Jacob Jankowski is so old he cannot remember if he is 90 or 93. His recollections of his time working in a circus as a young man form the bulk of Sara Gruen's 2006 novel, "Water for Elephants."
Shocked by the sudden death of his parents and the loss of their home, Jacob ran away from Cornell Veterinary School in the middle of his final exams. He soon discovered that the train he hopped on belonged to a traveling circus, so he accepted a job caring for their animals.
August, who ran the circus, was charming toward Jacob. Still, his paranoid schizophrenia periodically caused him to fly into a violent rage, at which times he abused animals and people - sometimes fatally. He was known to order men thrown off the train for causing trouble or even to prevent having to pay their salaries. The economic devastation of Depression-era America fuels the chaos of living as a transient in a traveling show.
Through the chaos, young Jacob falls in love with August's beautiful wife, Marlena, one of the show's stars. The two share a passion for animals, and Jacob tries to protect Marlena from her abusive husband.
The story switches between young Jacob and the old man, contrasting the stressful adventures of his youth with the frustrations of old age and neglect. The arrival of the circus triggers old Jacob's memories as he looks forward to his family taking him out to share an important part of his life. For me, one of the most poignant scenes occurs when Jacob learns that his son has forgotten to come, meaning he cannot leave the nursing home to attend the circus without supervision. The son has no idea that Jacob has been looking forward to this excursion more than anything he has anticipated in years.
Gruen does a masterful job of building tension. She begins with a scene in which the animals escape from their cages to stampede through the crowd, wreaking havoc. She describes a killing that takes place during the pandemonium, but leaves the reader wondering who the killer was until we return to the same scene 300 pages later.
"Water for Elephants" is a tragedy, a comedy, an adventure, and a love story. I enjoyed it from start to