2006
rating: good
plot: An elderly man recounts the summer when he ran away with the circus.
Jacob is an elderly man in a nursing home. He has a family who loves and visits him, but this still leaves him countless hours by himself to reflect on his life and his failing body. He narrates the story of the summer during the depression when he was about 20 years old and ran away with the circus. Jacob spends his days in hard labor, while admiring from afar the beautiful sequin-costumed acrobat Marlena.
This is a nice solid book for all adult readers. A book-club read if I ever found one. I read it while on vacation, so can personally attest that it's also a good pool-side read. The most interesting aspect was the first-person account of Jacob's struggles with aging. In a way, though, it really brought home the idea of a happy ending. Yes, we all know the happy ending when the hero "rides off into the sunset." But what about the rest of his life? It was comforting to know that whatever happened at the end of the summer in the circus, Jacob ended up with a long and happy life (that's not a spoiler - he indicates as much in his introductory paragraphs).
I really enjoyed this book too and my favorite parts were the nursing home parts. I work often with elderly clients and it was eye opening to see the world through their eyes.
ReplyDeleteI have this one around somewhere...
ReplyDeleteMichele - I was actually wondering how accurate it was!
ReplyDeleteHeather – It’s a pretty quick read.
Helen, I think it is pretty accurate. I was doing several visits to a very elderly couple in a nursing home while I was reading this and it really made me think about their views on the world and the place in which they live.
ReplyDelete