You’re never too old to enjoy a circus.
Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus elephants

(Photo source: Wisconsin Historical Society)

First and foremost this book is written by an animal lover for animal lovers. Yes, it’s also a romance set in the Great Depression. I think more importantly it’s a lesson about how we treat each other and our innocent 4-legged friends in the very worse of times.

Author Sara Gruen’s third novel reminded me of Big Fish, that Tim Burton movie where Ewan McGregor with a bad Southern accent played a man who coincidentally also worked at a circus. I wonder why popular culture frequently paints a romantic picture of Depression-era circuses when there’s clearly nothing romantic about poverty. Often, these circuses employ magical folk who manage to tempt unsuspecting commoners into spending their hard-earned cash on escapist entertainments. In Gruen’s version, the magic lies in that special bond between man and beast and how that relationship can have an effect on lives inside and outside the ring.

Water for Elephants starts on a painful low note. Our protagonist Jacob loses his way after the sudden death of his parents and finds himself employed as the resident veterinarian of a traveling circus. Young virginal Jacob meets many obstacles in circus life, a society made up of rules and hierarchies and ruled at the top by its capitalistic owner Big Al. The weak men and animals are eliminated too easily without a second thought. Falling in love with his boss’ wife Marlena doesn’t make things any easier. Having a boss who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia doesn’t help either.

Gruen sets her story up with two parallel timelines: there’s Jacob’s time with the circus and then Jacob in the present time as a 90-year-old resident in a care home. It would have been just as good a novel if she only concentrated on Jacob’s life in the circus. Why she does this makes absolutely no sense to me other than to set up a cliché touching ending for our 90-year-old Jacob.

I enjoyed the characters more than I thought I would. The love triangle between Jacob, Marlena and August, Marlena’s husband, is the engine that drives the story. It’s not a perfect engine (I constantly questioned Jacob’s love for Marlena) that stalls more than purrs but readers who stick with it are vastly rewarded at the end. I also thought it was kinda smart to model the characters after animals like Jacob’s best friend Walter reminds me of a loyal dog, Big Al a predatory creature, and August like a snake. And then Jacob as the veterinarian trying his best to take care of all of them.

I’m ambivalent about the upcoming movie. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen Remember Me that I want Emilie de Ravin as Marlena instead of Reese Witherspoon. Water for Elephants could potentially turn into a overwrought chick flick in less talented hands.

Rating: Not Shakespeare. Light entertainment for animal lovers.

Recommendations: For a completely original take on Depression-era circus life, I recommend Carnivale, the short-lived HBO TV series.