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book review, Celia, erin morgenstern, fantasy, fic, Harry Potter, Le Cirque, Marco, Prospero, the night circus, YA
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.”
Erin Morgenstern’s tale of magic and illusion follows in the footsteps of many a famous opening line. For the ‘Cirque des Reves’ is no ordinary circus. Its arrival and departure is a phenomena unto itself, as are its infamous opening hours: from sunset to daybreak. The Night Circus therefore is a strange, beautiful place; a place made up of many stalls that seem to cater to the wildest hopes and dreams of each and every one of its loyal patrons, the ‘Reveurs’.
“You think, as you walk away from Le Cirque des Rêves and into the creeping dawn, that you felt more awake within the confines of the circus.You are no longer quite certain which side of the fence is the dream.”
However the ‘Cirque des Reves’ is far more than just a venue of wonderous entertainment. It serves a darker purpose as the enchanted battleground to a magicians duel. This unmarked chessboard binds the fate of two young students of magic who through chance or otherwise became pawns in a cruel wager in which they can never escape. Prospero and his long-time friend and rival Alexander have for centuries made a game out of pitting their students against each other. Their latest victims are no other than Celia, Prospero’s own daughter and Marco, an orphaned street urchin.
The bets are placed and the children are bound through a ritualistic ring, and so begins their gruelling instruction of the dark arts. However, the fight ahead of them is a blind fight, in which the opponent they face is unknown as well as the rules to the game. As you may imagine, the venue for the dual showcases the amazing abilities of both competitors. Complex attractions such as the ‘Pool of Tears’ and the ‘Ice Garden’ soon become not tools for fighting the opponent, but rather love tokens, as Celia and Marco eventually discover each other and slowly fall in love. Much to the chagrin of their Prospero and Alexander, the circus changes from a battleground to a star-crossed ode to love.
Set at the turn of the 20th century, ‘The Night Circus’ is a heady clash between late Victorian Romanticism and the opposing ideals of the Enlightenment. It is mechanics meets magic and mystery. The story itself is a delicate clockwork whose narrative feeds off a variety of opposites. The action for instance jumps from one side of the Atlantic to another, then all over the world according to the mysterious whims of the circus proprietors. The characters are also an oxymoron of sorts; as society forces real magicians to carry out their art under the guise of illusion.
“That’s the beauty of it. Have you seen the contraptions these magicians build to accomplish the most mundane feats? They are a bunch of fish covered in feathers trying to convince the public they can fly, I am simply a bird in their midst.”
I particularly enjoyed the sense of ‘battle without action’, which Morgenstern evokes with a quiet dexterity. The cast is varied and full of weird and wonderful people, all of whom have a touch of magic about them. My favourite has to be the arrogant Prospero and the exotic female Contortionist who is more than meets the eye. I also very much liked the way magic was conveyed in ‘The Night Circus’, as it is refreshingly different from the Harry Potter style of conjuring that we are all familiar with (apart from the use of a ‘Hogwart’s Express’ kind of transportation for the circus).
I must state that I do not read YA as much as I should. On the whole I think YA fiction reviews tend to be overhyped and that is unfortunately a turn off for me. However I really enjoyed ‘The Night Circus’ and glad I picked it up. I have seen a number of favourable reviews around the internet and wholeheartedly agree with them all. But this does not mean that the story was perfect, and there are parts that could have been ironed out. My small objections are as follows: The story having got off to an amazing start takes us straight into the harrowing relationship of Prospero and his poor daughter Celia. We see both young students grow up and the suffering (both physical and psychological) they both have to endure to become the best. The momentum up to this point is fantastic and I kept hoping Morgenstern could keep it up, but somewhere after circus is formed and Celia and Marco ‘discover’ each other, the story sort of starts to fall apart.
The poetic magic of Morgenstern’s storyline gives away at the seams and the direction of the novel for me was no longer clear. Now I could say that this could pass as a device that reflects the disillusionment of the main characters, but it didn’t FEEL that way. Two-thirds of the way into the novel there is a dilly-dallying that does mar the overall quality of the book, therefore my 4/5 stars. However, it did end on a strong note and the small hiccup did not put me off at all.
“I am tired of trying to hold things together that cannot be held. Trying to control what cannot be controlled. I am tired of denying myself what I want for fear of breaking things I cannot fix. They will break no matter what we do.”
For those wanting a good summer read I recommend ‘The Night Circus’ as it really is a wonderful tale with a bit of everything thrown in. It’s one of those stories that you can totally let yourself be enveloped in and not worry about a thing. It reminded me a lot of ‘Howl’s Moving Castle‘ and ‘The Prestige‘, so if you like fantasy books with duelling magician’s then this is definitely one you shouldn’t miss.
Make sure you snap up a copy in the airport lounge before boarding your plane!
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I am planning to read this book soon, and your review makes me really look forward to it.
I was thinking this book was a fantasy read, never thought it would be YA. Either way, I think this book is for me
Thanks for the review.
Glad you are looking forward to it. I was pleasantly surprised by how good it turned out to be. It does have fantasy elements to it because of the focus on magic, and a lot of YA books have that these days.
Enjoy!
