Book to Movie | Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

On behalf of 20th Century Fox via Think Jam publicity, I have read Water for Elephants and watched a screener DVD of the movie adaptation for the purpose of discussing "book to movie". Here are the discussion questions I'll be addressing.

   The elements of the 1930's that I enjoyed the most were the references to the depression and prohibition. Knowing that our current economy is suffering much the same as it did during the depression; it was enlightening to see how Americans worked through the issue of not having money. Bartering for services or goods wasn't uncommon in the 30's. The fact that Jacob's entire situation is the result of the depression is quite sad. His parents decided that his education was worth the bank owning their home. It didn't help any that his father provided veterinary services in exchange for eggs or chickens. Jacob is very much like his father. He quickly puts the safety and wellbeing of himself behind the needs of the animals he loves to take care of. Prohibition is one thing that baffles me. I don't understand why it happened really. I guess I fell asleep during that history lesson. It seems a lot of no good resulted from prohibiting the making, selling and consuming of alcohol. Seeing that first hand in Camel's character was quite sad. The book does a finer job at depicting the close relationship that Jacob has with both Camel and Walter than the movie did. Having written the novel from Jacob's point of view was a great idea. I thoroughly enjoyed reading his thoughts and emotions. I don't think I would have enjoyed it from Marlena's point of view. Maybe switching between the two would have been nice. Jacob had never seen a naked woman and was a virgin in the book. This wasn't portrayed in the movie at all. I was disappointed in that small detail being taken away from Jacob's character. Robert Pattinson added quite a lot of "boyishness" to Jacob. His smile was so genuinely bright, like a kid in a toy store most of the time, you could tell he was a softy, wet behind the ears. Robert did such a great job showing how Jacob matured throughout the movie. Reese Witherspoon did a great job portraying Marlena. I liked what the director, or whomever it was, said in the "extras" of the DVD: Reese spills American from her pores (not verbatim but that's the gist of what he meant). She just looks like the perfect, average American woman. Her style of clothing in the movie was exactly as I'd envisioned while reading. The romance between Jacob and Marlena is a touchy subject for me. First, I am not a fan of any form of adultery. Why Marlena was still married to August if she didn't love him enrages me. I know it has everything to do with the fact that it was the 1930's and again, that enrages me. The fact that woman were stuck in relationships with men that abused them in one way or another is mindboggling. Parents, friends and society should not disown you because you want to divorce an abusive man. The romance between Jacob and Marlena was handled okay in the movie. I do think it was steamier in the book because we know exactly how Jacob thinks and feels for her. There was also a bit more steamy situations in the book than the movie. I had no idea how a circus did it's thing at all before reading Water for Elephants. I didn't even know they traveled by train! I learned so much from reading this book. I haven't ever been to a circus before either, which I now am adding to the list of things I want to do before I die. My daughter went to one this past summer with her grandparents. I really wish we would have been invited to go along. I have much respect for the performers and the working men and women of the circus. There were only a few scenes in the movie where music was played and I honestly didn't pay much attention to it. In the book it's mentioned a couple of times too but music in books doesn't really register to me too much. The glitz and glamour were treated just fine in both the book and the movie. The movie did a great job with the train cars, especially August's and Marlena's, as well as with the overall scenery. This was my first time seeing Christoph Waltz in a movie. I know he was in Inglourious Basterds but I didn't watch that one. I think he did a great job of portraying August's paranoid schizophrenia, which was named in the book but not the movie. He had the look of the charmer and the look of the crazy, angry nut head. I want to know why Big Al wasn't a character in the movie? Why merge his character with August? Those quotes are great quotes. I remember hearing them in the movie. I also remember the movie taking quite a different look and speed at the events in the book. I know quite few scenes didn't happen the way they were shown in the movie as they were in the book. So, to me, these quotes had no impact on me what so ever. I do remember not liking that Marlena said I Love You first to Jacob. I loved that he poured his heart out to her in the book. I wish that would have stayed the same in the movie. The best scene that was done perfectly in the movie as it was done in the book was when Jacob feds Rex with August. It was nearly flawless, minus August telling Jacob which bucket of meat Rex should get, and all sorts of funny and shocking. I watched the movie with my husband. He didn't know what was going on. He was laughing because Rex was roaring and growling at Jacob. He was shocked when Rex latched onto Jacob's arm and he was baffled as to why August thought it was the funniest thing in the world. I sat and watched both the movie and my husband's reaction. It was identical to my reaction while reading the same scene. Very well done. The special features or "extras" as they're titled on the DVD I watched added that extra information you're wondering about while reading and watching the movie. How did Reese learn how to be a performer? Why'd they pick Robert Pattinson to play Jacob? Why switch up the ending of the book and make it the beginning of the movie? Which I HATED! Reading about Jacob's days in the nursing home were some of my favorite scenes. It showed his personality, even in his old age. I really enjoyed hearing the author talk about the research that she did to write the book too. Thanks to 20th Century Fox I will be posting a bundle giveaway of the book and DVD of Water for Elephants! Please stay tuned for that post.

