Water for Elephants

One of my Tattered Cover purchases the other day was Sara Gruen’s novel, Water for Elephants. It’s been on so many best seller lists that I assumed it would be a good, fluffy read at best. I have such little faith in the American public that if a book is a best seller, I assume that it might be entertaining but not good in the literary sense of the word. And while Water for Elephants may not end up in the cannon of American Literature, I will give it a hearty recommendation. Gruen’s style is instantly engaging, and her story of a student turned circus vet grabs you from the start. Though she tips her hand at the story’s ending in the prologue, there are surprises enough along the way to keep you guessing. The book utilizes a flashback structure, which I almost always find at least somewhat ineffective. I think I said it in my Evening review: with that type of structure, the reader is almost always more interested in one part of the story than the other. Gruen, however, is the rare success story who has created two equally compelling narratives: one is a high-stakes love story, the other a commentary on the frustrations of aging. Water for Elephants won’t make you want to run away and join the circus, but it will make you want to curl up with a good book.