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Loading... The Night Circusby Erin Morgenstern
  
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There was something about the organization that created a distance (perhaps the time jumping?). The descriptions of the circus were lovely, but I found it hard to care too much about the characters. All the same, my eyes did water with a very specific nostalgia at the end. (  ) Afriendlyhorse | Sep 19, 2023 |  I didn't finish this book. I got halfway through and realized nothing was happening, and I didn't care about any of the characters. I will say, the concept is amazing. The circus itself is described in epic, cinematic terms. It had so much potential! But the chapters kept jumping from the circus to different characters, none of whom we got to know at all, so I didn't care about them. By the halfway point, I wasn't even sure who the protagonist was. I may seem harsh, but I was so looking forward to this book, and was left very disappointed. I gave up because if I didn't care through the first half, and doubted there'd be anything in the second half to change that. (  ) Frances333 | Aug 30, 2023 | I had high hopes for this book, and it started out quite promising. However, it dragged on, with verbose description just for the sake of it. As vivid as the imagery is, it's only enchanting for so long before it gets monochromatic (hah). I don't know if I'm just not mature enough to appreciate the book, but I'm personally unimpressed, especially after the glowing reviews it has got. ( ) BlingthePing | Aug 27, 2023 | a somewhat fascinating book of a certain type which used to be more common in the last century : a set piece right down to its magic and invocation of a dead past, in this case featuring a magic realism version of the 1870s to 1920s. it offers up not so much bread to fill the belly in the evanescent style the writing chooses, but plenty of circuses, which after all - who can resist them? here the effect is reminiscent of the tone of Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes. so: wonderful, in its way, evoking both horror and romance to drive the narrative, and i love the luxury train and the time jumps and the unusual type of magic evoked. but i did not find it perfect except in that ship-in-a-bottle sense, and that's because in terms of story the whole narrative feels very static, which is perhaps because the Gilded Age background, old-money class, and emphasis on tarot-defined futures all contribute to that frozen feeling of cards playing out inexorably, with the result that momentum suffers and the settings are much more vivid than the characters. still, it tackles the downside of immortality, a great subject though not a common one, and there's a ton of imagination to all the detail of the description of the world, so i'll be happy to read her next book. (  ) macha | Aug 21, 2023 | That was actually quite cute. I was pretty sure I would not like it, based on the first 50 pages, which were incredibly twee: second-person present tense; ancient enchanters and arcane duels and a steampunk circus? But I fell into the evocative writing and the enchantment of a mystical place, and I found it just as atmospheric as intended. Yes, there was no plot and no characters to speak of, but those things weren't strictly necessary to the goal, which seemed to be purely setting description. In a lot of ways, I found it most similar to Palimpest, in that the focus was exploring the depth of a physical place, its rules, its sights and sounds and scents, rather than a traditional narrative. ( ) settingshadow | Aug 19, 2023 |
 Morgenstern’s wonderful novel is made all the more enchanting by top-notch narration from the incomparable Jim Dale.  I am a reader who should have hated this novel; yet I found it enchanting, and affecting, too, in spite of its sentimental ending. Morgenstern's patient, lucid construction of her circus – of its creators and performers and followers – makes for a world of illusion more real than that of many a realist fiction. There is a matter-of-factness about the magicians' magic, a consistency about the parameters of the circus world, that succeeds both in itself and as a comment upon the need for and nature of illusion in general. While the novel's occasional philosophical gestures seem glib ("You are no longer quite certain which side of the fence is the dream"), the book enacts its worldview more satisfyingly than could any summary or statement. Rather than forcing its readers to be prisoners in someone else's imagination, Morgenstern's imaginary circus invites readers to join in an exploration of the possible. Underneath the icy polish of her prose, Morgenstern well understands what makes The Night Circus tick: that Marco and Celia, whether in competition or in love, are part of a wider world they must engage with but also transcend. It’s a world whose mystique and enigma is hard to shake off, and that invites multiple visits. The Night Circus is one of those books. One of those rare, wonderful, transcendent books that, upon finishing, you want to immediately start again.  The book itself looks beautiful but creaky plotting and lifeless characters leave The Night Circus less than enchanting Belongs to Publisher SeriesAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
Waging a fierce competition for which they have trained since childhood, circus magicians Celia and Marco unexpectedly fall in love with each other and share a fantastical romance that manifests in fateful ways. No library descriptions found. 
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LibraryThing Early Reviewers AlumErin Morgenstern's book The Night Circus was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.  Popular covers
 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (4.06)
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BOOK DISCUSSION: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
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