I don't know how to work this site and lexie is always sleeping and wont show me how!

Bestseller! Must Read! Vampire Veterinarian!

So our two previous reviews of the book commented on the bestseller status of Gruen's novel, and I'll admit that it was a turn-off for me as well. I guess in my attempt to fashion myself as intellectual (or at least more intellectual than others), I was reluctant to read a book (for a book club) that has suggestions for book club reading in the back. I am also wary of any book that is so successful it gets its author a $5 million advance for her next two books (not to mention $1 million for the movie rights)!

So it kind of pains me to admit that this book was good...predictable, but good. This got me thinking, what makes a bestseller a bestseller? I think that Kara is right to say that the opening pages give a decent indication of who these characters are. Nothing is really shrouded in mystery here. Is it just wanting a "good story" to occupy time that makes this book fantastically popular? But Pat's response has me thinking that I didn't give this book enough credit--perhaps it does cleverly "stage the felxibility between reality and imagination" through its themes.

All of this is a really crap way of saying that I don't really know what to think of this book anymore. I enjoyed reading it, and there's something to be said for that. But, I think I enjoyed it self-consciously, maybe even with a little guilt. It's like listening to John Mayer--I still seem to enjoy his songs, but I probably wouldn't admit that to too many people (unless it's on a public, geeky blog). And when I do enjoy them, I'm not even entirely sure why.

This post probably strays from the idea of the blog--I doubt many people wanted to read about my hyper-conscious choices in reading. In fact, I barely talked about the book at all. Old Jacob was cool--cranky, yet lovable. I imagine that Robert Pattinson will make a bland, but pretty good looking Young Jacob. But then again, Young Jacob is kind of bland--did anyone else think he was completely naive? He just sort of seemed to be there but perhaps not be so much a part of the action.

Feel free to ignore the above comments. I know I will.

Grab Some Popcorn...

I recently had a lovely e-mail discussion with Kara about possibly expanding our book club to include movies. We could watch a movie each book in conjunction with the book we are reading. Maybe it is a film that has some kind of connection to the book we are reading, or it could be completely random since it's up to whoever chooses the movie and book each time.

I think this could be fun and interesting. Although, I'm kinda a film geek, so any conversation about film makes me unnaturally enthusiastic. I was thinking that we could go with "Big Fish" this month since Kara already was discussing it in her response to Pat's post. Plus, I think that it would be interesting to discuss the different approaches to storytelling and circus life as portrayed in each.

What do you all think?

- stephanie

water for elephants - pat's thoughts

like kara, i also burned through gruen's novel rather quickly (sitting around at home, recovering from wisdom teeth surgery gave me some free time). i was a bit unsettled by the book's "best-seller" status, as well. and again, like kara, i was pleasantly surprised, but not for the reasons i expected.

i will say immediately - and briefly - that gruen's book doesn't wow me with its use of language. looking over the cover art and print-matter, i came to expect a wild, maybe even trippy experience while reading. i think the notion of "freaks" and "exotic" animals, the "grotesque grandeur" of the circus, and all that business, prepared me (or at least made me hope) for a sort of consciousness-altering break from reality. jacob's narration, the characters' dialogue, and the relatively clear-cut back-and-forth between "now" and "then" took the story - for me - in the opposite direction, creating a tone that seemed a bit more subdued and controlled than the content would seem to suggest. nothing, in the language of the book that is, seemed all that outrageous to me...

but all this dwelling on storytelling made me think about why gruen might have written the book this way, and made me feel like this is a book about storytelling as much as it is about the circus or young love or fear or anything else. one of the first questions i had of "old jacob" is - who is hearing this story he's telling? for whose sake is he remembering it? does he always remember it this way (remember, some describe him as, and he even wonders, if he's "senile")? gruen does a funny thing by captivating us by the color of jacob's memories at the same time that she calls into question the reliability of her narrator. i guess this is why it seems like such a crucial moment when august points out to jacob that this is all imaginary - that no one expects or wants it to be real. these memories don't need to be real, and to me, that's what made reading the book enjoyable: pointing out that these episodes hardly seem as matter-of-fact as jacob feels them to be, and then pushing me to realize that that doesn't matter. in a way, the novel was making me, through its fiction, super-aware of the experience of reading a fictional novel.

