Third Outside Reading

Last week I finally started a book I've been meaning to read for a while. It's called Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, and so far it's very interesting. This book is easy to read without being poorly written, and I like the unique setup of the book. For example, it starts with a somewhat confusing (but in a good way) prologue, about a typical circus performance that is instantly interrupted when the animals escape. This is, of course, the clichéd idea of a circus disaster, but is made interesting by the protagonist witnessing a murder among all the commotion. I am almost certain it was the murderer let the animals loose for the sole purpose of committing this act under ultimate chaos--hense, a distraction so she is not seen. Strangely enough, the protagonist states that he has kept her secret all these years and will never turn her in.

The first chapter takes place in a nursing home, and the witty, sarcastic character who's first person dialogue this is coming from is instantly lovable. I run into some confusion soon enough though, when this character runs into another man who claims to have been the one who "carried water for the elephants" in a circus when he was younger. So who was the prologue about? The man telling his first-person account, or the man who claims to have worked in the circus? Would the author really have two characters who have both worked in circuses randomly meet at the same nursing home? This seems like a way too obvious way to get a story going, and if that's the case, I am very unimpressed.

The second chaper has now switched to the point of view of a 23-year-old, who may or may not be the same eighty-year-old protagonist in the last chapter. I don't think it matters at this point anyway; and I expect to find this out soon enough. Nevertheless, I'm enjoying the book greatly, it's easy to read and don't think it'll take any time at all to finish it.