Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
This is a running away to the circus story told from the point of view of a 20-something year old in the 1930’s and his later self, 90 plus and in an old folks’ home. It’s an old genre that was popular before I was born, and has been ressurrected skillfully here. The structure is also tried and true rather than innovative, but is well handled, with ¾ of the book devoted to the more exciting and exotic world of the circus interspersed with the experience of very ripe (but mainly with-it) old age. I can’t speak to the authenticity of the 93 year old narrator, being rather younger at this point, but it struck me as true, sympathetic, and a rounded portrayal. The younger self is actually, to me, less well defined, but the story itself is so much fun, and the details of circus life in the ‘30’s so engrossing that it doesn’t matter. The language isn’t as rich as other books I’ve read lately (Inheritance of Loss and Snow Falling on Cedars), but the minimalism works fine because the dialogue is terrific, with a wonderful sense of time and place and different class dialects. The villain is rather a mustache twirler and the romance wasn’t convincing (I occasionally rolled my eyes). After reading Snow Falling on Cedars, a beautiful book, which was also weak only in respect of the romantic entanglement, I wondered if romance is just tough to write in literary fiction. That being said, this is a fast and pleasant summer read. Enjoy!
[...] July 14, 2009 by Lilian Nattel A fast and pleasant read, this is a running away to the circus story told from the point of view of a 20-something year old in the 1930’s and his later self, 90 plus and in an old folks’ home. I stayed up past midnight to finish it one night, even though the romance and the mustache twirling villain occasionally made me roll my eyes, because it was so fun. More here. [...]