Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen

Overall, I didn't really like Water for Elephants. Firstly, the novel started off very slowly, and it was difficult to concentrate on the book. On the other hand, the book reminded me of one of my favorite movies, The Notebook. Sara Gruen's novel is about the protagonist, Jacob Jankowski, a man in his nineties, who resides in a nursing home. Throughout the book, he flashes back to when he was part of the Ringling Brother's Circus. There, we meet his friends, Kinko and Camel, his enemies, Uncle Al and August, and his true love, Marlena. This novel flashes between the old and young Jacob, telling his story of how he cared for the animals at the circus. The old Jacob is getting very worried and depressed that he is losing his mind. This is similar to The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. In his, novel, the main characters are also old and retelling stories of their youth. Because they seemed similar, I thought I would like Water For Elephants, but the book had a very slow beginning. I would recommend this book for people who like romance novels.