I'm skittish of overly popular books. I'm usually the one who doesn't like the book that everyone else is praising. So I steered clear of The Night Circus by Erin Morgensternuntil I could no longer give in to lure of the beautiful cover art. I opted for the audio version as I often do with longer books because I can listen a little bit at a time without ticking clock of the due date.The Night Circus opens with a tour. It arrives without warning and is open only at night. It's only colors are black and white. Fans of the circus, some who travel around the world to follow it, dress the part but add a bit of red. Though none of them expect it, they hold the key to the circus's continued existence.Morgenstern presents the chronology of the Cirque des Rêves out of order. Listening on audio, I had to keep track of the dates mentioned at the start of each chapter. At first I missed a few things but once I noticed that things weren't in order, I paid better attention. As a fan of logic puzzles, I enjoyed trying to piece the story back together.The heart of the book, though, and the part that will either make it or break it for you, is the competition between two aged magicians through their student proxies, Celia and Marcus. They are bound to each other and the only way to win the game is to kill the other. Caught up in the middle of this battle to the death is the circus itself.The problem with complex projects is that they take on a life of their own. The Cirque des Rêves is no exception. That the resolution of the novel hinges more on the continuation of the circus over Celia and Marcus's competition and ill fated romance is a bone of contention for many reviewers. I liked it. No, I loved that all that dramatic build up (so common in fantasy) ended up being a few nights of closure for the circus. There was no threat to the world or the universe — just a magical but still petty competition resulting in a personal tragedy.For me, therefore, the true protagonists of this complex fantasy are Bailey — a boy who doesn't want to inherit the family farm — and the twins born at the start of the circus, Poppet and Widget. It's their story that caused me to make excuses to sit in my car for a few minutes longer.I have also gotten a copy in tradepaper to re-read the book in print form, just as I did The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente.

Great first effort by a talented writer. I read that the author is an artist as well, and it definitely comes through in her evocative, detailed descriptions of the night circus. It's hard to pull of a book that relies so heavily on descriptive passages and I think she does pull it off, but to the detriment of her characters.That said, I loved the picture she painted of the Night Circus and will remember it like an actual place that I have been, rather then an imaginary one described in a book.
Another issue I had with the story was her reliance on cliche, mostly in dialog. Some of the things the characters say to each other is just bad--particularly Mr. A. H-- and Hector Bowen, and the romantic dialog between Celia and Marco. Cliche-ridden!


*SPOILER ALERT!!*
I liked Celia, and I liked Poppet and Widget and Bailey a lot. But everyone else felt sort of 2 dimensional to me. Even Marco--I can't decide if I really liked him or not. He's a bit of a jerk, and his treatment of Isabel and Chandresh makes it hard to feel sorry for him. Both him and Celia were treated badly by their caregivers, but Celia emerged a sensitive, caring person, and he emerged rather cold and calculating. And yet we're supposed to believe that they fall in love...I sort of missed how they fell in love....I mean, yes, they are bound to each other, etc., but is it the magic that makes them fall in love, or is something else. I was unclear on that.

*END SPOILER ALERT!!*

Despite my criticisms, it was a good book! I read the whole thing on my Android phone, mostly in the dark, while nursing or rocking my newborn. An interesting reading experience for an interesting story.

Un circo notturno, un insieme di spettacoli e artisti incredibili, oltre l'immaginazione e la fisica del mondo.Un circo che è anche una gara, un luogo in cui si sfidano due maghi, Marco e Clelia, partecipanti senza possibilità di scelta da due antichi esperti nelle arti di incantamento.Per i due ragazzi però il circo sarà molto più di un gioco portando loro una famiglia - per quanto particolare -, amore e la sensazione di appartenere a qualcosa di bello.Romanzo dotato di una scrittura affascinante e ricca tanto quanto l’ambientazione: alcune tende sono così immaginifiche e particolari che mi spiace non esistano.Il rapporto tra i due protagonisti non è banale e i personaggi sono ben valorizzati nelle loro particolarità; decisamente un romanzo interessante.---The night circus, a combination of wonderful exhibitions and artists, beyond imagination and physics. A circus that is also a challenge, where two magicians confront themselves, Marco and Clelia, forced to the game by two ancient enchanters.To the two the circus will be more than a game since it will bring them a family – a very peculiar one indeed -, love and the sensation of belonging to something beautiful.A novel written with a fascinating and rich language as much as the settings: some tents are so wonderful it’s a pity they don’t exist.The relation between the two main character is not trivial and the characters are well valued in their peculiarity; overall an interesting novel.

