Book Review #61

Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen

Starting with the perspective of an old man and then jumping back in time to his youth, Water for Elephants tells the provocative story of circus life in Depression-era America. Gruen's writing of the old man is phenomenal. She wrote the character with the dignity he deserved. As far as the main story, I found it disturbing. It was upsetting. I don't think it was necessary for the situations to be as dire as they were. But that's just me. I like pretty things. I also like neat, tidy things and I'm happy to report that this book's structure was exactly that.

General consensus: Very strange and absurdly fantastic at times but I couldn't put it down.