Two days ago I drug myself out of bed to do laundry. Mom was very sick and to cheer her up I brought home an Oriental meal and a book I found on sale at WalMarts titled “Water For Elephants.” Sometimes good food and a book can bring on a faster cure. I was skeptical about the book but it was on sale – so what the heck.
Mom finished reading it in less than twenty four hours. In fact I could see the light on at 2:00 a.m. and hear the rustling of pages as she absolutely devoured this book. I was reading a historical tome about Indians and it was getting a little dry, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book.
I am halfway through with it now. If I wasn’t so darn sleepy last night I would have finished it by now. It is truly a marvelous book. It is Jacob Jankowski’s memories of one summer of his life that shaped the rest of his life.
“I am ninety. Or ninety-three. One of the other.
When you’re five you know your age down to the month. Even in your twenties you know how old you are. I am twenty-three, you say, or maybe twenty-seven. But then in your thirties something strange starts to happen. It’s a mere hiccup at first, an instant of hesitation. How old are you? Oh, I’m – you start confidently, but then you stop. You were going to say thirty-three, but you’re not. You’re thirty-five. And then you’re bothered, because you wonder if this is the beginning of the end. It is, of course but it’s decades before you admit it.
You start to forget words: they’re on the tip of your tongue, but instead of eventually dislodging it, they stay there. You go upstairs to fetch something and by the time you get there you can’t remember what it was you were after. You call your child by the names of all your other children and finally the dog before you get to his. Sometimes you forget what day it is. And finally you forget the year.
I am ninety. Or ninety-three. One or the other. ~chapter one~
It is set during the Great Depression and the story is about a young man who leaves his life as a Cornell University veterinary student and hops a train that happens to be the home of the Benzinia Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.
Jacob is eventually hired as the show’s veterinarian. He has a guarded relationship with August who is the head trainer and from what I have read is a very brutal man but also a very charming one. Jacob is also falling in love with August’s wife Marlena.
The characters including the main characters are so easy to like and dislike. The author draws you into the story like a circus barker and soon you are caught up in the story and the lives of the characters.
The most fascinating part of the book, besides the characters, and the plot - is the circus lore and vocabulary. Grifters, roustabouts, workers, cooch tent, rubes, First of May… Fortunately it is all explained so you don’t have to run to your computer and use Google. I learned what the band plays when there is trouble and I learned about Jake Leg, a very sad condition, slang for Jamaican Ginger Extract. This is truly a book to have on your must read list.
Even though I haven’t finished the book, my mother says the ending is outstanding – pure joy. I will not read the ending first, I will finish the book in its proper order, I will and I have. I want to experience the magic.
Age is a terrible thief. Just when you’re getting the hang of life, it knocks your legs out from under you and stoops your back. It makes you ache and muddies you head and silently spreads cancer throughout your spouse. ~Chapter One~
0 comments:
Post a Comment