Worth the hype: Water for Elephants

We all know that I'm a bit of a grouch when it comes to finding good reading. Either that, or I just know what I like. I'm not sure which just yet, but I do know that I absolutely loved Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. I was just so flabbergasted to have found a read that I thoroughly enjoyed that I was speechless for a whole 24 hrs as to what to write about it.

First off, the cover of the book is misleading; there is NOT a "mute heroine" unless you consider an elephant a heroine-- which, I guess, is possible. Secondly, the story didn't take any unexpected twists of turns, except the very end, which was a bit refreshing because the story wasn't so convoluted that the reader couldn't keep up (Girl With the Dragon Tattoo did this a little).

Instead, the protagonist is the young (and old) Jacob Jankowski and it is told simultaneously from his 20 year old self and his 93 year old self. This works in that the author uses the 93 year old's happenings as a springboard to reflect on the 20 year old's time in the circus.

What I particularly enjoyed about the book was the grittiness and the absolute filth. The author described the sights and smells in such a way that I could picture each animal in the menagerie and the worker to accompany it. She also mentioned such things as public fornication and masturbation in such a way that she showed she was willing to go the distance to show the honesty of the protagonist. As well, she showed the many sides of any one character-- which made the characters round and interesting-- rather than simply casting "good guy" and "bad guy".

I have not yet seen the movie based on the book, but because of my sheer enjoyment for the book and the richness of the characters, I can't help but be intrigued at how the director may have interpreted this characters and depicted them on the screen.