Book Review :: The Night Circus

Title : The Night Circus

Series : NA

Author : Erin Morgenstern

Rating : ****

Basic Plot :  This delightful tale revolves around the black and white striped tents of Le Cirque des Rêves. The circus arrives without warning or announcement and is brimming with  acts and performances of amazing feats. Entering this circus is much like entering a world a dreams, where impossibility falls away and dreams become your reality. The circus however, is merely a facade. Behind the scenes a fierce competition, a game between two young magicians, is playing out. This duel between Celia and Marco will leave only one of them standing. Unfortunately the magic of the circus brings them together and they fall in love. The already high stakes of the game are only increased with the number of performers and patrons whose lives are tangled up with the circus.

Comments : I was immediately enchanted with this book and it has to be one of the best stories I have read in a long while. The darkness and mystery of the circus are vibrantly contrasted with the brilliance and brightness of the characters. They are all of them unique, memorable, and endearing. They are also vibrant and carefully constructed. In some novels it can be difficult to track the string of narratives, getting lost in each story to the point where you forget the overarching picture being portrayed. This is not so with The Night Circus. Here you follow the lines of narrative, none of them too short or too long, and all of them yielding detail and weight to the story. It is a wonderful tangling of time and nuance as the separate narratives converge in to one. I was also entertained and mystified by the imagery of this book. I could see it in front of my eyes, unfolding much like a popup book. I smelled the hot apple cider and caramel, I felt the painted ground underfoot, and I saw the black and white of the circus. Erin Morgenstern has such a way of revealing the detail I could even see the magic and illusion happening before my eyes. The Night Circus, much like Le Cirque des Rêves, has something for everyone; appealing to romantics, mystery lovers, historical enthusiast, and those who appreciate a good story. It was a fun read, a beautiful read, an elegant illusion and quite intoxicating. It was as if this book were written just for me, I loved it so much. I am absolutely a Reveure through and trough, mono-chromatically dressed to blend with the circus, loving the circus, yet still standing apart with my red scarf distinguishing me from the performers. I was sad when it was over, not because it was a sad ending, but more of a sad parting. I hate to leave these characters and their stories behind and will likely be re-reading this very soon.

Significance : I found meaning in this book through the connection I felt with the whole story. So many lives were tangled and tied up in the circus. Not only were the performers and the patrons so closely linked to the circus, but also those who found meaning in exploring the black and white tents. There is something about this connectivity that really appealed to me. Our stories intertwine and we do not know, or cannot see how much our lives may impact others or how much their lives impact our own. None of those relationships were an illusion, and I loved that.

Similar : The Aviary by Kathleen O'Dell, A Discovery of Witches: A Novel by Deborah Harkness, The Girl with No Shadow: A Novel by Joanne Harris