One of our final assignments for Readers' Choice is to read an "out of your comfort zone" book, a book from an unfamiliar or unappealing genre. The goal of this assignment is to expose high school students to new subjects, expand their horizons, and spark their interest in something they otherwise would not have experienced.
A purely historical fiction and adventure reader myself, romance novels did not reside on my bookshelf; however, I was still excited to read the wildly acclaimed Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. My previous experiences reading romance had been entirely dull with chapters dedicated to exploring emotions and possible actions before vetoing the entire plan and spontaneously falling in love and ending happily ever after. Yet, when even my guy friends proclaimed Water for Elephants a must read book I knew this book must offer more content and depth than most romances.
Water for Elephants follows the journey of a young Jacob Jankowski from the point of view of the elderly protagonist. Jacob Jankowski was about to finish his last year of veterinarian school at Cornell University when he learns of both his parents' deaths, which triggers a mental breakdown and encourages him to abandon school and runaway. Upon running away, Jacob joins the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, a train circus, and becomes a valued member of the crew as their ivy league veterinarian, taking care of lions, tigers, and horses. Jacob and the main attraction, Marlena, begin a quiet relationship over horses; however, their love grows when the circus gains its finest member, Rosie, a Polish speaking elephant. The twists and secrecy of Jacob and Marlena's relationship exhibit their ambition for a better life and passion to help others despite the risks or consequences.
I enjoyed reading Water for Elephants because of the thrills and excitement circus life provided in the protagonist's complicated love triangle between Marlena, Rosie, and August. Despite being an "out of comfort zone book", Water for Elephants was packed with adventure and historical references to the Depression time period, which I enjoyed and helped me assimilate into this new genre. In the future, I will continue to read books with romance in them; however, I am not convinced to seek out romance novels, in particular. Romance is a naturally a part of every story, but is not a part I enjoy focusing on; although, I enjoyed this experience in Readers' Choice. I may read any of the books recommended on the following website by other readers who also do not typically enjoy romance. http://www.examiner.com/article/10-best-romantic-novels-for-people-who-hate-romance
I also read this book this year and loved it. I love how relatable Jacob was and how we got to see him reflect on his younger years from a wiser perspective. I loved the whole love triangle between Augustus, Marlena and Rosie ( maybe even a love square with Jacob included) I thought it was an amazing story with great characters. I am glad that you found a book that you enjoyed while it was still out of your comfort zone. it ususally happens that since a book is out of someones comfortzone they tend to have a more negitive view on the book, even before they have started reading it. Do you think that you will read more romances in the future?
ReplyDeleteI haven't read this book yet, but I've seen the movie. I'm glad you liked the book. I definitely want to read this book now. I remember watching this movie in an airplane at like midnight, and I couldnt fall asleep because I thought it was cute. I like how this story is kind of like Titanic because Jacob tells this story when he was old. Was there anything that you didn't like about the book?
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