The Night Circus arrives without any advance warning. It just appears on the outskirts of a town and draws people to it. The all black-and-white circus amazes people with its fantastical elements, and it is an experience that stays with its attendees forever. Little do the common people know that there is an ongoing competition within the circus. Two young people have been selected to compete against one another in a battle of skill and imagination. Despite their destiny to be opponents, Celia and Marco fall in love and must contend with the consequences of their choices.

Morgenstern’s novel garnered a fair amount of publicity and critical acclaim when it was published last year. Topping many of the best of lists for 2011, the book also managed to make a number of lists of adult fiction recommended for young adults. Rich description, lush writing, and an absolutely creative premise make this book a standout. It’s already been optioned for a film, and its cinematic story will translate beautifully to the screen.

Unfortunately, I didn’t love it as much as I wanted to. A lack of character development for the book’s two leads combined with pacing problems and a surplus of secondary and tertiary characters made this book an uneven read at best. However, the book’s undeniably beautiful prose and moving conclusion helped make up for some of the issues with the story.

Part of the problem present here is that despite the fact that the two main characters are supposed to be in competition with one another, there’s never any sense of true tension. At one point, Celia remarks about the fact that the game feels more like a “dual exhibition,” and she’s never proven wrong. Even though there’s some loss of life, both Marco and Celia never seem to be in any real peril. They also remain fairly static throughout the course of the novel, and since the book spans much of their lives, this feels oddly inauthentic.

The fact that there are so many characters who populate this novel is also problematic. The chapters jump around in time and focus on a wide variety of people. While this is a neat narrative trick, it’s only partially successful, because some of the characters are much more interesting than the others (I could have done with way more of the twins and way less of pretty much everyone else). It’s hard to keep everyone straight, and at a certain point, you start to wonder why you should have to, anyway.

Some readers won’t mind the issues I found in this book. It’s got a sort of magical realism to its story that makes it intriguing in a very unique way. The descriptions will be enough to keep some readers satisfied, and others will revel in the love story between the two magicians (though I kept feeling like something was missing). Despite my issues with the book, I can see this one’s appeal, absolutely. I’ll definitely be seeing the movie.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Doubleday: 2011. Borrowed copy.

A friend recommended this book to me. She said it was exactly my type of book, and she was right!

2 weeks ago I went to see the author at a book signing. I think hearing her discuss her many drafts and revisions of the book, the characters, and the progression of the story gave me a very deep appreciation for the story, it's setting, and the lives of the characters. At the book signing, Erin Morgenstern said two things about the book; it's not a sequel, and it's not the next Harry Potter. I completely agree with both of those statements.

First, the ending of the book was very final--at least to me, and I felt closure after reading the last sentence in the book. While I knew the characters would continue to live on in their world, I didn't feel the need to know more about their lives. Their story had a beginning, a middle, and enough of an ending for me.

As for it being the next Harry Potter, I don't know where that comparison originated, but if you begin reading this book expecting it to contain elements of Harry Potter, you might be disappointed. It is not the mystical world of J.K. Rowling, but Morgenstern creates a world that feels completely grounded in reality with hints of magic and wonder. Actually if I had to compare this to another work of fiction, I would have to say it's reminiscent of the world created in Big Fish, which I also loved.

Set in the late 1800's to early 1900's, and unlike the world of Harry Potter where wizards and witches are almost removed from the world of muggles, this story takes place in a world with a lot of unsuspecting humans. Only a select few believe and are trained enough to practice the art of illusion which somehow makes it feel more real than the world of Harry Potter, because anyone can practice or develop the skills if they truly desire it. The ultimate goal of the challenge that takes place in the book is for the two contestants to showcase their abilities in front of the general public and to create what the public believes are illusions without them--the public—suspecting anything is amiss.


Overall, the story was beautifully crafted and well told. Every time I picked up the book, it felt like I was being told a story from a wise storyteller. I truly think you should pick up a copy of this book. And, if you have the opportunity, visit one of the author's many upcoming book signings.

I want to make this perfectly plain from the start: I absolutely loved this book. I cannot recall being so entranced by a novel in quite some time, not since I first read Harry Potter I think, and so I suppose that's one of the reasons others have compared this to Harry Potter. I loved the night circus setting more than I have loved any other setting in recent memory. From the descriptions of the food (caramel popcorn, cinnamon...things, apple cider) to the individual acts themselves to the accoutrements and decorations (the extraordinary clock comes to mind), I felt from page one like I was truly visiting the most supremely wonderful circus imaginable. Beyond merely the circus itself, certain concepts like the midnight dinners were simply so well described that I could not help but feel like a guest myself. Ms. Morgenstern has an incredible talent for the descriptive that is simply to be marveled at.

