The water for elephants community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. While i didnt expect that water for elephants would live up to my expectation, im so pleasantly surprised that it did. Review of water for elephants good books for catholic kids. Water for elephants is a book that can be read and reread, recommended and handed. Water for elephants, 2011 the new york times best sellers fiction winner, sara gruen water for elephants sara gruen i didnt like it. The seemingly starcrossed love affair kept us turning pages, and the ending made us glad we had.
Water for elephants is a 2011 american romantic drama film directed by francis lawrence and written by richard lagravenese, based on sara gruens 2006 novel of the same name. I love how descriptive you are when you are comparing the two sisters, it. Jacob janowskis luck had run outorphaned and penniless, he had no direction until he landed on a rickety train that was. I would have given the book five stars if the books ending did not give a new meaning to cliche.
Water for elephants is a story about an elderly man, jacob, who recalls an adventure in his younger years. In reading water for elephants in less than one day, i found that happened to me. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading water for elephants. Water for elephants is the kind of book that has tons of cliched characters, rushes some of the central relationships, and seems completely implausible but somehow it works. In the book, jacobs narration takes place in his own mind. Novelist sara gruen sweeps her readers off their feet in the opening pages of water for elephantsand doesnt let go until she deposits them at the end of her fantastic tale of passion, madness and fancy.
Water for elephants by sara gruen, and the 2011 movie. So much more than a tale about a circus, water for elephants is a compelling journey not only under the big top, but into the protagonists heart. Sara gruen uses her talent as a writer to bring that world alive for the reader. This study guide consists of approximately 58 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of water for elephants. Water for elephants by sara gruen at the best online ebook storage. Jacob takes a job as an animal caretaker and meets marlena reese witherspoon, a beautiful circus performer. Water for elephants is a historical novel by sara gruen, written as part of national novel writing month. Listen to water for elephants audiobook by sara gruen. Set in 1942, two jewish sisters from minneapolis end up in the philippines.
Also, if you want a special treat, listen to it on audiobook. Stories similar to water for elephants books, stories, and novels like water for elephants by sara gruen. It completely surpassed my highexpectations and is a book that i know i shall read over and over. So i purchased the book and slowly began retreating. If you like water for elephants you might like similar books the secret life of bees, the time travelers wife, the help, my sisters keeper, the lovely bones.
In one plot, jacob is a young guy just starting out in the world. With the other books, i had a sense for what my fellow readers would think in certain situations. Their shared compassion for a special elephant named. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of water for elephants by sara gruen. Use these book club discussion questions on water for elephants to lead your book clubs conversation on the story. Water for elephants is a historical novel by sara gruen, written as part of national novel writing. Use these questions on water for elephants by sara gruen to lead your book. Finding a book when youve forgotten its title the new york.
The title, water for elephants, is almost a little inside joke with the reader once weve finished the book, that is. Water for elephants is a delightful, moving book, and the ending was a very pleasant surprise. Water for elephants by sara gruen is a must read a story about a 90yearold man remembering his days with a circus during the great depression. At the end of the novel, jacob exclaims, so what if im ninetythree.
Water for elephants a dissapointed ending showing 150 of 116. A 42yearold asian elephant named tai most recently known for the role of rosie in foxs water for elephants was abused by its trainers in 2005, according to. I bought this book because of push advertising and regretted it. If you havent seen water for elephants or read the novel its based on, stop reading now. Water for elephants is the story of jacobs life with this circus. The author, sara gruen allows readers to read the book from two perspectives, one from young jacob and the other from older presentday jacob. Sara gruens arresting new novel, water for elephants, explores.
To ask other readers questions about water for elephants, please sign up. Water for elephants book club discussion questions and. The truth is, it is summer and i am desperate for a distraction away from my recent obsession with greys anatomy reruns fueled by netflixs instant queue. Water for elephants study guide contains a biography of sara gruen, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Jacob jankowski, a retired veterinarian living out his days in an assistedliving facility, drifts in and out of his memories. Water for elephants book ending vs movie ending showing. The man agrees, saying that jacob will go down in the records book as the oldest man to run away with the circus. Water for elephants has two plots going on, both starring the same main character, jacob. I am searching for a childrens book that my sisters and i read when we. Jacob laughs and says, im not running away, im coming home. Water for elephants symbols, allegory and motifs gradesaver. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets.
