Book Review: Water for Elephants

As I have stated before, one of my MANY quirks is that I must read a book before I watch the movie. When I read in Entertainment Weekly the Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattison would be starring in the film adaptation of Water for Elephants, I knew that I had to pick it up. I rarely pay full price for a book. However, this one had such rave reviews that I couldn’t help myself. Still, it sat on my bookcase until this week when I promised to read it before the opening of the movie. Honestly, I was greatly disappointed.

Sara Gruen tells the story of Jacob Jankowski who is so distraught after his parents’ deaths that he runs away with the circus. He leaves between his education at Cornell University and his future as a veterinarian. Fortunately, his study of veterinary medicine helps him land a job as the circus’ vet. While touring with the circus he meets a number of characters from a red haired midget clown, to an old circus worker who is struck with “jake walk” (a condition brought on by drinking tainted whiskey). Jacob soon discovers that life on the road is beyond trying. When an elephant is brought on as part of the show, Jacob finds himself torn between his job as a compassionate vet and the rules of the circus. This causes Jacob to bump heads with his boss, August, who is beyond temperamental and at times masochistic. To complicate matters, Jacob is in love with the lead actress of the show, Malena, who just happens to be August’s wife.

While the subject matter of the circus would seem to be incredibly interesting, this novel was boring from start to finish. The entire plot was cliched, the relationships were shallow, and the characters were without depth. From the first chapter, I knew the exact path that the novel was going to take. Every time I thought to put the book down, I convinced myself to give it one more chance. It was after all a bestseller, therefore, I thought it would get better. It never did. If anything, it got worse as every cliche was reinforced. The only twist came at the very end and was so absurd I had to re-read the last few pages three times over to make sure that I read it correctly. A book is only as good as its character development but in this novel there is no development. Though Jacob attempts to mature, he can’t seem to figure out what his priorities are. Incidentally, neither can Gruen for she has Jacob bemoan his conflicting emotions between his love for Marlena and his feelings towards animal abuse. Fortunately for Jacob, the animals take their fate into their own hands which relieves Jacob of having to develop. I hope, for the box office’s sake, that the movie fails to resemble the book. Either way, I will not be the first in line at the theater.

-DLP