HomeWater for Elephants discussion guides:
Guide 1
Guide 2
a review
It was a fun little story, though not especially deep or philosophical and a nice diversion from what I usually read, but that was the point of joining the book club. There were a few unseen twists. I enjoyed the author’s note at the end explaining where and how she developed all the intricate characters and plots.
a summary
The story is told by Jacob about his life before the nursing home. Near the end of college, a tragedy sends him running from college and searching for what he will do with the rest of his life. A traveling circus gobbled him up to be the on-site vet, quickly. In the opening chapter, a circus man is killed in a melee that may have been preventable. At this point in the story, I understood absolutely nothing of the character of any of the characters. I struggled trying to understand the death and motives. I spent over half the book quite upset and unwilling to understand the characters involved in the death. The half-way mark or so gave enough insights into the character of all parties involved to allow me to understand a bit more. As the story progressed, the chapters would flip from “young” Jacob to “old” Jacob (93 yrs old). This odd storytelling method surprisingly held my interest better than had it only been old Jacob telling of his youth.
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