On my nightstand: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Can we make this brief?  I was underwhelmed by this novel.  I thought I'd like it.  I thought to myself: it has a movie with some decent big name stars.  It has love interest.  I was hoping for something close to The Time Traveler's Wife (which I adore-- the novel not the movie), but  I think this novel ended up as an idea that Nicholas Sparks wishes he had thought of first (I can't be the only one who got that feeling right?  Very similar to movie version of The Notebook but with a chimp, right?).

When I think of reviewing this book, I'm not left with a lot.  Yes, an old guy reminisces about his days working for the circus when he fell for one of the stars.  Don't be fooled into thinking there is depth just because there is tragedy.  The character who will elicit the greatest emotional response in the book is the elephant Rosie.  Gruen doesn't write terribly about aging, but she doesn't do it with much complexity or interest other than to show us how miserable getting old can be.

What perplexes me is why the story of Topsy's execution has inspired novelists.  Gruen mentions it in her author's notes or interview in the back and Alice Hoffman mentioned it when she did her reading for The Red Garden.  I really cannot wrap my brain around hearing a disturbing account of an animal's public death and somehow using that as a springboard for such a shallow novel.

Regardless of the bizarre inspiration, I guess I never saw the Jacob/Marlena spark and became increasingly less interested in the plot of the novel as it plodded forward with the optimism of an unemployment line.

My favorite part of the book was the inclusion of photographs from circuses.  My suggestion if you are interested in the circus element is to visit Sarasota and go to the Ringling museum.  It is a fantastic mansion, art museum, garden, and circus museum and a lot more interesting than the novel.  I visited in the 8th grade and still find it probably one of the best museums I've been to.

Let's not talk about the amount of skin cancer and Sun-In this trip probably involved.  Let me just say I have still not mastered the art of posing with my short friends.

FYI- I'm currently taking an adolescent literature class for graduate school, so the next several months I'll likely be reading lots of YA.  Enjoy!

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