The other day I read Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen. I've been wanting to read this book for some time now, I got it for Christmas and when the perfect rainy day presented itself...I devoured it. I now wish I would have read it more slowly and savored the experience. This book transported me to an adventure of running away with the circus during the Great Depression. I fell in love with the characters and their desire to fit in somewhere, forgetting their past and surrounding themselves with unique and strangely freakish performers. Delightfully intriguing, don't you love it when a book is this delicious?
When Tim and I first started dating I had this incredible desire to go see the circus. He took me to see Ringling Brothers when it came to Sacramento. My excitement ran high waiting for the show to start, but about 10 minutes into the show I started to be sick to my stomach. I couldn't bare the sadness of those caged, trained animals and no animal showed it's emotion more than the elephant. Twenty minutes in and I was in tears. The elephants paraded single file around the arena, trunk to tail-trunk to tail. The last elephant in the line lost the tail of the elephant in front and the trainers whip came down hard, fear flooded the straggling elephant's body as her trunk desperately grabbed at the tiny tail ahead. That was it for me, my romanticized dream of the circus was over and I have had no thoughts of ever going back. I'll stick to reading novels about circus life (if you read it, you'll fall in love with Rosie the elephant), I am far more interested in life behind the scenes of the big top anyways.
When Tim and I first started dating I had this incredible desire to go see the circus. He took me to see Ringling Brothers when it came to Sacramento. My excitement ran high waiting for the show to start, but about 10 minutes into the show I started to be sick to my stomach. I couldn't bare the sadness of those caged, trained animals and no animal showed it's emotion more than the elephant. Twenty minutes in and I was in tears. The elephants paraded single file around the arena, trunk to tail-trunk to tail. The last elephant in the line lost the tail of the elephant in front and the trainers whip came down hard, fear flooded the straggling elephant's body as her trunk desperately grabbed at the tiny tail ahead. That was it for me, my romanticized dream of the circus was over and I have had no thoughts of ever going back. I'll stick to reading novels about circus life (if you read it, you'll fall in love with Rosie the elephant), I am far more interested in life behind the scenes of the big top anyways.
The movie based on the book comes out in April. I can't wait!
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The trailer looks really good. Okay, now I need to read the book! I can't go to the circus anymore too, my family took me several times when I was younger, but everything you described reminds me of my last time going. Thanks for telling me about the book!
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to this movie too! Part of it was filmed in Chattanooga! :)
ReplyDeleteLove you...hope you are all doing well!