The night circus

Usually, about halfway through a book, I tend to start skipping sentences, and it's for one of two reasons: 1) I am so engrossed in the story that I am racing toward the end, desperate to find out how it all plays out; or 2) I feel obligated to complete the book because I started it, and I just want it to be over with. Night Circus was, unfortunately, the latter. The characters, their desires, and their motivations lack depth, and the love story between the two main characters seems contrived and unconvincing. The book reads more like stage directions and with extensive descriptions of the setting (these descriptions are the best this book has to offer; Morgenstern has clearly done her best to create a sensually stunning world. I don't say this often, but Night Circus would probably make a better movie than a book). The plot suffers the same flatness as the characters; 387 pages is way too long to carry what is essentially an "anything you can do I can do better, with a romantic twist" vignette. (Actually, this would make a great Pixar short.) The ending is extremely disappointing. I had hoped to at least learn what the point of all this was. (Answer: There is none. Or rather, there's an explanation, but it's extremely unsatisfactory.) Except for occasionally making me want hot chocolate or candy apples, this book did nothing for me.

I just do not understand all the great reviews this book is getting. It was totally predictable and such a struggle to actually finish. If it hadn't been my book club book, I never would have wasted time finishing it. The pages seemed to go on and on and on without anything of importance happening. I don't normally read fantasy so maybe that's the problem.

This book is so amazingly lyrical and beautifully written. If you have any appreciation for wonderful use of description or inventiveness, this is a book for you. The story is entrancing and magical. Totally worth checking out!

It's a rare book that can live up to advance buzz of the sort "The Night Circus" has been getting. I had read the author plugs, the publisher's notes, the touting of film deals, and I had wondered what could really be so special about this novel to justify the hoopla.

Within a few pages, I found out. This book is MAGICAL. The publisher's blurb doesn't really do the plot justice. Here's a modified one: There are two illusionists, chosen at a young age to be bound to one another in a contest that will span their lives until one wins. They have been given no rules, other than that they must perform in some way. They have no idea how one wins, or what one must do to win. Their sponsors in the contest create the circus as the arena for their players. One will travel with it, the other will not. Their story is interspersed with the perspectives of several other characters within or affiliated with the circus, all of whom enrich the plot and provide a deeper look at the workings of the circus and those it touches.

I love the structure of this book. Too often a book with split narratives lingers too long on one or another of the characters, to the point that the reader forgets the other tale being told. Not with "The Night Circus". Most chapters are less than 5 pages long. Any character whose story you long to continue will return again soon. There are no boring narratives. Each is carefully constructed to yield more detail or nuance to the contest, the circus, or the sinister dealings of the competition sponsors. There are many two-page intervals designed to lead the reader through a tent or aspect of the carnival as if the reader were a patron on a tour.

The prose is beautiful - not too verbose, not too simplistic. Morgenstern has the rare ability to describe her fantastical imaginings in a way that is easily accessible. Reading "The Night Circus", I felt like I could see the contents of the tents, feel the fluffiness of the cloud maze, smell the caramel wafting in the air, gaze into the pool of tears, smell the scents in the table of jars. The author makes her creation real. She does so so well that I think the film will be a disappointment - no production company could make real the fantastical things Morgenstern makes me picture in my head.

The romance is gentle and slow-burning. There are no bodice-ripper sex scenes, no overwrought proclamations of undying passion. The romance between the two illusionists is a motivator of events, not the event itself. By sparing us the gory details, the author creates a fairy-tale atmosphere for her love story, a theme alluded to by several of the characters throughout the novel. This is a story about stories. Each character is equal parts vague and filled in. The reader never feels as if a character is fully revealed, but each has a magical quality nonetheless...like fairy tale characters. Morgenstern skillfully translates fantastical, fairy tale elements into a world where fairy tales are unexpected, and dull reality has taken hold (the book begins in the late 19th century in post-industrialized England where the population has seen magic disappear in a haze of coal burning factories and speeding locomotives - magic is now whatever we can mechanize in the name of progress). The author incorporates the 'seen it all' attitude of the people into her narrative - the people are mesmerized by a combination of magic and mechanics, illusions designed for their world. And yet the novel never devolves in 'steampunk' silliness. There is an air of timelessness that pervades every description, so that the circus can move from era to era untouched by the specifics of that time.

The novel approaches what could conventionally be called its climax about 40 pages from the end. But Morgenstern has created so many characters, so many different narratives to care about, that the resolution of the illusionists' contest has become simply one of many stories. I was grateful for the remaining 40 pages to tie together the other narratives intertwined with the illusionists' story. This was altogether a beautiful novel, and I was sad to see it end. Like the rêveurs, I wanted to travel along with the circus for awhile longer.

This book had everything a good fiction book should - some mystery, suspense, fantasy! The author paints such a clear, yet unique world of this circus that you truly feel like you are there. I couldn't put it down, wanting to learn more about the characters and what was happening to them. It's rare that a book does such a good job at captivating its reader and this one hit the nail on the head!

The circus arrives without warning, mysteriously appearing overnight, and leaves as quick as it comes. It contains no color, only black, white, and all the shades of grey between. The astonishing feats of the performers defy explanation, even in comparison to other circuses. The illusions performed may well not be illusions at all. If you like books with mysterious challenges, mysterious characters, mysterious happenings, and a mysterious resolution, this may be the book for you. The Night Circus skirts the edges of romance, fantasy, and steampunk. Interested?

The Night Circus is a beautiful story. It is a book that grabbed me and held on, filled with dreams and whimsy. I began it with high expectations, and they were most certainly filled.

This is a book that appeals to all senses. You can almost smell the caramel, taste the popcorn, hear the crowds, see the performers, and feel the crowds.

The whole book is written in present tense. That might bother some, but personally, I've always loved present tense stories. It lends a sense of immediacy, of actually being there in the circus, that past tense cannot evoke.

A review really can't do it justice. I recommend it highly.