it was also a cool way to stage the flexibility between reality and imagination. where i expected gruen to do it through her style, with expressionistic descriptions and trippy metaphors (the way lots of authors - i'm thinking of hunter s. thompson here - try to deal with this idea), she does it thematically instead, relying on that subdued tone to make this particular point all the clearer. the intermingling of historical photographs with a purely fictional narrative about a purely made-up circus troupe seems to fit that task, too. it might feel real and unreal at the same time, and that's why it's intriguing. i'm not sure the book would have worked if it had turned out the way i expected.

good pick, steph!

Water For Elephants...Kara's Thoughts

So I talked to Steph earlier today and she said post away! So, here I go. I finished Water For Elephants really quickly, partly because I had a 4-hour layover in Dallas, and partly because I found it to be a very quick read! (and I have a lot of time on my hands…) When I started this book I was wary because multiple people had told me that it was a “very good book.” I know that is kind of odd, but a book that is recommended to me over and over is either going to be really good or not live up to its hype, and I actually feel like this book lived up! (p.s. Kara as a non-academic writer uses a lot of (!!) ( smiles) and (…) hope I’m not being graded!)

I’ll just post some initial reactions to the book. I don’t want to post any spoilers because I don’t know where everyone is in the book! The main element of this book that really caught my attention was how Gruen weaves together the visions of “Old Jacob” and “New Jacob.” She does it in such a way that I felt I had a more in depth view of the character. I found myself thinking, ok, now I want to hear what Old Jacob has to say, ok now back to the young Jacob. I do think that the book was “predictable” in a sense. The version of my book has “book club discussion questions” at the end and one asked “how does the opening scene effect my reception of the story that follows?” Even after reading the opening pages I felt like I had a pretty good idea of who Rosie and Marlena were the only surprise for me was probably August’s connection to Marlena and to Jacob. I am glad that Gruen started with that opening scene because it provided a complete context for me. I’ve only been to the circus maybe twice in my life, (and once to Cirque du Soleil) so I think it was a smart move to open with that to get people into the circus frame of mind. (Using the pictures throughout the book was also a good move!)

My last little thought is about how much I loved the “Old Jacob” scenes. Since I am working with the elderly right now it just hit me how accurate these scenes were. She worked hard at accurately putting the reader into the mind of a person suffering from dementia, and I feel like she did a very good job. I think the scenes with “Old Jacob” pushed me to see a theme of the book I might not have, which is as cliché as it might be: living your life to the fullest. What am I doing? When I am 90 will I be looking back on something with such affection as Jacob does with the circus? What are the defining moments of my life? Ok, enough being cliché and corny, but I’m definitely in the depths of those questions for myself right now, and this book put those questions into perspective for me.

Ok, that’s all from me! Looking forward to blogging with y’all. Kara :)

First Book Selection

I was lucky enough to have the privilege of selecting the first book for our amazing/nerdy virtual book club. Needless to say, I feel there's a lot of pressure to choose a book that everyone will enjoy and will provide with some great discussion material for us. Earlier this week I saw a few different people in New York with copies of Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, so I'm going to take this as a sign that we should read it (hopefully this isn't just due to its renewed popularity thanks to the production of a film adaptation). Some of you may have read it already since it has been out for a while, so we can always choose another book if that is the case. It seems as though it would be a nice summertime read.

Other books I considered were Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger because I somehow made it out of my teen years without ever reading it. Also, I considered reading something by Carson McCullers. If any of those sound like more interesting choices, please feel free to say so or recommend something you would rather read. Otherwise, let's all start reading Water for Elephants!

- Stephanie

Welcome!

Spliff has the first book choice and then we will each take our turn. If you have read the book before, let us know! We are still working out all of the specifics regarding how we are going to do this so, if you have suggestions, let everyone know. I know we want to make it a leisurely book club since our lives are all very busy.