Several years ago, my neighbor lent me a copy of a book called Angela’s Ashes. At the time, had someone asked me if I was interested in reading an Irish memoir about growing up in dire poverty, I probably would have said no. Yet that book turned out to be a richly rewarding reading experience.
Something similar happened to me recently when my brother-in-law recommended a novel called Water for Elephants. Without giving any details, he said it was one of the best books he had read in a long time. When it arrived after a lengthy hold period at the library, I was frankly disappointed to learn that it is a story revolving around circus life during the Depression. Neither the subject matter nor the era exercises any particular fascination for me. However, my disappointment soon turned into enthusiasm after just a few minutes of reading.
The story is told from the perspective of Jacob Jankowski, a 90 or 93 year-old (he isn’t sure which) living out his days in a nursing home. Despite an extended family which includes children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, each of whom take turns visiting him on a weekly basis, Jacob feels alone in the world, especially since the death of his wife. He therefore spends much of his time reminiscing about the past, especially the period during which he worked with the circus.
After a personal tragedy sees him leaving university before completing the final exam for his veterinary degree, the young Jacob suddenly finds himself in the employ of a circus billing itself as “BENZINI BROS MOST SPECTACULAR SHOW ON EARTH.” Here he works as both a veterinary and general helper.
As the story progresses, we learn that lurking beneath the public merriment of ‘the big top,’ some dark secrets abide. There is the ringmaster August, a man convivial and generous one moment, a cruel animal the next. There is his hapless wife Marlena who, at the age of 17, wed the ‘good ‘August four years earlier after a very short courtship, only to discover his other side almost immediately after the wedding. Disowned by her family, she sees no way out of her situation. Exercising great power over everyone’s life is the proprietor of Benzini Brothers, Uncle Al, whose avuncular mien hides some shocking truths. And then there is Jacob, whose growing attraction to Marlena threatens the stability of the façade under which the circus operates
Through the practice of scavenging failed circuses, Benzini Bros secures something it has long coveted, something all of the great circuses have: an elephant. Almost human in her presentation, this pachyderm named Rosie emerges not as a dumb, untrainable creature her handlers initially conclude after acquisition, but rather a very intelligent soul that understands Polish, a language Jacob is quite conversant with. Due to the relationship that develops between Rosie and August, Marlena, and Jacob, the former acts as a foil for the reader to see both the best and the worst of human nature through these characters.
Another aspect of interest is the novel’s depiction of the social hierarchy of circus life. For example, performers and ‘workers’ never eat together. When pay is in short supply, the performers are paid, but not the workers. The true expendability of the latter is reflected in the horrifying secret practice of ‘redlighting’ troublesome employees.
Water for Elephants is a richly textured novel, vividly recreating a time and place most of us have little knowledge of. And despite its improbable ending, this trip to the circus is well worth the price of admission.
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