1/24/11

Water for Elephants

Checking IMDB for new movie releases is one of my favorite homework-avoiding techniques. But I am definitely more of a reader than a movie watcher, so I get super excited when I find a film based on a book (yes I am aware of my weirdness).
I'm no teenaged vampire lover, but a girl has to be dead not to notice Robert Pattinson. Saying that I was interested in the Water for Elephants trailer strictly because of Reese Witherspoon would be a fantastic lie. And no one would believe me anyways.
The book was available at my library - luckily no one had caught on yet... Now there is a long waiting list.
Think Nicholas Sparks meets the Great Depression, with a little Dan Brown-style guess work thrown in. That’s the fast review anyway.
I am not sure what my expectations were, and I am equally unsure of my final opinion.
Gruen can’t seem to make up her mind about whether the book is a comedy, tragedy, romance, or a mixed drama. The characters therefore are sometimes confused about their own identities.
Jacob (Pattison’s character) alternates between total pessimism and random, sarcastic optimism. His romantic counterpart, Marlena (Witherspoon), changes between helpless femininity and raging spitfire.

Fittingly, the character with the clearest personality is Rosie, the elephant who steals the show. Whether she is intended to be the main character or not, I can’t tell. But she draws your attention, making you laugh and cry through the whole story.

Read this book before you see the film, if only to have an idea of where the story is headed. It will be very interesting to see how the directors translate the characters’ dual personalities onto the big screen.

Anyone else read this? What are your oppinions?
-B.

Water for Elephants, Sarah Gruen

4 comments:

Annemarie said...

I've never read this before. Sounds interesting though!

Anonymous said...

I saw the reviews for it . . . it's a feature so it's expected to do well. Maybe I'll have to try the book. ;)

Kelly said...

i REALLY want to read it! your review makes me want to even more :)

Barbi said...

The story is worth reading, for sure! It kept me interested until the very end.

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