Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen

I picked this up because I knew the Broadway tour of the musical was coming to town. I wanted to read the story before seeing the show so that I could compare the two. Unfortunately I did not get to see the show, but I still read Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen and just finished. The writing is good, and the story is good and very much set in a time and place. That is where some of my trouble with it is. I have not read any other books by Sara Gruen, but I certainly will as her writing and storytelling is very good. 

The timeframe for this novel is the Depression, and the setting is in a traveling circus. The lead character was studying to be a vet, and through circumstances outside his control, he leaves his home and ends up with the circus. Despite him being a vet, there is quite a bit of animal abuse described in this - not by the lead character, but by another one. That made if very troubling for me to read. The other thing that bothered me quite a bit was that it is yet another story of a love affair between a married woman and a single man. Sure, the woman is married to a man who has some episodes that would probably label him a bi-polar, or schizophrenic, and he is abusive towards her during these times. However I find that story line to be somewhat boring and overused. That is just me. One aspect of the book that I really liked is the opening and how she brings that same writing in later at a time when we finally know the characters and understand fully what is happening.

I was told by a friend that now that I have read the book, I should listen to the musical. I did and the music was not bad. It had a bit of a folk style to it, and the cast recording is wonderfully produced and performed. Even after reading the book though, I couldn't really tell what was happening in the musical just by listening to it. I read the synopsis and see that some changes were made to make it work for the stage. I think if it were to tour again, I would try to see it because I do want to see how they translate this to a stage production. Either way, if you have a chance to read this novel, give it a go. There may be some difficult parts to it, but it was still a satisfying story, and there are some moving parts to it.