Posts Tagged ‘na’

Water for Elephants amazed me. It was not at all what I expected. I knew it was about a circus, and obviously for the title, an elephant was involved. What I was not prepared for however, was the cruelty it showed. And I don’t doubt for a minute, that even though this was fiction, that these atrocities didn’t happen in real circuses.

We are introduced to a death in the prologue. While it is fuzzy and hard to tell who’s who, we are witnesses to a scene that the narrator, Jacob, has viewed and never forgotten. Mayhem abounds as we discover that the menagerie of a circus is on the stampede.

We are then reintroduced to Jacob, many years later, as he is a resident at a nursing home. He is ninety three, or ninety one, he can’t keep it straight and a circus is in town and being set up within sight of the nursing home. This causes him to reminisce about his time spent with the Benzini Brothers circus.

As a runaway college student, after the death of his parents, he finds himself hopping a train that turns out to be part of the circus train. There, instead of being thrown off, he is taken in by an older man named Camel who secures him a job with the circus mucking stalls, which later turns into a position as the circus’s veterinarian.

He falls in love with Marlena, the wife of his schizophrenic boss August. While he keeps his love hidden, August, dangerous and unpredictable makes life tough for Jacob in the circus while in his better moments is a best friend to him.

He also makes the acquaintance of Walter, a dwarf clown whom he bunks with and together they help Camel in his time of need. He also makes an unlikely friend in Rosie, an elephant picked up from another failing circus whom he feels a bond with and devastation at her treatment from the cruel August.

Throughout the book it cuts back and forth from Jacob at the nursing home, to his reminisces of the circus and its happenings. One of the ending chapters recaps the prologue, only with more detail.

Gr
Na eda Our Friends

My wife is not a gagdet person but wanted something that could count her steps playing golf, working out and walking. I purchased the Pocket Petometer after doing a little research on line. She has been using it since she received it last month and thinks its the greatest fitness tool. It is easy to learn but complex enough to accomplish the basic needs of establishing baselines and developing metrics to monitor your physical activities.
NA Video Digital Camera | fcdthai