Water for Elephants

Version: Unabridged
Author: Sara Gruen
Narrator: John Randolph Jones , David LeDoux
Genres: Fiction
Publisher: HighBridge Company
Published In: June 2006
# of Units: 10 CDs
Length: 11 hours, 30 minutes
Ratings:
Tell Your Friends:

Hot Titles

  • World Without End

    by Ken Follett

    • Book Rating: 4.5/5

  • A Discovery of Witches

    by Deborah E. Harkness

    • Book Rating: 4/5

Overview

An atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of star-crossed 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 misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her.
Beautifully written, "Water for Elephants is illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. 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.

Selected Reviews

Great story

by Cindy W.
  • Book Rating: 5/5

Not so much

by RHALE
  • Book Rating: 2/5

More...

Read All 60

Reviews (60)

Great story

Written by Cindy W. on September 14th, 2012

  • Book Rating: 5/5

Great story ~ Wonderful characters! Could have read on and on past the ending!

Not so much

Written by RHALE from Laporte, IN on December 23rd, 2011

  • Book Rating: 2/5

I didn't love this book. It seemed very patched together - each chapter ragged with very rough edges forced to fit into the surrounding story. Almost as if the author thought "Hmmm.... better put a fight scene here." or "60 pages in already, time for sex scene". I was not impressed with either the overall story or the flat one dimensional charecters. The story was actually a little depressing.

Great story!

Written by Anonymous from San Diego, CA on July 15th, 2011

  • Book Rating: 5/5

Loved this story. Very cute how it jumps between Jacob (the main character) as a young and old man. I enjoyed the historical bits about the old time circus trains and all the crazy characters who worked on them. Highly recommend.

great book

Written by Anonymous from Danville, CA on May 20th, 2011

  • Book Rating: 4/5

loved the book; found the "young Jacob" narrator's voice a bit annoying, but still would highly recommend.

Water for Elephants

Written by Joni from Emmett, ID on April 29th, 2011

  • Book Rating: 5/5

My favorite book ever! I was hoping for a happy ending and was wondering how the author would pull it off. I was suprised and happy with the ending.

Great Read!

Written by Fred on April 23rd, 2011

  • Book Rating: 5/5

One of my favorite books ever!! It was so entertaining, full of humor, joy, and pathos. A terrific ending!

Water for Elephants

Written by Anonymous from Brooklyn, NY on April 21st, 2011

  • Book Rating: 5/5

This is my all time favorite book, so far. In fact, I just added it back to my rental shelf because I was so sorry it was over that I know I will enjoy listening again. The story is wonderful and the characters are so interesting. I recommend this book to everyone.

Fantastic

Written by K.Nelson from Sweetwater, TN on March 19th, 2011

  • Book Rating: 5/5

This is one of the best books I read all year (2010)!!!! It was so engaging I couldn't "put it down" as they say. I really felt like I was there watching this story unfold. I could almost smell the scents of the circus! The characters, the animals, the story.......it was breathtaking. I can't WAIT for the movie!!!!

total immersion

Written by Anonymous from Skillman, NJ on November 20th, 2010

  • Book Rating: 5/5

I loved this book. I couldn't put it down - so to speak !

Wonderfully Captivating!

Written by Emily on July 22nd, 2010

  • Book Rating: 5/5

Water for Elephants was amazing! It was so good, in fact, that I brought out my old disc man so I could listen to it on the train, bus, and before bed as opposed to just in the car. The narrators were fantastic and my mind's eye had such vivid images of the characters! One interesting thing that I'd never heard before was nearing the end of each CD, music would start to play so you knew to get the next disc ready. Brilliant. A truly captivating read. An amazing story. I definitely recommend it.

Selected Reviews

Great story

by Cindy W.
  • Book Rating: 5/5

Not so much

by RHALE
  • Book Rating: 2/5

More...

Read All 60

Author Details

Author Details

Gruen, Sara

Sara Gruen's first novel, Riding Lessons, was published in 2004. She is an animal lover who lives with her husband, three children, five cats, two goats, a dog, and a horse in an environmental community north of Chicago. Many of the characters and incidents in the novel are based on real people and true stories gleaned from her extensive research into the world of traveling circuses of the 1930s.

Sara is a Canadian-born dual citizen (Canadian and American) who moved to the States in 1999 for a technical writing job. When she was laid off two years later, instead of looking for another job, she decided to take a gamble on writing fiction full-time. Fortunately, the gamble paid off.

Until 2007 she, her husband, three children, two dogs, two cats, three goats, and horse in an environmentalist community in northern Illinois.They now live in Asheville, North Carolina.

Her novels to date are Riding Lessons (2004) and Flying Changes (2005), featuring Annemarie Zimmer; and Water for Elephants (2006). The Ape House is due to be published in 2009.