Her works have been translated into fortythree languages and have sold more than ten million copies worldwide. Water for elephants is the new york times bestselling debut novel. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 335 pages and is available in paperback format. Water for elephants is a treat for the reader, a chronicle of an adventure that permanently alters the life of one twentyoneyearold veterinary school dropout.
As a young man, jacob jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that. The next day, jacob and marlena wake up, and marlena panics, noticing shes late for the spec. The novel has received high praise from numerous critics, and has. Water for elephants though he may not speak of them, the memories still dwell inside jacob jankowski s ninetysomethingyearold mind. You hear about animals being mistreated at circuses, and certainly thats shown in the book through characters like august. It is there that he falls in love with marlena, the equestrian. Water for elephants, 2007, sara gruen water for elephants is a historical novel by sara gruen, written as part of national novel writing month. Jacob jankowski, a veterinary student at cornell, discovers that his parents have been killed in a car accident.
Ninetyyearold jacob jankowski finds himself haunted by memories of his past in the circus and the freaks, exotic animals, and other people he encountered as a performer. Jacob also meets rosie, an elephant who seems unmanageable until he discovers an unusual way to reach her. Younger jacob and older jacob each gets to have his say. The plot is also told in memories of the main character, jacob jankowski. Water for elephants was adapted into a major motion picture starring reese witherspoon, rob pattinson, and christoph waltz. Water for elephants is a best book club book for discussion, about the bond of love, trust, hope, and survival that grows between a circus trio during the depression. Memories of himself as a young man, tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the benzini brothers most spectacular show on earth. The book, water for elephants, starts off in the present day, in a nursing home where the main character, jacob jankowski, lives. We thought you might enjoy cooking a variation on this meal and possibly serving it to your book club sometime, so we have come up with a menu that is slightly less elaborate, and perhaps less filling than the one described in the. He really believes that he carried water for the elephants.
Beautifully written and completely unforgettable, water for elephants is an atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of starcrossed lovers, set in the us circus world circa 1932. Jacob is working overtime as the narrator of water for elephants. To pay for his tuition, his parents had to take out a morgage on the house, causing him to have no home. The story follows jacob jankowski who was an old man living in a nursing home, as he looks back about a time that defined his life. Blackandwhite photographs of real american circus scenes from the first half of the century are. In a series of flashbacks, jacob recounts this period of his life. The circus man water for elephants by sara gruen is a fascinating and captivating novel told from the point of view of jacob jankowski, a veterinarian who jumps aboard a traveling circus during the depression in the 1930s. Click here to read book online please follow instruction step by step until finish to read water for elephants for free. In the 1930s, 23yearold jacobs life changed drastically. Water for elephants ebook san francisco public library. There he meets the freaks, grifters, and misfits that populate this world.
Jacob jankowski from water for elephants charactour. The first edition of the novel was published in may 26th 2006, and was written by sara gruen. With a showmans expert timing, gruen saves a terrific revelation for the final pages, transforming a glimpse of americana into an. Jacob, who narrates the story, is in an old peoples home and. Water for elephants book by sara gruen thriftbooks. Orphaned and penniless at the height of the depression, jacob jankowski escapes everything he knows by jumping on a passing trainand inadvertently runs away with the circus. Free download or read online water for elephants pdf epub book. Jacob introduces us to marlena, beautiful star of the equestrian act. Blackandwhite photographs of real american circus scenes from the first half of the century are interspersed throughout the. Take charactours quiz to get recommendations for thousands of characters, movies, tv shows, books, and games that are high matches for your unique personality. When jacob jankowski arrived for the first time at the circus where he worked, he was in awe.
It wasnt a romantic, carefree decision, to be sure. So begins water for elephants, sara gruens darkly beautiful tale about the characters who inhabit the lessthangreatest show on earth. Later in the book, it is suggested that he is a paranoid schizophrenic, to explain his violence. Books and authors top teaching blog teachers tool kit student activities. Water for elephants by sara gruen scholastic books for.
