The Night Circus: A Novel

A friend recommended this book to me. I had not read anything by this author, but I decided to try it after reading a few reviews. “The Night Circus” is a New York Times best seller and has had many rave reviews. Of course, there are always some readers out there who have no taste for this type of fantasy. I was glad I took the plunge and bought this book. I loved it! . The Night Circus is magical, surreal and utterly captivating. Originally, I bought the book on Audible. I was hooked by the Audible version. The narrator, Jim Dale, is excellent. He made the characters come alive and pulled me deeply into the story. I enjoyed the Audible version so much that I bought the paperback, from Amazon, as well. Incidentally, the paperback cover is beautifully done and is in keeping with the magic within. What a gorgeous paperback! Erin Morgenstern takes the reader on a journey of the imagination, a disorienting but exhilarating ride that juxtapositions reality and fantasy. It is like a fairytale that is set in the late 19th century. It could almost be one of Hans Christian Anderson’s tales, but it is certainly more intense and intricate. The circus suddenly appears in a field. A small boy, Bailey, waits for it to open, but he reads a sign that says it is only open at night. He thinks that is odd, so he hangs around the gate and sneaks in. He keeps coming back to the circus and is befriended by the twins Poppet and Widget who perform tricks with kittens. He is obsessed with the circus and feels like this is his real home. His family does not approve of his obsession with the circus, so Bailey has to sneak out at night when his whole family is sleeping. He meets a group of “Reveurs” or dreamers who follow the magical circus wherever it goes. He ponders whether he can run can away from home and even join the circus. The magician, Hector Bowen, Prospero the Enchanter, is surprised when he finds he has a daughter, Celia, and must care for her. He sees Celia’s potential in the art of illusion and trains her as a magician. In another location, Mr. A. H., the Man in the Gray Suit, rescues a young boy, Marco, from an orphanage and spends years training him in the magical arts. Celia and Marco are being trained for a challenge, a game in which they do not know the rules and do not know whom they are competing against. Every move they make affects all the people in the circus. Marco knows who Celia is and understands the game they are playing before she does. He starts playing tricks on her, but when she realizes Marco is her opponent in the challenge, she uses her powers to block his magic. They both work hard to increase their individual powers and defeat the other challenger. Marco and Celia, fight for control over the circus, a fight that will lead to death for one of them. However, as the years pass, they fall in love. They both want to give up the game and be together. When they see that is not possible, they each want to die and let the other live. Towards the end of the book, they know they have to break the rules of the game. Marco jumps into the circus bonfire, a bonfire that continually burns in the middle of the circus. Celia jumps in with him, and they become the core of the circus. They are neither dead nor alive, but they are together eternally. The competition is a draw; neither side wins the game. The circus is like an intricate clock that has to work perfectly, just like the large magical circus clock that is at the center of the circus and is essential to the circus’ operation. However, Frederick Thessien, the clock maker, is murdered. Mr. A.H., The Man in the Gray Suit, blames Hector Bowen, Prospero the Enchanter, for the murder. Marco and Celia stop playing the game, and the circus contortionist, Tsukiko, officially ends the challenge. The circus starts to fall apart and the performers hurry to catch the train that will take them elsewhere. Bailey had packed a few possessions and planned on running away from home to join the circus that night, but he took too long to get ready to go. When he finally reached the field where the circus had been, he found only the empty field. The circus had left town without him. Does that circus still exist somewhere or was it all a dream? Magic, danger, romance, jealousy, hate, and love are all here in this remarkable book. The characters are magnificent and memorable. I got so deeply into the twists and turns of the plot that I did not want to put the book down.

This is an extremely unique novel. I'd had a desire to read it ever since I saw the cover at Target when it first came out. I got the ebook on sale a while back, and this week, I finally got around to reading it. While as a whole, I enjoyed the story and majority of the characters, there were some things confusing to me. The whole first 30% of the book was rather confusing to me. I think it may be partly because I mostly read romance novels, which are very straightforward. The way some of the chapters are written, didn't make any sense at first. Once I got past 30%, I got into the groove of the writing style and the world the author created. The things happening to various characters started to make a bit of sense and it was easier to follow. There are a few chapters written in second person, which I felt was a little strange and didn't add much to the story for me. There are also a few diary entries/letters written by the specific character that appear sporadically through the book, that also didn't add much to the story for me. I will say that all descriptions of magic and the other fantastical things that happen, are all super clear. I could picture every magical act in my head and was never confused when magical things were taking place. I really enjoyed all the chapters written about the hero, Marco, and heroine, Celia. I was always disappointed when the next chapter would jump to someone else. There's a third hero, Bailey. He's a boy of 10 when his chapters start and his chapters start about 10 years into the future. His timeline and Marco and Celia's timeline eventually meet up at the end, when Bailey, I think, is around 18. Bailey's chapters don't make sense at first, why he's being written about, but once it all comes together, it's actually pretty cool. There is one use of the f- word and one very vague sex scene. You know it's happening, that is obvious, but there are no descriptions of the act past clothes being removed and "when their bodies joined." I was really happy with the ending. I was afraid this would be a tragic love story, but it's not. It certainly doesn't end the way you think, or even hope it will, but it's still satisfying. I can 100% see this being turned into a film or limited TV series. All the descriptions are so clear and precise, it would so easily translate to the screen.

