Water for Elephants was a book that really piqued my interest. The story line was simple - Jacob Jankowski, a senior at Cornell University who was studying Veterinary Science, was told that his parents died in a car wreck. This story took place during the Great Depression, though, and consequently Jacob was left with nothing. His tuition at Cornell was not completely paid off, so he was forced to drop out. With no home or any relatives to return to, he made a spontaneous decision - to jump on a train. The train turned out to be the circus. He was given an ultimatum when he asked to join: become the veterinarian and get limited pay or get red-lighted (thrown off the train in the middle of the night). He joined and from here he went on to have an amazing adventure with Marlena, the amazing horse rider, and Rosie, the elephant.
This story really answered my research question on how humans react when they are put in life-or-death situations. Jacob responded to this situation by creating alliances with others and using his knowledge from college to help him get a job. This shows that people will dig deep into their skill set to find a way to survive.
I recommend this book to everyone. It has a lot of humor and the plot is very interesting. Some scenes, however, are very sexual and graphic, so I would not recommend it to younger audiences.
No comments:
Post a Comment