When jacob jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters, and misfits, a secondrate circus struggling to survive during the great depression, making onenight stands in town after endless town. His parents, on his final day of his cornell academy of veteranary science exams, get killed. Aug 28, 2012 water for elephants is a treat for the reader, a chronicle of an adventure that permanently alters the life of one twentyoneyearold veterinary school dropout. Winner of the 2007 bookbrowse diamond award for most popular book. You go upstairs to fetch something, and by the time you get there you cant remember what it was you were after. When jacob jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters, and misfits the benzini brothers most spectacular show on earth a secondrate travelling circus struggling to survive during the great depression, making one. If you say that you carried water for elephants, i am. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. A thousand splendid suns, memory keepers daughter, etc. Water for elephants by sara gruen free kindle books. Water for elephants is a book that can be read and reread, recommended and handed off between friends. Water for elephants resembles stealth hits like the giants house, by elizabeth mccracken, or the lovely bones, by alice sebold, books that combine outrageously whimsical premises with crowdpleasing romanticism. Water for elephants is a historical novel by sara gruen, written as part of national novel writing.
This is not part of the usual nursejacob repertoire. Sara gruens water for elephants at the librarys book discussion group, and. In his job caring for exotic animals, he forged a special humananimal bond with an elephant. His life wasnt always like this, however, because jacob ran away and joined the circus when he was twentyone. Mar 01, 2011 orphaned and penniless at the height of the depression, jacob jankowski escapes everything he knows by jumping on a passing trainand inadvertently runs away with the circus. A novel of starcrossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932. Ninetysomethingyearold jacob jankowski remembers his time in the circus as a young man during the great depression, and his friendship with marlena. Water for elephants is told in the first person but from two different perspectivesjacob jankowski at. Jacob decieving first his brother, then his father.
Dec 01, 2015 jacob jankowski reflects back on his wild and wondrous days with a circus. Beautifully written, water for elephants is illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. Rachel and leahs father, repeatedly decieving jacob. Free download water for elephants kindle edition kindle. Water for elephants is a story that has it all warmth, humour, poignancy and passion. May 26, 2006 water for elephants, 2007, sara gruen water for elephants is a historical novel by sara gruen, written as part of national novel writing month. It tells a story of a love between two people that overcomes incredible odds in a world in which even love is a luxury that few can afford. Water for elephants is the first adult novel ive read and it certainly didnt disappoint. Recommending new books each month to spark lively conversation. Summary an atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of starcrossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932, by the bestselling author of riding lessons when jacob jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters, and.
Water for elephants by sara gruen when jacob jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters, and misfits the benzini brothers most spectacular show on earth a secondrate travelling circus struggling to survive during the great depression, making one. It has an energy and spirit like the feeling under a big top when the show is about to begin. When jacob jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, swindlers and misfits in a secondrate circus struggling to survive during the great depression. He may be wrong in the details, but hes not lying, she says. Summary an atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of starcrossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932, by the bestselling author of riding lessons.
August, her charismatic but twisted husband and the circuss. Character profile for jacob jankowski from water for. At its finest, water for elephants resembles stealth hits like the giants house, by elizabeth mccracken, or the lovely bones, by alice sebold, books that combine outrageously whimsical premises with crowdpleasing romanticism. Im not sure if jacob jankowski is a parallel to jacob, son of isaac. Yet, in spite of the decades that separate younger and older jacob, we realize that jacob. In the depression era, jacob, finding himself parentless and penniless, joins the benzini brothers most spectacular show on earth. The bright, infectiously enthusiastic sara gruen couldnt be further from the seedy circus subculture portrayed in water for elephants, her blockbuster novel thats getting the hollywood treatment in an eagerly anticipated new movie the story of jacob jankowski, an orphaned veterinary student who runs away with the circus and falls in love with. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. About the author sara gruen is the internationally bestselling author of water for elephants and at the waters edge. The setting of the story changes throughout the book. This is where almost all of the action of the story took place. At the beginning of water for elephants, he is living out his days in a nursing home, hating every second of it. Mar 18, 2008 jacob decieving first his brother, then his father.