En sevdiğim kitaplar arasında artık

Nice book

Erin Morgenstern liefert mit ihrem Debütroman The Night Circus (Der Nachtzirkus) ein ungewöhnliches und nachhallendes Lesevergnügen ab. Zunächst erscheint einem die Entscheidung, im Präsens zu erzählen, sehr gewöhnungsbedürftig, doch nach einer Weile stellt sich dadurch verstärkt der Eindruck ein, das Ganze direkt mitzuerleben. Durch die episodenhafte Aufteilung der Kapitel und einer nicht chronologischen Erzählstruktur, die in der Zeit vor und zurück springt, erfährt man zunächst auch nur die grobe Rahmenhandlung und ist darüber hinaus als Leser ebenso ahnungslos wie die beiden Spielfiguren Celia und Marco. Die Autorin schildert die Welt dabei sehr plastisch und schafft es trotz einer wenig ausgefallenen Sprache, Leben in jedes Zelt und jeden Charakter zu hauchen. Als Freund bildhafter Beschreibungen ist man mit The Night Circus daher gut beraten. Doch auch die Ideen selbst verstehen zu faszinieren, es ist beinahe enttäuschend, dass man als Leser nicht die Chance hat, den Zirkus leibhaftig zu besuchen. Anfangs bleibt lange unklar, was die eigentliche Handlung dieses Romans ist und was der Zirkus damit zu tun hat. Man entdeckt gerne jedes einzelne Zelt und kann sich als Leser an den wunderbaren Ideen und Beschreibung ergötzen, doch was der Zweck des Ganzen ist, wird nur vage angedeutet. Erst nach und nach setzen sich ab Buchmitte alle Episoden zu einem großen Puzzle zusammen. Die Handlung erstreckt sich über ca. 30 Jahre und wird durch die Sprünge in der Erzählung bereits komplex, doch auch die Beweggründe und das Verhalten der Protagonisten werden erst dann nachvollziehbar, wenn man sich immer mal wieder einen Moment Zeit nimmt, um sich in die Figuren hineinzuversetzen und über ihr Handeln und ihre Reaktionen nachzudenken. Das Buch macht einen traurig und glücklich zur selben Zeit, wenn man versteht, was das alles für die betroffenen Charaktere und ihr Leben bedeutet. Dieses Gefühl spiegelt auch perfekt wider, wie der Nachtzirkus – The Circus of Dreams – auf seine Besucher wirkt, und erklärt, weshalb ihm eine Schar von Menschen rund um den Globus folgt. Er berührt Sehnsüchte nach Geheimnissen, Magie und Mystik in der Welt. Es erwarten einen hier keine großen Spannungsmomente, keine epischen Schlachten, nicht einmal aufgebauschte Dramatik oder ein fulminantes Finale. The Night Circus schafft es auf ganz alltägliche, sanfte Weise ergreifend und faszinierend zu sein, angereichert mit einem Hauch von Magie, die sich nicht in bombastischen Effekten zeigt, sondern im Erschaffen von Attraktionen. Für den Romantiker wird auch bald ersichtlich, dass … nein, das wollen wir an dieser Stelle nicht verraten. Nur so viel: das Verhältnis zwischen Celia und Marco entwickelt sich auf erwachsene und beiläufige Weise, vermag es aber trotz hintergründigem Ablauf, die Pläne der beiden Wettväter gründlich zu stören und den Wettstreit zu einem noch grausameren Akt zu machen, als er es ohnehin schon ist. Neben stark gezeichneten Charakteren, die mit jedem Kapitel mehr Persönlichkeit bekommen und einen dazu bewegen, Interesse an ihrem Leben zu entwickeln, ist vor allem die Idee interessant, wahre Magie hinter technischen Konstrukten zu verstecken um sie glaubhaft zu machen. Der Roman spielt in unserer realen Welt um 1870 bis ca. 1900, später wird auch ein noch deutlich neueres Datum angedeutet – das einen von Schmunzeln begleiteten Aha-Effekt auslöst – und so bleiben die Magier selbstbestimmt unerkannt und verbergen ihre Talente hinter dem Scheinbild des Zirkus. Bei allem hat man stets eine gewaltige Welt aus feinen, detaillierten Scherenschnitten vor Augen, sobald man den Zirkus betritt, was sicherlich der reduzierten Farbgebung und künstlerischen Beschreibung zu verdanken ist. The Night Circus ist keine schnell zu verschlingende Lektüre. Daher die Warnung: wer leichte Kost für zwischendurch sucht, wird mit diesem Roman sicher nicht glücklich werden. Allen, die Bücher vor allem emotional erleben und erfühlen wollen, ist dieser faszinierende, ruhige Roman dagegen dringend zu empfehlen. Ansonsten verhält es sich mit The Night Circus wie mit der Farbgebung der Zelte in schwarz oder weiß: Entweder man liebt es oder man hasst es, dazwischen dürfte es kaum Graustufen geben.

The Night Circus takes you on a decades-long journey of a travelling circus fuelled by a competition between two long time rival magicians. Shrowded in mystery the black and white tent arrives in each new town. As quickly as it arrives, it vanishes with the morning sun. Follow the contortionist, the fortune-teller, the twins, and the magician and run away with the circus! Erin Morgenstern did a fantastic job in creating a rich and palatable dream world in The Night Circus. It offers everything one could ask for in a novel: magic, romance, intrigue, rivalry. Her characters are unique and their lives keep you turning pages well into the night.

Il ne faut pas se laisser décourager par le nombre de pages ! On tombe très vite sous le charme de cette histoire magique et, une fois qu'on a commencé à lire, on ne peut plus s'arrêter. Un livre ensorcelant !