General thoughts on the book

The book was great. I highly recommend it to any one. There were a few adult, R-rated, scenes that I’d be leery of letting a young teen reading but nothing too explicit. I learned a ton about the circus and the 1930's.

Water for Elephantsby Sara Gruen368 pages, Algonquin Books, (2011-03-01) $8.31 (Amazon.com)

100 Most Popular YA Books

I saw this list over at Bites and thought I'd participate! I don't know where or how the list was compiled but it's a great list of fantasy and paranormal titles. Not too many contemporary titles on there. Books in BOLD GREEN I've read. Books I own but haven't read are in RED. Books I want to read but don't own are in BLUE. Alex Finn – Beastly Alice Sebold – The Lovely Bones Ally Carter – Gallagher Girls (1, 2, 3, 4) Ally Condie - Matched Alyson Noel – The Immortals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) Anastasia Hopcus – Shadow Hills Angie Sage – Septimus Heap (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) Ann Brashares – The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (1, 2, 3, 4) Anna Godbersen – Luxe (1, 2, 3, 4) Anthony Horowitz – Alex Rider (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) Aprilynne Pike – Wings (1, 2, 3) Becca Fitzpatrick – Hush, Hush (1, 2) Brandon Mull – Fablehaven (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) Brian Selznick – The Invention of Hugo Cabret Cassandra Clare – The Mortal Instruments (1, 2, 3, 4) Carrie Jones – Need (1, 2, 3) Carrie Ryan – The Forest of Hands and Teeth (1, 2, 3, 4) Christopher Paolini – Inheritance (1, 2, 3, 4) Cinda Williams Chima – The Heir Chronicles (1, 2, 3) Colleen Houck – Tigers Saga (1, 2) Cornelia Funke - Inkheart (1, 2, 3) Ellen Hopkins – Impulse Eoin Colfer – Artemis Fowl (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) Faraaz Kazi – Truly, Madly, Deeply Frank Beddor – The Looking Glass Wars (1, 2, 3) Gabrielle Zevin – Elsewhere Gail Carson Levine – Fairest Holly Black – Tithe (1, 2, 3) J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) James Dashner – The Maze Runner (1, 2) James Patterson – Maximum Ride (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) Jay Asher – Thirteen Reasons Why Jeanne DuPrau – Books of Ember (1, 2, 3, 4) Jeff Kinney – Diary of a Wimpy Kid (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) John Boyne – The Boy in the Striped Pajamas John Green – An Abundance of Katherines John Green – Looking for Alaska John Green – Paper Towns Jonathan Stroud – Bartimaeus (1, 2, 3, 4) Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl – Caster Chronicles (1, 2) Kelley Armstrong – Darkest Powers (1, 2, 3) Kristin Cashore – The Seven Kingdoms (1, 2) Lauren Kate - Fallen (1, 2, 3) Lemony Snicket – Series of Unfortunate Events (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13) Libba Bray – Gemma Doyle (1, 2, 3) Lisa McMann – Dream Catcher (1, 2, 3) Louise Rennison – Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) M.T. Anderson – Feed Maggie Stiefvater - The Wolves of Mercy Falls (1, 2, 3) Margaret Peterson Haddix – Shadow Children (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) Maria V. Snyder – Study (1, 2, 3) Markus Zusak – The Book Thief Markus Zusak – I am the Messenger Mark Haddon – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Mary Ting – Crossroads Maureen Johnson – Little Blue Envelope (1, 2) Meg Cabot – All-American Girl (1, 2) Meg Cabot – The Mediator (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) Meg Cabot – The Princess Diaries (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) Meg Rosoff – How I live now Megan McCafferty – Jessica Darling (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) Megan Whalen Turner – The Queen’s Thief (1, 2, 3, 4) Melina Marchetta – On the Jellicoe Road Melissa de la Cruz – Blue Bloods (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) Melissa Marr – Wicked Lovely (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) Michael Grant – Gone (1, 2, 3, 4) Nancy Farmer – The House of the Scorpion Neal Shusterman – Unwind Neil Gaiman – Coraline Neil Gaiman – Stardust Neil Gaiman – The Graveyard Book P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast – House of Night (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ) Philip Pullman – His Dark Materials (1, 2, 3) Rachel Caine – The Morganville Vampires (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) Rachel Cohn & David Levithan – Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist Richelle Mead – Vampire Academy (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) Rick Riordan – Percy Jackson and the Olympians (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) Rom LcO’Feer – Somewhere carnal over 40 winks S.L. Naeole – Grace (1, 2, 3, 4) Sabrina Bryan and Julia DeVillers – Princess of Gossip Sarah Dessen – Along for the Ride Sarah Dessen – Lock and Key Sarah Dessen – The Truth about Forever Sara Shepard – Pretty Little Liars (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) Scott Westerfeld – Leviathan (1, 2) Scott Westerfeld – Uglies (1, 2, 3) Shannon Hale – Books of a Thousand Days Shannon Hale – Princess Academy Shannon Hale – The Books of Bayern (1, 2, 3, 4) Sherman Alexie & Ellen Forney – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Simone Elkeles – Perfect Chemistry (1, 2, 3) Stephanie Meyer – The Host Stephanie Meyer – Twilight Saga (1, 2, 3, 4) Sue Monk Kidd – The Secret Life of Bees Susan Beth Pfeffer – Last Survivors (1, 2, 3) Suzanne Collins - Hunger Games (1, 2, 3) Suzanne Collins – Underland Chronicles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) Terry Pratchett – Tiffany Aching (1, 2, 3, 4) Tonya Hurley – Ghost Girl (1, 2, 3) Wendelin Van Draanen – Flipped I've read 30/100, own 11 more I haven't read yet and would like to read at least 5 of the titles listed (not including the rest of the series). So 46/100 books I've read, own, or are willing to read of the most popular YA books. Not too shabby. What's my favorite read of out of this list? I'd go with the Perfect Chemistry series by Simone Elkeles, then the two awesome series: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. :) What about you?

