Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Have you ever stumbled onto a book that you started reading, with no expectations of liking it, then finding out that it's a gem? For me, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is one of those books.

The book's narrator, Jacob Jankowski, is a 90 (or 93) year old man living in a nursing home, getting weekly visits from his children. The chapters dealing with the present - looking forward to a trip to the circus, discovering that his son has forgotten to visit and bring him to the circus, and his "escape" to see the circus - anchor the book as they are interspersed between his memories of his youth.

When studying for his finals to become a vet, he learns his parents have died. He skips out of his finals, and ends up joining a traveling circus, the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. After working several jobs with the circus, he is hired on as the show's vet. He makes friends with several of the circus people, and eventually falls in love with Marlena, who is married to an abusive horse trainer with the circus. (Spoiler: Marlena and Jacob do end up together at the end of the book. How? You'll have to read it to find out.)

I really didn't have any expectations when I started the book. But the more I read of Water for Elephants, the more I wanted to read; it was the old "just one more chapter" situation.

The one down side (if it can be called that) is that there are two or three places that could be considered risque. But even then, they only last for a couple of paragraphs, and really don't detract from the story.

The punchline is that if you're looking for an engaging book that will keep you interested from start to finish, Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants is it. When I got to the last page - the last chapter was a bit of a surprise, but realistic - I was tempted to start the book again. Alas, it's a library book, so back it goes. Guess I'll have to buy my own copy!

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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Elton Kesey

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Many of us have books we feel we should read, for a variety of reasons: someone we know recommends it, we've read good reviews of it, or it's considered a classic. If we're fortunate, each book we pick from these groups is one that speaks to us in a positive way. If not, it leaves us wondering, confused.

For me, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Elton (1935-2001) Kesey almost falls into the latter group.

I'd picked up a copy of it several years ago, and never got much beyond the first page or so. However, I finally decided to read it in its entirety. I'd seen the movie featuring Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher years ago, as well as seeing it as a stage play (again, years ago), so I knew the book's premise.

The story is told by Chief Bromden, a seemily mute patient in a mental hospital. He classifies the patients into several groups (the Acutes, the Chronics, and the veggies), and tells what happens when Randle Patrick McMurphy, a boisterous, rebellious patient, arrives in the hospital. McMurphy pushes hard against the oppressive Nurse Ratchet, causing trouble, and, eventually, attacking Ratchet. It is shortly thereafter that McMurphy receives a lobotomy. Chief Bromden then smothers him as an act of mercy before escaping from the hospital.

The language in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is rough, which goes along with the story itself. However, the reader can't help but root for McMurphy, then feel sad about what happens to him.

If you're looking for a possitive book with beautiful language, Ken Elton (1935-2001) Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is not it. But if you read it a little bit at a time, you might find bits and pieces that appeal to you.

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Mercy Street, by Jennifer Haigh

Mercy Street by Jennifer Haigh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Have you ever read a book that you connected with to the point that, upon finishing the last page, has you wanting to start back on page one immediately?

Mercy Street by Jennifer Haigh is one of those books in my recently-read stack that I wanted to restart almost immediately. (More on that in a minute.)

Claudia Birch works in a women's center on Boston's Mercy Street (hence the title). Every morning, despite the cold winter weather, she must work her way through the crowd of protesters to get to the building, where she and her coworkers man the phone lines, dispensing advice to women needing birth control and/or abortions. Divorced, childless, and estranged from her mother, Claudia finds her job rewarding, but stressful, occasionally visiting her local pot dealer to help her make it through the work week.

The book also dives into the lives of Tim (the pot dealer), Anthony (disabled from a work accident, who finds his daily trips to church, smoking weed, and protesting in front of Mercy Street all as ways of finding meaning in his life), and Victor, a scary, misogynistic man who posts signs around the country denouncing abortion, and runs an internet site showing women who he perceives are getting abortions.

How all these lives, as well as the other women on Mercy Street - workers and those in need - intertwine and feed off of each other binds the story together in a thoroughly engrossing way.

Whatever the reader's thoughts on abortion might be, Mercy Street still makes for interesting reading. The very end of the book - what happens to all of the main characters - wraps the book up nicely.

This is definitely a "must read."

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