The Night Circus is actually not a YA book. This is what Erin Morgenstern wrote on her website on April 11th, 2011, before the book was released:
“THE NIGHT CIRCUS is not YA, despite the fact that I am still seeing it mentioned as YA around the internets. It has adults who are young in it. It also has adults who are old and adults whose age is difficult to discern and the story itself covers about thirty years worth of time. The book itself is not YA. It is adult or general or whatever not-YA is called these days.”
On another note, nice review!
Thanks Tessa! I can understand that Morgenstern might have her own ideas about what her story is/ isn’t, but in all honesty it really does read like a good YA novel. Harry Potter is also a YA novel and has adults both young and old, but it’s the fabric of the storytelling that I think makes ‘The Night Circus’ a good candidate for that category.
After all, authors don’t really have much say in how the public receives their book once it’s published. All those readers can’t be wrong if they feel it’s YA.
I read a lot of YA. I enjoy reading it. For me it can be really black and white what makes a YA book. When I look at HP, for me only the last four are YA. The first three are definitely children’s books. With HP it’s simple, the main characters are children and teenagers, so this is the target group (this is how I see it). Most YA books are about young adults or teenagers. They are also written for this age group. A group I haven’t been a part of for a while
. If you read a YA fantasy novel, the main character still has the same feelings as a main character in a book about high school. The same teenage angst and what not. I don’t really know how to explain.
Ofcourse, there are exceptions. “The Boy In Striped Pajamas” comes to mind. It revolves around children, but it’s not for children.
With The Night Circus, only a part is about teenagers. As soon as Bailey comes into the story, it becomes younger. But, to me, it still doesn’t read as YA. It’s more mature. It’s more ethereal. It’s hard to imagine yourself as one of the characters. Also, Bailey, Poppet and Widget may be young, their lives are so different from what we know present day. That, for me, makes this book ageless. YA novels can be read by anyone, ofcourse, but the writing style and situations are written with teenagers in mind. The Night Circus doesn’t have that same feel or writing style.
The way the writer intended his/her story to be is definitely important to me. I believe a writer writes his/her book with certain readers in mind. And pictures the reactions of these readers while they write their story.
Ofcourse, this is just my opinion
. Everyone is entitled to their own.
I see what you mean. When I look at it from your perspective it does seem more defined, but I can definitely see young adult readers picking up this book and enjoying it just as much as a HP book.
You see, ‘Night Circus’ is a strange one. It does have it’s ethereal moments as you say but it isn’t complex enough to make it an adult book. It is playful at times and even though an author can try and try to shape their book a certain way they don’t have any power over what age groups will prefer their book when it hits the shelves. Also marketing and cover design is also very important. The cover (very gorgeous) uses the colour schema of the Twilight novels. It is suggestive of a YA novel. Today visual presentation is almost as important as writing style. Themes are also key; vampires, werewolves and magic are areas dominated by YA – I don’t mean to say that Morgenstern cannot use these topics for her novels, but because of the dominance of YA in this sector she will find that her novel will usually end up in this category by default. She has to be very careful with the book as a whole package, and that means from the flavour of her story-telling skills right up to cover design and beyond.
At this point I think it is the ‘language’ that acts as a determiner as to what level a novel is. For example ‘Stardust’ by Gaiman is written in very accessible and at times fable-like language, yet has scenes that are quite racy (like Night Circus), yet it is classified as YA. The main characters aren’t that much older than the ones in Night Circus. However on the other hand I have never seen anyone refer to ‘The Prestige’ as a YA novel. Why is that? Although it is a story about magic (with a smattering of Tesla) it has garnered the Arthur C. Clarke award which is well known as a science fiction accolade. It’s even on the list as a Gollancz SF Masterworks alongside writers like HG Wells and Philip K. Dick! Really confusing, yet books are best when they crossover boundaries and genres. You get something ‘different’ and I think Morgenstern has hit that rare area that transcends genres a bit.
I digress. What do you think? lol
I know exactly what you mean. I have no doubt The Night Circus is very appealing to YA readers. I am one and I loved it. But I also feel that novels that are sold as YA are all written in the same tone. The writing styles can differ, but it’s the overall feel that makes it YA for me. The Night Circus doesn’t have that, but I think it’s mainly because it’s not the kind of story for that. It’s such a surreal setting that it can’t really be defined.
.
I agree that The Night Circus isn’t as complex as “other” adult novels. That’s usually what I hate about adult novels. It sometimes feels like writers try to make their books sound “mature”, to a point where I’m just not feeling what they’re trying to tell.
The tone of The Night Circus might have something to do with the magical realism genre. It’s my favourite genre and I read a lot of it. Some of my favourites are the books by Sarah Addison Allen. They could also be considered chicklits with a magical touch. They’re considered books for adults, but because it’s magical realism anything is possible and that makes the story lighter.
Some books are just in a league of their own. For me, The Night Circus, definitely is
Hello there, thanks so much for stopping by and adding my review as a link. I really enjoyed your review. I read a lot of YA because I peg books for my daughter. I’m a huge HP and Hobbit/Lord of the Rings fan. I love Neil Gaiman too. I’m not sure Night Circus is entirely YA, although elements of it are. I just loved its quirkiness. I didn’t stop to think of its genre as I read because it was so good. It took me beyond imagination. It was a fantastic surprise. I couldn’t put it down.