Water for Elephants vs. The Notebook

When we were discussing the movie roles for Water for Elephants, we joked about creating the Notebook II. But the more I think about it, the two works are very, very similar. Not only would Rachel McAdams make a great Marlene, but the plot isn't too different either.

Obviously, the old man telling a story is a parallel between both. When Sara Gruen went back and forth between the 1930's and the present day, I kept thinking of the old man from the Notebook. Both present day situations, the storyteller was at a retirement home.

The main storyline in both Water for Elephants and the Notebook is the main woman falls for the main male character. The woman dumps the man who she is very serious for a more deep love that she ultimately wants. August is a more successful man than Jacob, in the circus that is. And in the Notebook, I can't recall the names, but the man who Rachel McAdams is engaged to is a very successful and wealthy man as opposed to Noah who is not nearly as wealthy.

I think there are many similarities between both the movie and the book, and also Water for Elephants will make a great movie.

Most Interesting Short Story

Of the short stories that we were to read in class, the one that from first to last page I was interested in was "Toga Party." It was not very exciting or clear at the beginning. To me, it just seemed like a couple of old baby boomers that wanted to relive college and Animal House. The story never really started to kick up when they would meet new people and discuss death and all of the "fill-in" conversations that did not have much, if anything, to do with the story.

It was an interesting type of story, because in other short stories, I felt like I had a grasp on what was going on. I felt like I was part of the story, but in this short story I did not. Maybe that is why I enjoyed it, because it was different.

There is no way to guess what was going to happen at the end of the story. It took me two or three times of simply reading the last couple of paragraphs to understand that they killed themselves. Looking back on the conversations they had throughout the night and with that guy stabbing himself with the machete, it makes it obvious that the theme of the entire story was death. So, in the end, it is fitting that the story ends with death.