Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen

I like Water for Elephants. I can't say I absolutely loved it but I didn't hate, or dislike, it either. I think the only word to really describe my feelings is like.

There seems to be so much crammed in to this book and yet so little. Some of the characters and characterisations just didn't come across well to me. Marlena just seemed a little bit bland and I wish she'd had a bit more of a personality. All I really know of her from this book is that she looks good in pink sequins and she has some sort of power over horses. Similarly August seems a very odd character to me. His illness seems to come a little out of left field and doesn't really seem to be portrayed in a very realistic way. I suppose I just don't really see him as character who has that condition. I did like Camel and Kinko / Walter and thought the pair of them were very interesting and their ending very sad.

But certain characters charmed me – which is impressive given those are the characters who don't exactly communicate much. I'm talking about Rosie and Bobo. My favourite characters in this book were an elephant and a chimp. Although the twist with Rosie was a little bit bizarre and probably not all together realistic.

I did like Jacob and found the nursing home scenes to be very well written. In the circus he seemed such a humble character. He's harder and more grumpy in the nursing home but I think that's more the sadness of his situation and missing the life he led more than anything. I did like his ending.

Certain scenes in the book seemed to be a little bit over the top – primarily those in the Hooch tent and the Barbara / Nell scene. I don't think the scenes really add that much to the book and could have been eliminated from the novel or toned down and it wouldn't really have affected the story a great deal. I don't have a problem with sex in books but this just seemed strangely written.

I think from this book I take away a greater interest in Elephants, the treatment of animals in the entertainment industries and of circus life in general. Would I rush to buy another Sara Gruen book? Probably not.