Sunday, July 24, 2011
Saturday, July 2, 2011
BOOK REVIEW - SARA GRUEN'S WATER FOR ELEPHANTS
Water for Elephants by Sara GruenMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Okay... I have to take back my earlier comments. I LOVE this story!
True, it did start a little slow for me, and I would have liked a little more dimension to some of the characters. But, on the whole... a thoroughly enjoyable story...I am glad that I did not let my first impressions hold me back.
Sara Gruen took a big risk, telling the story from the perspective of a ninety-something man... a risk that pays off handsomely. I do not believe the story would have had the same impact if she had told it through the eyes of another.
More than a love story, this is a story of a young man's coming of age in Depression-era America; at the same time, dealing with the loss of his parent's and having his entire world turned inside-out. "Welcome to adulthood, young man!"
Romance, intrigue, mystery, humor, murder... can one ask for more? A hero, you say? But, there is a hero... Rosie!
Sara reminds us that the elderly were once as young, vibrant, and ambitious as any one of us, and that we should not value them less, simply because they have more years than we do.
I read through some of the reviews here, and I have to ask the question... did some of these people even read the book? Or, are they just spouting what they heard someone else say. One person in particular, who wrote that it made her physically angry, and she found the story unimaginative and predictable... cliched. Really? Why don't you try actually reading the book before you trash it?
Water For Elephants is both heart-warming and heart-wrenching, often at the same time. I cried. More than once. This book touched me deeply, more so than I thought it would when I first started reading it. This is a story I will long treasure.
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