I will admit that the characters do feel somewhat two dimensional. The love story seemed forced to me (the lovers seemed to fall in love with very little interaction whatsoever), though I suppose upon reflection that the nature of the lovers' situation explains this to some degree. And too often I felt like legitimate questions should have been raised by certain characters, and nevertheless this did not occur. As a reader who typically enjoys characters the most and finds an author's artificial interference with or failure to flesh them out a cardinal sin, one would imagine this would lead me to rank the book lower than I have. But much as my inner critic would perhaps like to do this, I cannot deny that this was one of the most pleasurable book experiences I have had in some time, so flaws with the characters be damned. If that makes me a shallow critic who cannot bear to step away from the art that he simply enjoys, so be it.

While the time jumps were at times distracting, the jumps are not some mere narrative technique employed for its own sake, but because it makes the story more cohesive and layered as a whole. As I reached the end of the novel, I realized why the timing had been chosen by Ms. Morgenstern, and in a novel that emphasizes timing as much as she has, it makes perfect sense to have done it this way.

I can also understand the criticism of the book's many, many perspectives. It was difficult at times to keep what each of the characters knew about what was going on straight in my mind, but I also felt that the multiple perspectives led me to experience the circus in a richer way, and so for me I can't fault the author for this either.

If you don't like rich descriptions, this novel is probably not for you. If you don't enjoy magic, this novel is probably not for you. But if you long to escape from the day to day tedium that real life can often present into a world where it seems literally anything can happen, The Night Circus might be exactly what you need.

That was an enchanting tale. Following the Night Circus from before it's conception to well after the torch is passed, each character developing along the way. An excellent read.

This book is an enchantment. From the very start it slowly catches you up in the circus itself. You can never imagine every inch of it, never know it, but you feel like a rêveur yourself, as if you've walked through the tents and tried the food and smelt the popcorn and chocolate mice and fire and all the strange perfumes of the circus. I think it's that, more than anything, that made me love this book so much: I was interested in the fate of Celia and Marco, but mostly because it impacted the circus, and I couldn't stand the idea of anything bad happening to the circus.

I did get caught up in the other parts of the plot too, don't get me wrong: I loved the references to Merlin, which sort of clued me in on where certain things were going; I liked a lot of the characters, especially the ones with secrets; I loved all the details, and how they all came together.

Possibly this is not quite a five star book, compared to some of the other books I've rated five stars, but it swept me off my feet, so I'm giving it five stars anyway. I found it magical -- and I'm keeping a copy around, because I think I'll reread it someday.

Absolutely wonderful. The Night Circus enchanted me from the first page. I wish the Night Circus were real. I want to visit it, and I wish I had these characters in my life.

In one passage of this book, about a third of the way in, a character named Chandresh throws a lavish dinner. For several pages, the sumptuous dinner is described in loving detail, except that it's not. Because Chandresh makes a point of not letting the guests know the ingredients of the meals they're being served. So we, the reader, are served with a lengthy description which describes nothing. This is all preparatory to a grand anmouncement which is to be made by Chandresh. Here I quote:

“Your company has been requested this evening because I have a project I am beginning, an endeavor, you might say. I do believe it is an endeavor that will appeal to all of you, and that you may each, in your unique ways, aid in the planning. Your assistance, which is entirely voluntary, will be both appreciated and well compensated,” he says.

“Stop beating around the bush and tell us what your new game is, Chandresh darling,” Mme. Padva says, swirling her brandy. “Some of us aren’t getting any younger.”

I know exactly how Mme. Padva feels. In fact, I know how the bush feels. When you finish this book, the poor bush will be a pile of flattened splinters from being beaten about. The foregoing passage is emblematic of the entire book (at least the first third...and I am unwilling to subject myself to more). This book consists of 90% vamping (or if you like, "beautiful descriptions"), 10% plot, and 0% character. There are no characters of any interest, just ciphers.

I think with this book, I have learned that when the selling point "beautiful descriptions" is offered by a reviewer, to read that as "puffing what should be a short story to novel-length".

Before she entered politics, Margaret Thatcher was a food scientist whose claim to fame was creating a process by which air bubbles could increase the volume of ice cream, thereby enabling manufacturers to sell less ice cream for the same amount of money. Erin Morgenstern has managed the literary equivalent.

Don't believe the hype! The emperor has no clothes!

I finished this book today. And by that I don't mean I completed the book. I mean I saved myself some pointlessly wasted hours.