(image from erinmorgenstern.com)
Title: The Night Circus
Author: Erin Morgenstern
Published: September 2011 by Doubleday
Genre: Fantasy/ Magical Realism
From the very start of the book you can tell it’s going to be a somewhat dark read. It starts off with a six year old girl that has been delivered to her father with her mother’s suicide letter pinned to her coat. Open noticing her, her father states an expletive and then tells her that he thinks she’ll be useful while squeezing her face. Sounds pleasant, huh?
But the book isn’t horrible, that’s the thing. The author is pretty talented; Ms. Morgenstern paints you a picture of a different kind of circus then we are used to. This circus appears at random in different locations and is only open at night. Each tent holds something different to experience. There are tricks done without safety nets and illusions that are incredible but can’t possibly be real, can they?
This book was extremely well written and I can honestly say that I’ve never read anything remotely like it; it is, in truth, one of a kind. Why did I only give it 3 ½ stars then? The writing was great, the story unique, I just felt like it didn’t have the extra something to give it the other 1 ½ stars. Also, I lost a little interest towards the middle; I wasn’t really rushing to pick it back up.
It’s hard to say much more because I don’t want to give anything away to anyone who wants to read the book. But I’ll leave you with my favorite quote.
“It is important,” the man in the grey suit interrupts. “Someone needs to tell those tales. When the battles are fought and won and lost, when the pirates find their treasures and the dragons eat their foes for breakfast with a nice cup of Lapsang souchong, someone needs to tell their bits of overlapping narrative. There’s magic in that. It’s in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be different, and it will affect them in ways they can never predict. From the mundane to the profound. You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone’s soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift. Your sister may be able to see the future, but you yourself can shape it, boy. Do not forget that.” He takes another sip of his wine. “There are many kinds of magic, after all.”
~page 381
My Rating: 3 ½ out of 5 stars
Happy reading!
~Pam
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Thanks! I’m following you as well and I tried to stop by to like your facebook page but I can’t figure how to do it. lol. The like button only shows up when I’m in my personal account for some reason, I can’t see any like buttons for any pages when I’m in my blog’s facebook account. Hopefully I’ll figure it out soon. 🙂
I liked this one too. It took me forever to read but the story was just so dark and expansive; I really had to pay attention so as not to miss anything.
I think that was part of the problem for me, part of the reason I didn’t love it; I didn’t want to pay attention all the time, I just wanted to be entertained.
Hmmmm… very interesting. I’ve never read this book but I keep debating whether I should pick it up. The concept seems intriguing but I’ve heard that there’s second-person POV chapters. I just kind of hate those.
Very good review though!
I agree with the POV shifts; I’d rather it just stick to one person. Thank you!
I enjoyed this one and gave it a 4 star rating so we’re close in the rating. It is being made into a movie. I can’t remember who bought the movie rights. It will be interesting to see how the book translates to the screen. I can just see some special effects person salivating to work with this book.
Wow I didn’t know about it being made into a movie! That should be fun to see!