In prose both poignant and infinitely tender, Jacob dwells in both worlds, revealing the wounds of the past and the sorrows of the present. In a devastating denouement, as inescapable as the indifferent world that turns a blind eye to the vagrants of the ‘30s, Jacob’s spirit retains the essence of his kind nature, a man who cannot be broken by circumstances. All is redeemed in a coup de grace that will leave the reader richer for having met this raggedy tribe of miscreants and lost souls.

Read more

 

•Water for Elephants is a great story from start to finish.
•Water for Elephants has interesting, well-developed characters.
•Water for Elephants is a well-researched glimpse into circus life during the Great Depression

Read more

 

It’s a quick, easy, satisfying read, and it’s obvious the author did a ton of research on circuses in the Prohibition era. The writing is good, not great, but the plot will grab you and not let you go until you’ve reached the bittersweet end. I give it 8 hearts.

Read more

 

Water for Elephants is a wonderfully written love story taking place in the seedy circus world.

Read more

 

Gruen has fallen under the spell. With a showman's expert timing, she saves a terrific revelation for the final pages, transforming a glimpse of Americana into an enchanting escapist fairy tale

Read more

 

Review without score. The score is calculated by the review's remarks.

There are definite roadblocks for Jacob and the circus along the way, but Gruen saves the best for last and ends Water for Elephants with a beautiful twist

Read more

 

Review without score. The score is calculated by the review's remarks.

High-wire circus act

From Holbrook, in the movie's first minutes, we know that some kind of disaster will strike before the finish, and most of the movie consists of watching for it and looking for signs.

Read more

 

Review without score. The score is calculated by the review's remarks.

Though fans of the "Twilight" series are not going to be pleased to hear this, the weak link in this melodramatic chain is Pattinson's performance as Jacob.

Read more

 

Review without score. The score is calculated by the review's remarks.

Water for Elephants has some appealing elements of old-school Hollywood epics. The film's production design by veteran Jack Fisk (There Will Be Blood, Badlands) is one of its biggest assets.

Read more

 

Review without score. The score is calculated by the review's remarks.

The dialogue in Water for Elephants was simple. Sara Gruen is a decent writer overall, however the dialogue was somewhat cliché and predictable.

Read more

 

Review without score. The score is calculated by the review's remarks.

There's a sucker for love born every minute

Like the circus that provides the setting for Sara Gruen’s best-selling novel “Water for Elephants,” the movie based on that 2006 book is big, slick and showy.

Read more

 

But the story cries out for harsh glare, sexual torment, the acrid smell of sawdust and sweat. That's why the film's most memorable presence is Rosie. She's not faking it, not for a minute.

Read more

 

Water for Elephants makes use of a framing device similar to one the screenwriter used for The Bridges of Madison County: An old Jacob, played by Hal Holbrook, tells his story in flashback to a younger man who represents a new generation of circus operators

Read more

 

Love Triangle Sideshow, a Circus’s Main Attraction

The film is so bland that it made me long for “The Greatest Show on Earth,” the 1952 DeMille extravaganza that used the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Read more

 

Review without score. The score is calculated by the review's remarks.