Water for Elephants

I was really excited when I found out Water for Elephants was one of the required texts for this class because I had already read it and I'd really enjoyed it. I'd been recommending it like crazy to a lot of people over the summer. I was also excited it was on the syllabus because that meant it was one less book I had to buy, as I already owned it. 

During our discussions in class we talked quite a bit about the style that Sara Gruen used to write the novel, in the sense that she used a lot of flashbacks to convey what was happening in the story. I often found myself forgetting that a lot of what I was reading were Jacob's memories of the past and I usually found myself somewhat startled as Gruen thrust us back into the present. I did like that Gruen used flashbacks to tell the story though because I felt like that helped make the novel seem more realistic. 

We also mentioned in class that Water for Elephants is seen as a work of historical fiction. And we discussed whether or not we thought Gruen was able to paint a realistic picture of a depression era circus. I think she did it quite well. We see examples of this in the scenes in which different 'classes' aren't given their pay. I say classes because in the novel there were obvious separations of class among the members of The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. As the novel progresses, more and more classes are losing their pay. We also see hints of the depression when another show goes out of business and Uncle Al decides to pay a visit to see if he can make any spectacular finds. Members of the previous show are seen begging for jobs and food and they are turned away because Uncle Al can't afford to bring them on. This is also an example of the sinisterness that Gruen paints throughout the novel. 

Another thing we mentioned in class was the way we saw the novel in our mind. Most of us agreed when we imagined a lot of bright colors, I see a lot of reds, blues and yellows. But we also said we imagined a sense of doom overhead. It's always there, but it's often pushed to the side. When I imagine the novel I can sometimes see it playing in my mind and I often find myself relating it to a show called Pushing Daisies. The colors on the show are very bright, popping colors which is slihtly ironic because it is a show about death. When thinking of the novel I am also reminded of a movie I saw not too long ago called The Fall. The colors are very bright and the film is kind of double sided like Water for Elephants. The bright colorful side of the film is there to offset the sinister side of the film. It's not just this that reminds me of the novel though. The film is presented to the audience with time in the present as well as time in an imagined place, it flips back and forth between the two throughout the film. And that was something that reminded me of the novel as well. Anyway, it's a great film and you should definitely check it out!

As for Water for Elephants, it is a spectacular novel that should absolutely be kept on the list for the next class!