Jacob Jankowski, the main character, is a 90 or 93 year old man in a nursing home and he tells the story of how he wound up joining a circus in his early 20's. His parents are both killed in a car accident and finds out that his parents have mortaged everything to pay for his tuition at Cornell Vet school. Figuring that he is unable to continue his education and he jumps on a train in the middle of the night running away from everything he had known. The train that he winds up on is a circus train.
He befriends several individuals and winds up working for the outfit. One particular person is a married woman named Marlena. Jacob's boss is Marlena's husband, August. August is a bit off mentally to say the least.
One of the most remarkable and memorable characters in the book is an elephant that the circus aquired named Rosie. When she is first aquired August believes she is dumbest animal on earth because she would not do anything that they tried to get her to do. Because of this August beats Rosie on a regulart basis until Jacob by accident discovers that she only understands commands given to her in Polish. After that discovery Rosie is the star of the show alongside of Marlena.
Things don't stay rosy for long. August has more fits, ex circus employee's who were thrown off the train catch up, and performers get sick and tired of what has been happening. It all comes together in a pretty horrific, yet kind of an amusing scene in the end.
Not only did I enjoy the story of Jacob's circus days, but I also enjoyed Jacob's narration about getting old. It really makes you think about how we treat the elderly and how we should be treating them.
He befriends several individuals and winds up working for the outfit. One particular person is a married woman named Marlena. Jacob's boss is Marlena's husband, August. August is a bit off mentally to say the least.
One of the most remarkable and memorable characters in the book is an elephant that the circus aquired named Rosie. When she is first aquired August believes she is dumbest animal on earth because she would not do anything that they tried to get her to do. Because of this August beats Rosie on a regulart basis until Jacob by accident discovers that she only understands commands given to her in Polish. After that discovery Rosie is the star of the show alongside of Marlena.
Things don't stay rosy for long. August has more fits, ex circus employee's who were thrown off the train catch up, and performers get sick and tired of what has been happening. It all comes together in a pretty horrific, yet kind of an amusing scene in the end.
Not only did I enjoy the story of Jacob's circus days, but I also enjoyed Jacob's narration about getting old. It really makes you think about how we treat the elderly and how we should be treating them.
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