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S'està carregant… Aigua per a elefants (2006)de Sara Gruen
  
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 spiritedstardust | Dec 29, 2022 |  Few books make me ugly cry, but this one got me. It's so rare to love almost every character in a story. (  ) jackpotmedia | Dec 21, 2022 | The last chapter makes all the other ones worth reading. (  ) Jeffrey_G | Nov 22, 2022 | Interesting story about a young man who accidentally joins a circus in the 1930s, after his parents passed away, leaving him penniless. I found the novel thoroughly engrossing. I appreciated how the author included circus episodes from her research. If you like historical fiction, stories about the circus, what life was like during the Great Depression, or how aging impacts life perspective, I think you would enjoy this book. ( ) Castlelass | Oct 30, 2022 | I read this book straight through, sacrificing my sleep to finish. I fell in love with Rosie the elephant, and learned more about what I already knew: animals used for entertainment are slaves to their capitalistic owners. This author used various circus stories and pictures from U.S. history in the 20th century to inspire this book, most notably the story of Topsy the elephant. Look it up. (  ) burritapal | Oct 23, 2022 |
 It's a favorite of book clubs and reading groups, and is supposedly rife with parallels between the protagonist, Jacob Jankowski and Jacob, grandson of Abraham, in the Bible. I wish one of you would tell me what they are. They are not obvious to me, other than a cryptic "Jacob's ladder" parallel to the ladder on the train cars that give access to the roof and that will be important late in the story. What is obvious to me is this is a book about memory, something elephants are famous for and something humans are famous for treating as reliable when it isn't. At its finest, "Water for Elephants" resembles stealth hits like "The Giant's House," by Elizabeth McCracken, or "The Lovely Bones," by Alice Sebold, books that combine outrageously whimsical premises with crowd-pleasing romanticism. But Gruen's prose is merely serviceable, and she hurtles through cataclysmic events, overstuffing her whiplash narrative with drama (there's an animal stampede, two murders and countless fights). What goes on under the big top is nothing compared with the show backstage. Té l'adaptacióTé una guia d'estudi per a estudiants
A novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932. When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her.--From publisher description. No s'han trobat descripcions de biblioteca. |
Cobertes populars
 Google Books — S'està carregant…GèneresClassificació Decimal de Dewey (DDC)813.6 — Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLCC (Clas. Bibl. Congrés EUA)ValoracióMitjana: (4.06)
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Group Read (August): Water for Elephants
17
The writing itself didn't really leap out at me and I felt the main character was boring and almost shapeless, not much of a 'character'. I do feel though you get a better sense of 'him' in his old age, rather than when he was young.
I really cannot stand anything close to animal cruelty, and the same goes for reading about it. Granted, it is about an animal circus, but it still infuriated me all the same. I know it's a story but I prefer ones without hurt animals.
The researched circus life was interesting, and as I am a lover of the circus (non-animal ones) I liked the insight into circus life and the associated vernacular.
In regards to the rest of the characters, I would have liked to know them better rather than getting brief snapshots here and there.
The transitions from past to present were flawless and well executed.
Although the novel was meant to be set in the 1930s it didn't feel that way, apart from reminding everyone about alcohol prohibition it could have passed for contemporary.
The book is carried by one character's voice, and sadly for me Jacob's (main character) lets me down. (