Water for Elephants

By: Sara Gruen

Narrated by: David LeDoux, John Randolph Jones

Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

An atmospheric tale of life and love in a Depression-era traveling circus.

Nonagenarian Jacob Jankowski reflects back on his wild and wondrous days with a circus. It's the Depression Era and Jacob, finding himself parentless and penniless, joins the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. There he meets the freaks, grifters, and misfits that populate this world. Jacob introduces us to Marlena, beautiful star of the equestrian act; to August, her charismatic but twisted husband (and the circus' animal trainer); and to Rosie, a seemingly untrainable elephant.

Beautifully written, with a luminous sense of time and place, Water for Elephants tells of love in a world in which love's a luxury few can afford.

©2006 Sara Gruen (P)2006 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

• Book Sense Book of the Year Award, Adult Fiction, 2007
• Audie Award Finalist, Fiction, Unabridged, 2007

" Water for Elephants resembles stealth hits like The Giant's House, by Elizabeth McCracken, or The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold, books that combine outrageously whimsical premises with crowd-pleasing romanticism. . . . With a showman's expert timing, [Gruen] saves a terrific revelation for the final pages, transforming a glimpse of Americana into an enchanting escapist fairy tale.” ( New York Times Book Review)

"Just like a circus, the magic of the story and the writing convince you to suspend your disbelief." ( Booklist)

"Gruen skillfully humanizes the midgets, drunks, rubes, and freaks who populate her book." ( Publishers Weekly)

The story is good and the voices complement it

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, if you have not seen the movies (like me) it is a good story about love and it never get boring, the story has a constant rhythm

What does David LeDoux and John Randolph Jones bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The voices, specially the old man are really good hint about the how the story is developed and the mood of the man.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Circus love

Story Telling Perfection

Water for Elephants is Story Telling Perfection. I stayed awake late at night just to hear every word - I was hooked!

Water for Elephants

Loved the book it kept me listening almost through the entire book. -As for the movie was OK and it made it much more easy to follow the movie due to fact i listen to the book.

Water for Elephants is magical

The story line of Water for Elephants is about a time and business in history I would have never known about if not for Sara Gruen's novel. The old Jacob's narrator (I believe was voice of) John Randolph Jones is why I listen to Audio books. His voice was smooth and filled with warmth and character. David LeDoux introduced us to an array of characters through his voice talents. As it always is in the world of books, I loved the book but I can't wait to see the movie!

Nice story, not the best narrator picks.

I really liked this story, overall. I will say the many "circus vocabulary" for lack of a better term only got slightly less confusing as the book went on.
While the younger voice for Jacob was good, the older version, I felt, talked with a little *too* much slowness. I understand it was probably necessary for those parts of the character, but I just think it took away from those sections of the story for me. Also, while I was glad for how the ending turned out, I couldn't help thinking it came together all too well considering the first and middle parts of the novel...

excellent character voices bring this story tolife

Which character – as performed by David LeDoux and John Randolph Jones – was your favorite?

Both narrators were amazing. The one voicing young Jacob used different voices for all of the characters and helped bring to life a variety of characters

Enthralling

I loved this book and the narrators were absolutely a perfect touch. I loved moving from present to past and back again. I usually listent to books because I am crunched for time but the narrators lent a dimension to the already captivating story that would have been hard to come by otherwise. I loved the experience.

Nice

The story is great, and very well narrated. Loved the interplay between the old and young characterx in the story. The occasional music was unnecessary though, a bit irritating at times.

Really splendid

I purchased this based on listener reviews and was not let down. It was one of my favorite listens of 2006--sweet, romantic, funny and exciting. The voice of David LeDoux (young Jacob) reminded me very much of an actor named Jonathan Woodward (from episodes of Buffy and Firefly); for me there is a permanent mental picture of him inserted into the narrative (and in a film version, he would make a wonderful Jacob). John Randolph Jones grabbed my heart even more--he was so perfect in his reading.

I sent the book to my 93 (yes, 93) year old Grandmother--I only wish she could hear the audio version of the novel and experience it like I did.

Water for Elephants

Any additional comments?

Water for Elephants is a love story taking place in the environs of a 1931 circus, as remembered by an old man in a retirement home. He dreams of being young, dropping out of Cornell, abandoning his veterinarian degree, and jumping a circus train following the death of his parents in a car accident. Boy meets girl performer who carries the baggage of a brutal husband. Nicely researched, Water for Elephants conveys the circus life of the time, the train, the cruelty, the dust and heat.

An enjoyable read, close to twelve hours of listening. Dual narration by LeDoux and Jones is good. One carries the chapters and voice of Jacob as an old man, the other as his life in the circus seventy years ago. Jacob’s frustration of being a young-man-in-an-old-man’s-body is wonderfully done, something we should all think about as we age … but never do.

Not for the faint-of-heart as it pertains to animal abuse, be prepared. Worth the credit.