Water for Elephants

2006
Book on Tape

This is a fantastic book, and, if you can, listen to it as a book on tape.

Water for Elephants tacks back and forth between a young man who had to leave veterinary school after his parents died and left him destitute in the 1930s and his older self currently residing in a retirement home where he feels useless and dignity-less. The old man begins the tale, but, as you begin to immerse yourself in his life, the younger persona takes over. In the book-on-tape version, the young man and the elderly man are played by two different narrators, and the effect is magic. After leaving Cornell veterinary school, Jacob Jankowski accidentally joins the circus, falls in love, deals with psychotic bosses and crotchety old circus hands who befriend him and protect him from the harsher circus life. I probably wouldn't have read this -- not being all that terribly interested in the circus, but Christina recommended it, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. It's truly one of the best books I've listened to in awhile, combining ideas of aging and dignity with characters who come alive, an interesting plot-line, and a love of animals and people. It's beautifully written and narrated and highly recommended by both me and The Sister (Christina).