Water for elephants book club discussion questions thoughtco. The bulk of the novel is set during the great depression, and the main character, jacob, is about to finish veterinary school when his. Winner of the 2007 bookbrowse award for most popular book. I fell in love with the picture you chose for your book the first time i saw it. The film was released in the united states on april 22, 2011. Sara gruen spares no detail in chronicling the squalid, filthy, brutish circumstances in which he finds himself. Water for elephants has a happy ending for jacob, but not for many other characters. The movie water for elephants stays close to sara gruens beloved book particularly with the 1930s circus memories section.
Watch water for elephants online stream full movie directv. Log in with either your library card number or ez login. The theme of age the theme of age if the fifth theme in the novel. An atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of starcrossed lovers, set in the circus. Only days before graduating from vet school in 1931, young jake learns his parents have died and left him penniless. Water for elephants, 2007, sara gruen water for elephants is a historical novel by sara gruen, written as part of national novel writing month. Books that defined a generation water for elephants. It stars reese witherspoon, robert pattinson, and christoph waltz. It does not get up to the level of greatness, but it is likeable and readable. Gruen transports us into the world of a thirdrate traveling circus during the great depression. Jacob jankowski robert pattinson, a veterinary student, is close to graduating when a terrible tragedy forces him to leave school. The characters were very shallow and the climax of the book was literally given away in the first teaser chapter. Water for elephants book trailer, student work htk.
Its story and characters will linger with me for a long time. Library card number or ez username pin or ez password. Water for elephants sustained my interest, and there were parts that. Spark book club discussion with questions about my sisters keeper. The two readers, david ledoux and john randolph jones, did a wonderful job of bringing both jacobs young and old to life. The novel surrounds the circus life,1930, and gruens strength is the. Water for elephants is the new york times bestselling debut novel by sara gruen. She wrote the book as part of national novel writing month. Get an answer for how does water for elephants connect with real life.
Water for elephants elephant was abused in 2005, says. Download and read online for free water for elephants by sara gruen. The only place the movie veers from the original is in its details of the older, current jacob. While reading water for elephants i found the plot hyperbolic and excessively melodramatic and the characters little developed beyond their names. Susan cheever, author of my name is bill the circus, the great depression, a complex elephant, equally complex love, the mists and twists of memory articulated in the utterly winning voice of a very old man whos seen it allthese are the irresistible elements of water for elephants. The story is told as a series of memories by jacob jankowski, a 93yearold man who lives in a nursing home. The last notes of water for elephants linger long after the book ends. My husband always moans at me for going on its not as good as the bookblah, blah, blah lol but i cant help myself. I was, for the first time in years, saddened to come to the end of this book. It can be tough to remember the title of a book you read a long time agoeven. Sara gruen has a voice to rival john irvings, and i am hopelessly, unabashedly in love with this book. But with water for elephants, there was no known common ground. Joshilyn jackson, author of gods in alabama so much more than a tale about a circus, water for elephants is a compelling journey not only.
At the end of the book, charlie treats the benzini animal. Jacob, the books narrator and protagonist, worked as a vet and trainer of sorts at a circus. The prologue features a younger version of jacob, who works at a circus and. With nowhere else to go, he hops on a passing train and finds it belongs to a traveling circus. Read water for elephants absolutely for free at readanybook.
Young jacob is able to do whatever his heart desires including, jumping on moving trains and fighting for the women he loves. Water for elephants has a happy ending for jacob, but not for many. But be warned, this isnt the order of events in the book. I found it much harder to find a focus and more difficult to develop questions. How do the chapters about the older jacob enrich the story about jacobs adventure with the circus. Readers may find themselves churning through this book at a rapidfire pace, eager to see what lies ahead, then slowing down as they realize the pages are dwindling. Winner of the 2007 bookbrowse diamond award for most popular book. Many years before, jacob is a student at cornell university, studying veterinarian medicine in order to join. The equestrian director, august, is a brutal man who mistreats the animals in his. However, in her 2006 novel water for elephants, sara gruen showed that the circus life might not have been as glamorous as it appeared from the outside.
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