~Book~ Water for Elephants

Hmmmmm..... Ok I'm kind of torn as to whether I like this book or not. I had wanted to see the movie, so I figured I'd read the book first. But now after reading it, I don't want to see the movie. This is going to have spoilers.

I liked the characters. They were well described. Didn't always like what they did.

This book is about a young man who loses everything and ends up joining the circus. But it's almost like the book "The Notebook". The main character Jacob is now in his 90's and the book is his memories from when he was in his 20"s.

After learning of his parent's deaths, and financial ruin, Jacob leaves Cornell University (where he was studying to be a vet), and hops a train to the circus. Where he meets a VERY colorful assortment of people. You've got an angry masturbating dwarf (flipped through those pages) who loves his little dog. A drunk stowaway that Jacob is trying to prevent from getting thrown off. A crazy controlling circus owner. A schizophrenic animal trainer. A half naked showgirl. And, of course, Marlena. The wife of the animal trainer and Jacob's love interest. One big soap opera huh? I wasn't kidding when I said colorful.

There's love, adultery, fighting, murder, illness all rolled into one big circus. The story line was good. I mean you've got 2 people fighting the odds so they can be together. But how it's done is what I didn't like. And there's also a few parts where I had to keep flipping pages because of the content. Like the masturbating dwarf. But also the scene with the half naked show girl. It was grotesque for my taste. And vulgar.

I'm glad I got the book on sale, cause I probably wont be reading it again.

But that's just my opinion.............