Do Spoilers Really Spoil?

A great topic that peaked my interest today from the Reader's edition of Shelf Awareness today.

"Spoilers Don't Spoil Anything". Do you agree with this? Go read the article if you'd like more information. If you haven't read Harry Potter or seen the last two movies AVOID THAT SITE!

To an extent I guess I can agree. But am I happy that I've stumbled upon a spoiler? NO! I actually do not want to know what happens in anything really. Trailers and summaries make me nervous; especially when it comes to a book I want and or plan to read. This also goes for movies.

For example, I'm currently reading BLOOD BOUND by Rachel Vincent. I went to Goodreads to update my reading progress and just decided to go ahead and read the summary. I was on page 172. 172. I thought for sure I was safe from finding out anything too terribly spoilery but NO! The summary told me what was going to happen in the next 20 pages or so. There are 463 pages in this book so that's approximately half way through the book and the back summary of the book is disclosing information that happens beyond the half way mark! That to me is way too much information into the story to be putting it right out there.

The summary spoiled that plot point for me. Of course it wasn't a huge plot point but it was a pretty big one that I hadn't figured out yet and I was quite upset because this book has some serious tension! And I was just given some relief and then MORE tension because of the summary. Now, if I had read the summary before I started the book I would have been like, when the hell is that going to happen? I'm nearly half way done with this book. Needless to say I stopped reading the summary once I stumbled upon that bit of spoilery information. Yes, I didn't even finish reading a stinking summary to avoid spoilers!

I tweeted about that summary to Rachel and she responded back saying sorry, she didn't write the blurb. I say to her, it's okay, but really, whom ever did write it should be hung. There's no reason why that much information would have to be disclosed to get a reader to pick up the book. There are ways to say something to grab a reader's attention without giving out specific information. GAH! To say I'm a bit upset is putting it lightly. I may never read another summary again. I usually don't but like I said I thought I was safe! YOU ARE NEVER SAFE! Unless you've already read the book or seen the movie of course.

Two other times I have come across spoilers that affected me personally.

One was when I received my hardcopy of BREAKING DAWN, I started it in Kindle Version, and flipped to the back of the book because I'd heard there was a cool cheat sheet to the vampires and their respective abilities. I got to one name and was like, who the hell is Reneesme(highlight to see spoilery name)? DUN DUN DUN.... SPOILER ALERT! OMFG!

And lastly, I received several emails or Goodreads messages from readers who had seen that I had received an early copy of the last book in Rachel Vincent's Shifter series, ALPHA. They begged me to know if Marc and Faythe ended up together or if Jace win over Faythe. I did reply but I did not give them what they wanted to know. I just can't support spoilers!

I guess when it comes to the last book in a series you're almost dying of anticipation that you may be okay with finding out that must know piece of information. Me? Not so much. I want to harness that lust for the next word and the next piece of information while I'm reading. Finding out a spoiler takes that reaction away from me. I want to feel the suspense. I want to feel the anxiety that the character is feeling. I don't want to know whether or not they end up  together before I find out with the characters! A great example of this very thing is SHADOWFEVER by Karen Marie Moning. DREAMFEVER left off on a MASSIVE cliffhanger. I mean gigantic! I did not peruse the internets to find leaked spoilers. Instead I used my love for the books (characters) to fuel my need to read it for myself.

What about you? Do you avoid spoilers at all costs like me? Not even reading summaries?

I write my reviews with the point to not disclose even the smallest piece of spoilery information. I do post the summaries though, so it's your choice of whether you read them or not!

Books for Thought: Did a song ever remind you of a book?

La Femme Readers post today is Books for Thought!

I talked about this very topic a few months ago after hearing a Justin Bieber song of all things! Did you catch that post? No? Here's a link to it.

So, my answer to this question is that very blog post. Songs do remind of me of books I've read. And usually they remind me of books that bore into me in one way or another. I LOVE that feeling. I remember hearing that Justin Bieber song and just playing it over and over again because it was just too perfect and I loved feeling that feeling.

What about you? Any songs that remind you of books you've read?
To participate in this discussion please go to The Cozy Reader!