Published July 3, 2012 by Anchor (first published 2011)
Paperback, 516 pages
Bought from Indigo
So summing up The Night Circus is a rather tall challenge but I'm going to try to offer you as accurate and all-encompassing synopsis as possible. Basically, The Night Circus is about a challenge that ultimately leads to a life-or-death situation between two people named Celia and Marco. They have been bound together as children for the sole reason of this challenge which takes the form of the circus. As they interact through their challenge, Celia and Marco start to fall in love which produces a new, unseen obstacle in both of their paths to winning and might eventually be the circus' doom.
I had super high expectations going into The Night Circus after all the high praises this book has received. And from experience, I know that setting a high standard for the book is only going to result in disappointment so I was at once, excited for the book because of the great reception but also hesitant about it because of my excitement. So it was a bit conflicting for me to read the book, always jumping back and forth between thinking that I'm loving it and thinking that it's going to drop flat on my bum. But when I finally completed it, all I could feel was absolute joy and admiration and an indescribable feeling of wanderlust and wishfulness.
It's hard to put into words why The Night Circus moved me so much and I almost don't want to try. I almost want to throw this review away and just shout incoherent sentences at you. Because The Night Circus is so grand, in meaning and in prose, that it's hard to mirror the eloquency Morgenstern writes with when explaining this book so please be lenient!
When I look back at my experience with The Night Circus, the one thing that sticks out the most for me is the setting. I read for many reasons but one of them is definitely to be able to explore places I wouldn't be able to otherwise. And Morgenstern really succeeded in bringing me to a whole new level of enlightenment when she introduced me to the circus. Everything was so vivid and it was as if I was really there. I could picture the swelling black and white tents perfectly and I could imagine the expressions of awe in the audience as they watched Celia perform her illusions. The setting was just so perfectly crafted and I never wanted to leave.
But guys, everything else was so good too! The characters, the story (even though there wasn't a solid plot to the novel), the writing, the EVERYTHING. This book just spoke so much to me and is definitely time well spent. I don't usually read 500 page novels any more but man, The Night Circus was so worth it!
The only thing I have to say is that the little breaks Morgenstern took in the book, the ones that went You walk around the circus, You spend time in this tent, etc., didn't really do anything for the story. I suppose Morgenstern wanted to make the experience feel even more intimate (though I think her writing did that already) but reading it just felt disjointed and unnecessary. The story would have been fine without it!
I really liked The Night Circus. Morgenstern sure took me on a fun adventure through the circus and everyone a part of it. If I had a choice, I wouldn't have ever left! The writing was absolutely spectacular, very reminiscent of J.K. Rowling's in a way. They both write very descriptively and enchantingly which definitely does wonders for both of their magical stories! The only thing I didn't like about this book was when Morgenstern would switch from third person to the whole you-you thing, for lack of a better term. It just felt disjointed and decreased the fluidity of the book. I really enjoyed everything else though and thought the ending was really good and fitting for the novel! This is one book that I think would really translate well on the big screen (given that it's done well, of course)!
people who like strong prose and setting. If you're a fan of magic, this will be great for you! Also great if you want to experience something almost otherwordly through a book!
No comments :
Post a Comment