Friday, April 11, 2008

Review: Water for Elephants

Reanne Eichele
Unaffiliated member of the library
Adult Fiction

The premise behind Water for Elephants is simple: using flashbacks, an elderly man narrates his glory days as a member of a traveling circus. The reader will easily be enthralled by the young man's daring adventures, including quitting college right before graduation, falling in love with a mercurial man's wife, and becoming a veterinarian for the circus. The other story is just as riveting; although his memories are clear, the narrator struggles with his failing mind and body thereby creating a poignant juxtaposition between reality and fantasy. The book tends to drag along in parts but the ending far makes up for the lull.

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