Water for Elephants


Bookworms are everywhere. I got this great book from one of my cyber friend, Ferina. We know each other through blogging and finally we exchanged our books collection. I lent her Bonsai and In A Strange Room and in return I got Water for Elephants and Room. Thanks for the books, Fer :)

I have read many positive comments about Water for Elephants, in fact it's already been translated into 44 languages and also has been adapted into a movie. The novel tells about circus. Novels with circus theme are not so many. If I went back to my elementary period, back to 80s, I remember one of children book with circus theme, it was Sirkus Pak Galliano written by Enid Blyton.

If Sirkus Pak Galliano seems so fun. Even at that time I myself dreamed to join a circus. But Sara Gruen, the author of Water for Elephants tells circus from a different point of view. The main character here is a veterinary student, Jacob Jankowski, who can't continue his study and fail to take his final exam due to his parents death and debts .

Destiny takes him to a traveling circus. His adventure begins in a circus group back in 1930s as a circus vet. The story is told back and forth, from Jacob as a 90-or-93-year-old-guy in a nursing home and Jacob as a 20-something-guy who joins a circus group. The author detail research makes this novel a great one. The author can describe the ups and downs in a circus group vividly. The story seems so real. It will linger in your mind for days. A very recommended novel. Already translated by PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama on September 2010. Good translation as always but my critic is on the front cover, why is it so dark? I guess circus supposed to be associated with bright colour, don't you think so?

6 comments:

Anonymous May 17, 2011 at 8:53 AM  

Buku yang fenomenal :)
Mbak Ferina juga suka buku ini ya, sudah ada buku barunya lho mbak, yuk yuk baca bareng *tapi blom beli* :p

Cover yang Indo memang suram banget ya.

riana May 17, 2011 at 5:56 PM  

hai...Mia, thx sudah mampir, iya buku barunya Sara Gruen memang menggoda tp tumpukan dosa eh...buku msh byk bgt yg belum disentuh,hehe... kebiasaan kalap tiap liat buku baru tp kemampuan baca terbatas :(

ferina May 18, 2011 at 8:41 AM  

covernya gelap.. biar orang tau kali kalo sirkus gak segemerlap yang ada di depan mata :) hehehe.. sok tau..

Tjut Riana May 18, 2011 at 1:30 PM  

@ferina: Ehm..bener jg, mungkin covernya mau kasih gambaran bahwa cerita buku ini tragis kali ya?! *ikut2soktau* :p

YNa May 21, 2011 at 5:05 PM  

ow ternyata ada bukunya ya.. soalnya tadi liat iklan film ini. yg main aktor 'Twilight', Robert Pattinson :D

riana May 22, 2011 at 2:04 PM  

@mbYana: Iya, ada bukunya tapi aku ga yakin filmnya bisa sebagus bukunya :)