Seventh Outside Reading

Once again, I've read an O. Henry story for my outside reading. This one's titled "After Twenty Years," and tells the story of a man waiting in the doorway of a hardware store for a friend he hasn't seen in twenty years. A police officer sees him waiting and talks to him for a bit, then leaves. After a while, another police officer comes and arrests him. At the end of the story, we learn that the first police officer was his old friend who had recognised him as a man wanted in Chicago, and had sent the other police officer out to arrest him because he just couldn't do it himself.

After reading so many O. Henry stories, you start to pick up on the surprise endings. As I began reading, I instantly knew the police officer must be his old friend. It's only obvious. I really like O. Henry, but I'm starting to worry that I won't like them as much after they become too predictable. But then I think--yes, his stories are predictable, but they're predicable in different ways. Maybe instead of not liking the stories, I'll just find myself liking them in different ways. I'm hoping so, because this book of short stories is really all I have to read right now.

Sixth Outside Reading

This week I read another O. Henry story titled "The Ransom of Red Chief". This is a story I've been meaning to read for a while, since it's one of his more well known story (other than "The Gift of the Magi" of course, which is another favorite story of mine.) "The Ransom of Red Chief" is the story of two criminals who decide to kidnap the son of a wealthy man and ask for a ransom for his return. At first, keeping the boy hidden is easier than you'd think: he can't wait to sleep overnight in a cave, not go to school, and play games in the forest all day. The kidnappers are quickly mistaken when they discover his games involve violently realistic scalpings, threats, and constant annoyences. When the men finally send out the letter for the ransom, they're horrified to recieve instead of money, a letter back saying that for the boy's return, his father is asking for two hundred and fifty dollars. The men are shocked, but cannot stand the boy any longer and return him for his father's demanded price.

Of course this story's very funny and entertaining, but the ending really struck me as interesting. The father didn't seem the least bit worried about his son's wherabouts. Does he really know the boy well enough to know he'd be safe among two strange kidnappers? Does anyone know their children that well? The only way any father would ever agree to this is if he knew exactly where his son was and was able to keep an eye on him during this endeavor. Perhaps he did? The kidnappers didn't seem especially skilled at their trade.

Now I'm curious as to how the story would have been different if the reader was told that the father knew where his son was being kept, but the kidnappers did not. But maybe that's a different story for a different time.

Fifth Outside Reading

As promised, I have finished Water for Elephants. I liked the ending; Jacob is able to marry his love and together they're able to raise a family (complete with an elephant as a family pet.) One thing that bothered me though is when Marlena's first baby is born and because of his red hair, Jacob knows it isn't his. He doesn't mind, he says, he would love the baby no matter what. This upset me because as a reader, I want to see Jacob happy, finally living a normal life and this fact puts a dent in that perfect vision. Jacob also mentions having to bail his children out of jail a few times, but that these were some of the best years of his life. Another dent in the perfect family image! But perhaps this is one of the main themes of the book: there's beauty in even the most grotesque situations. The most obvious example of this being, of course, the circus, where some of the most disturbing people live but is still seen as a romantic concept despite this.

Reading the authors' notes in the back of the book, Sara Gruen mentions that most of the small details in the book were stolen from real events she found entertaining during her research. For example, almost all of the elephant's strange quirks are stolen from the quirks of true circus elephants. At first I found this upsetting, (why couldn't the author think of her own quirks?) but later decided this was okay. It's fine for her to include these details so we can be just as entertained as she was when she heard of them.

I won't mention what the quirks are... that's up to you to discover when you read Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants!

Fourth Outside Reading

I'm now on chapter fourteen in Water for Elephants and I can't believe only one week has past since I started reading. So much has happened in the story. Jacob Jankowski is now nearly settled into circus life and has been made the circus vet. At first he protested, saying he never technically finished his schooling at Cornell, but as his mentor August said, "The whole thing's illusion, Jacob, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's what people want from us. It's what they expect."

This story, set during the Depression, depicts circuses in two ways: the romantic, striking, and fascinating light they were created for, and the hard working, slightly crazy world they really are. The hard part is finding the fine line that divides these ways. Is there a way for a world to both be completely insane and strikingly amazing at the same time? Jacob's world is constantly switching between the two. One instant he's cleaning out manuer and the next he's dancing across a spinning dance floor. I'm wondering if I'd enjoy a life like this. The hard work wouldn't be so bad if it was rewarded with exciting adventures like Jacob's is. Other than the obvious cruelty to animals and the fact that Jacob doesn't actually sleep on a real bed, I think I could get used to a life like this. I'd enjoy the thrilling performing atmosphere, and a bit of mindless work might even be soothing once and a while, as long as it's not too painfully difficult.

Regarding the writing style of this book, I think it contains many more good qualities than bad. The descriptions and moods are amazing, and the use of adjectives is flawless. The characterization is also very well done. The writer has done an impressive job of showing many different sides of a character while still staying true to their core personalities. One example of this is Walter, who when he first meets Jacob is rude and unaccepting. We find out this is because he is the only performer bunking with a worker, and are therefore given a look into his personality as well as an important detail regarding the circus hierarchy. As the story goes on, Walter becomes kinder and kinder to Jacob, realizing that he really has no reason to hate his bunkmate. However, he never looses the original coldness and sarcasm that is originally introduced with his character.

This book is enjoyable, easy to read, and will easily be finished by next week; so stay tuned for my full review in post #5.