Water for elephants sara gruen, 2006 algonquin books of chapel hill 350 pp. When jacob jankowski is tossed by fate onto a rickety depressionera circus train, he enters a world that is both his salvation and a living hell. Jacob jankowski reflects back on his wild and wondrous days with a circus. Water for elephants is a historical novel by sara gruen, written as part of national novel writing month jacob janowskis luck had run out. The story starts off with ninetythree year old jacob jankowski recounting his life as a young man training at cornell to be a veterinarian. Heads up folks water for elephants is coming out as a movie soon and i am looking forward to seeing it. Sara gruen is the internationally bestselling author of water for elephants and at the waters edge. Jacob jankowski runs away and joins the circus, proving its never too late to. Jacob jankowski is the main character of water for elephants. Times, publishers weekly, san francisco chronicle, and washington post lists a usa today and wall street journal best seller an american book association indiebound best seller.
In water for elephants, jacob jankowski is invited to join marlena and august for dinner in their railway car. I watched the filmmovie titled water for elephants before reading the book. When jacob jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a. As the memories begin to unfold, jacob begins as a young man studying for his final exams at cornell university. The circus was the main setting of the book, water for elephants. Water for elephants is told in the first person but from two different perspectivesjacob jankowski at 23 years of age and again, at 93 years old. On the morning of his senior veterinary science exams at cornell, jacob jankowski is called out of the room by the dean. The following quote from jacob, taken from the book, describes, in detail, the marvelous scene. Jacob jankowski, a man now in his nineties, lives a nursing home.
Its from this nursing home that jacob tells his story, like he is looking back at all the adventures at the circus. When jacob jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters, and misfits the benzini brothers most spectacular show on earth a secondrate travelling circus struggling to survive during the great depression, making. Water for elephants book jefferson county public library. Jacob is eager to experience the world as an adult and is ready to take whatever the world can offer him in adulthood. Beautifully written, with a luminous sense of time and place, water for elephants tells of love in a world in which loves a luxury few can afford. To emphasize this, the whole book is written in the present tense. I read water for elephants for our book club, and i expected it to be as slow, dull, and superficial as most of the other books we have read. Pdf water for elephants book by sara gruen free download.
Water for elephants is a fabulous book which carried me away in a tale of the circus, love and a journey into old age. See our topranked characters and read their profiles. With lines of startling beauty, haunting and evocative scenes and finelydrawn characters who dance off the page, readers can dip in and out of the novel, immersing themselves in jacobs memories. Jacob jankowski is the narrator of the novel, and senior in college whose ready to explore the world and find where he belongs. Water for elephants movie tiein by sara gruen, paperback. Water for elephants is a historical novel by sara gruen, written as part of national novel writing month. The best thing about water is the telling of the story by jacob jankowski, who is a 90 or 93 year old vet depending on how you look at it, now confined in a residential nursing home and looking back into his past. An american book association indiebound best seller. As a young man, he joined the circus, the benzini brothers most spectacular show on earth. Although it is only april, i predict that water for elephants by sara gruen will be one of the best books i read this year.
The main characters of this fiction, historical story are jacob jankowski, rosemary. In water for elephants, deception runs quite rampant, especially from uncle al, who would constantly swindle his own crew and performers. When jacob jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, drifters, and misfits, a secondrate circus struggling to. An atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of starcrossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932, by the bestselling author of riding lessons. Water for elephants though he may not speak of them, the memories still dwell inside jacob jankowskis ninetysomethingyearold mind. He pulls his away to protect the contents of the bucket. It is at about this time when he finds out that his parents have. Jacob jankowski has appeared in the following books.
1321 72 363 1168 1300 208 733 170 1312 1377 714 1316 355 1336 919 1158 1272 1396 797 443 860 1242 303 1094 222 678 188 1130 893 799 990 1014