I just finished another book, and since I have time today, I thought that I would blog about it. Since I'm going back to school next week, this might possibly be the last book that I blog about for awhile. I may update every now and then with something cool I learn in class, or possibly reviews about what I'm reading for my literature classes, etc. It's been fun tracking everything I've read since April, and I'm not sure how many people read this, but thanks for sticking with me!
Novel #15
Title: Water for Elephants
Author: Sara Gruen
Grade: C-
Brief Summary: Jacob Jankowski faces a hard life ahead of him when his parents suddenly die during last month of college. Because of the Depression, Jacob sees no future for himself, and he walks out of his final veterinarian exams. He jumps onto the first passing train which happens to be for The Benzini Brothers circus, and they just happen to need a veterinarian. Jacob starts working with August, the equestrian director, and his wife, Marlena, who Jacob falls for. Can Jacob keep his feelings in check and take care of The Benzini's newest performer, an elephant named Rosie?
Review: I want to be perfectly clear: I did not start reading this book because of Robert Pattinson. I will say that seeing the commercials for the movie adaptation sparked my interest in the novel, but it had nothing to do with a certain actor. Ok, now that's been made clear, I can move on. I was very disappointed in this book. The storyline at first seemed very intriguing: an old man reflects back on the summer that changed his life, which happened to be when he traveled with a circus. So I started reading, and at first it was really great. Then, about 20-30 pages in, it started to get really racy and raunchy. That's when I probably when I should have put the book down, but I didn't want to give up just for that. There were only about two more racy scenes, and I dealt with that. What really started to get to me was the treatment of the character August. August seems to have a split personality at first, and later in the book you find out why. Now, I know that back in the 1930's, there wasn't a lot of sympathy for people with mental or emotional disorders. But wanting to kill a man because he has a disorder is not cool, and this is what happens when August, Jacob, and Marlena have a falling out. Jacob seems to be a caring man, and then all of a sudden, he wants to kill a man, even after he finds out that August has problems. That really ruined the book for me after that, because the one character that I felt sympathetic got a really crappy ending, while the other two characters had a better ending. I just felt like August's character was stereotyped, and I did not like it at all. There could have been much better writing on Gruen's part. I did like the ending chapter however, just because it ties old Jacob back to the beginning of his journey, and I love when authors finish a story that way. Other than that, I am really surprised and can't believe this novel is a New York Times Bestseller; it probably has something to do with Robert Pattinson.
Title: Water for Elephants
Author: Sara Gruen
Grade: C-
Brief Summary: Jacob Jankowski faces a hard life ahead of him when his parents suddenly die during last month of college. Because of the Depression, Jacob sees no future for himself, and he walks out of his final veterinarian exams. He jumps onto the first passing train which happens to be for The Benzini Brothers circus, and they just happen to need a veterinarian. Jacob starts working with August, the equestrian director, and his wife, Marlena, who Jacob falls for. Can Jacob keep his feelings in check and take care of The Benzini's newest performer, an elephant named Rosie?
Review: I want to be perfectly clear: I did not start reading this book because of Robert Pattinson. I will say that seeing the commercials for the movie adaptation sparked my interest in the novel, but it had nothing to do with a certain actor. Ok, now that's been made clear, I can move on. I was very disappointed in this book. The storyline at first seemed very intriguing: an old man reflects back on the summer that changed his life, which happened to be when he traveled with a circus. So I started reading, and at first it was really great. Then, about 20-30 pages in, it started to get really racy and raunchy. That's when I probably when I should have put the book down, but I didn't want to give up just for that. There were only about two more racy scenes, and I dealt with that. What really started to get to me was the treatment of the character August. August seems to have a split personality at first, and later in the book you find out why. Now, I know that back in the 1930's, there wasn't a lot of sympathy for people with mental or emotional disorders. But wanting to kill a man because he has a disorder is not cool, and this is what happens when August, Jacob, and Marlena have a falling out. Jacob seems to be a caring man, and then all of a sudden, he wants to kill a man, even after he finds out that August has problems. That really ruined the book for me after that, because the one character that I felt sympathetic got a really crappy ending, while the other two characters had a better ending. I just felt like August's character was stereotyped, and I did not like it at all. There could have been much better writing on Gruen's part. I did like the ending chapter however, just because it ties old Jacob back to the beginning of his journey, and I love when authors finish a story that way. Other than that, I am really surprised and can't believe this novel is a New York Times Bestseller; it probably has something to do with Robert Pattinson.
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