Water for Elephants is a story told from the point of view of Jacob Jankowski, who is currently ninety-three years old. He's everything that old people usually are: feisty and hilariously rude to there caretakers. But underneath his crabby surface, we start to notice a person who cares about little things, a person who misses his wife like mad, and a person who would do anything to walk down just one flight of stairs.
But all Mr. Jankowski has are his memories of working in the circus as a vet after his parents died on a train fire. He starts remembering those memories whenever he dozes off. but when he wakes up again and looks at himself in the mirror, at the old man's body who's taken over Jacob. Who is he now?
As much as Jacob hates the idea of being old, he knows he has to deal with it. So he made a promise to himself to start being nice to his caretaker, Rosemary. You wouldn't believe how long it took him to remember her name every time she walked in, but he finally got it, he doesn't want anyone to think that he's senile because he really isn't.
I haven't finished this book yet, but I do know that probably by the end of this book, Jacob will be a lot less sour.
