Water For Elephants

[epiphany65]

I've been listening to the audiobook of Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen and I was wondering if anyone else has read it and what they thought.

It's a story told in a series of flashbacks by a man in his 90s about his life with a circus during The Depression. It's the first book by this author I've read/listened to and I was drawn in immediately. I like audiobooks a lot and this is narrated by 2 voice actors -- one for the lead character as an old man and another as him in his 20s, which really makes the character (Jacob Jankowski) come alive. The writing is very good -- almost poetic at times -- and the story itself is quite captivating and moving. I highly recommend it. The Amazon page will let you read several pages of the book, as well as a synopsis. There is also a Wikipedia page for the book, but -- it has spoilers! The movie rights have been optioned and I hope it gets made. It's not the sort of book I normally read (it's classified as a historical drama), but I've found myself really caught up in it. It's well worth the read! As we come into winter, if you're looking for a good book to pass the time on a cold night or storm day, check this out.

 

[sr71plt]

I've been listening to the audiobook of Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen and I was wondering if anyone else has read it and what they thought.

It's a story told in a series of flashbacks by a man in his 90s about his life with a circus during The Depression. It's the first book by this author I've read/listened to and I was drawn in immediately. I like audiobooks a lot and this is narrated by 2 voice actors -- one for the lead character as an old man and another as him in his 20s, which really makes the character (Jacob Jankowski) come alive. The writing is very good -- almost poetic at times -- and the story itself is quite captivating and moving. I highly recommend it. The Amazon page will let you read several pages of the book, as well as a synopsis. There is also a Wikipedia page for the book, but -- it has spoilers! The movie rights have been optioned and I hope it gets made. It's not the sort of book I normally read (it's classified as a historical drama), but I've found myself really caught up in it. It's well worth the read! As we come into winter, if you're looking for a good book to pass the time on a cold night or storm day, check this out.

I was bowled over by this book (which originally was titled "Jacob's Ladder," incidentally. Glad the name changed). I had given Sara Gruen some help on her first published book, Riding Lessons, and had considerable problems with it. (I thought the protagonist was a manipulative whiner.) She kept saying she had this other manuscript she was floating, and I was thinking "yeah, yeah," another "it's all about me" woman's novel. And the original title did nothing for me. So, when she sent me a copy of Water, I just let it sit on the nightstand until suddenly it appeared on the New York Times best-seller list. I read it and--Wow--one of the best I've read in years.

 

[epiphany65]

I was bowled over by this book (which originally was titled "Jacob's Ladder," incidentally. Glad the name changed). I had given Sara Gruen some help on her first published book, Riding Lessons, and had considerable problems with it. (I thought the protagonist was a manipulative whiner.) She kept saying she had this other manuscript she was floating, and I was thinking "yeah, yeah," another "it's all about me" woman's novel. And the original title did nothing for me. So, when she sent me a copy of Water, I just let it sit on the nightstand until suddenly it appeared on the New York Times best-seller list. I read it and--Wow--one of the best I've read in years.

My sincere thanks for all the help you gave Ms. Gruen on her first published novel, sr71plt. I can only hope that your input have her the impetus to keep writing. We all owe you a great dept. "tis a shame you never recognized "Water..." for what is was.

 

[sr71plt]

My sincere thanks for all the help you gave Ms. Gruen on her first published novel, sr71plt. I can only hope that your input have her the impetus to keep writing. We all owe you a great dept. "tis a shame you never recognized "Water..." for what is was.

"Some" help--nothing to be giving out a debt on; Sara G. carried herself forward. With marketing, where I proved to be right and she was skitish. And on the cover, which she proved to be more right than I was. Her publisher wanted to mass market Riding Lessons. (500,000 copies, paperback only--going on Wal-Mart shelves and knowing most would be pulped.) She was the usual "I can't accept any of my copies being pulped" starry-eyed newbie author and was going to turn the offer down. I worked on her to accept that the wide distribution was a "good thing" in developing a fan base and that the offer was a gold mine. So they pulped 200,000 copies. They sold 300,000 and this set her up for her next one, which was a best-seller.

On the cover, she was going to back out of the deal with the publisher because she hated the horse they'd put on the cover design. (A pretty prissy one, certainly.) I told her it was best not to make waves on that but that if she was really upset to go back to them with images she thought were better. She went back to them but was prepared to dead-end the deal. But they accepted one of her horse images, so that was averted (and her horse was, yes, a lot better).

 

[kimbalee]

Loved this book, too. I agree it's the best one I've read in a while, also.