Five years ago, I picked up a copy of "Water for Elephants". The red and black striped binding caught my eye. I flipped through the pages, read the jacket and thought it would be a good idea. Soon after reading it, in July of 2007, the novel hit #1 as a New York Times Best Seller.
"You’re a beautiful woman. You deserve a beautiful life."
That's when I fell in love with all things circus.
Trains. Elephants. Tooth-less tigers. Trapeze artists.
Anything and everything the book was about.
"You do right by me, I'll show you a life most suckers can't even dream of."
When I first heard that the novel would be made into a movie, I was ecstatic. It was such a vivid, colorful, easy-to-imagine story that I knew a movie would be a success. Then, I heard Robert Pattinson was starring as Jacob Jankowski.. I was hesistant. (I was wrong, though. No one could have played the part better.) Though the movie was released nationwide on April 22nd, I just finally saw it today (with a reluctant boyfriend, at that).
It surpassed my most vivid imagined illustrations of the novel. The way Reese Witherspoon's curls embodied 1931. The lens flare as the big top was assembled early in the morning. The feathers, sequins and makeup of the "coochie girls". I loved every minute. I sat on the edge of my way-too-upright, red, upholstered, movie seat and waited for each moment I knew was coming.
"I don't know if I picked that circus. But something told me that circus picked me."
If you haven't seen it - go, but more importantly, if you haven't read the novel - you don't know what you're missing. When it's over, you'll be headed toward the closest train tracks, waiting for the circus train to drive by.
But if you're like me and you can't get enough - here are all things circus to show your love, in a way that might be easier than stowing away on a train:
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