and Jacob's aged voice seemed unnecessary. At the end of the book, though, I realized why she gave us both perspectives, and could hardly argue with her narrative device, as the closure it provides works so well.

2 comments:

Lezlie said...

I'm afraid to read this one, but it always sounds so good.

Lezlie

mmz said...

I had exactly the same concern! But it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'd say definitely go ahead and read it.