cornerfolds
Written on Apr 12, 2018
DNF @ 25%
*Review to come!*
In 1886, a mysterious travelling circus becomes an international sensation. Open only at night, constructed entirely in black and white, Le Cirque des Rêves delights all who wander its circular paths and warm themselves at its bonfire.
Although there are acrobats, fortune-tellers and contortionists, the Circus of Dreams is no conventional spectacle. Some tents contain clouds, some ice. The circus seems almost to cast a spell over its aficionados, who call themselves the rêveurs - the dreamers. At the heart of the story is the tangled relationship between two young magicians, Celia, the enchanter's daughter, and Marco, the sorcerer's apprentice. At the behest of their shadowy masters, they find themselves locked in a deadly contest, forced to test the very limits of the imagination, and of their love...
A fabulous, fin-de-siècle feast for the senses and a life-affirming love story, The Night Circus is a captivating novel that will make the real world seem fantastical and a fantasy world real.
- ISBN10 184655523X
- ISBN13 9781846555237
- Publish Date 15 September 2011 (first published 1 January 2011)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 1 August 2014
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Vintage Publishing
- Imprint Harvill Secker
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 400
- Language English
Reviews
DNF @ 25%
*Review to come!*
Steph L
Written on Sep 1, 2017
nightingalereads
Written on Apr 5, 2017
It also didn't help that the plot was mind-numbingly slow. While reading, I would pick up this book, only to set it down 20 minutes later after I realized that nothing really was happening. The story was all description. Don't get me wrong - I love slower-paced books. In fact, it's one of my buzzwords that actually gets me interested in a novel. But there's a difference between "slower-paced" and "literally nothing of note is happening". Usually, slow-paced books concentrate on character development. In the case of The Night Circus, slow-paced means: 10 pages of sensory description -> characters go on walk/eat dinner -> 10 more pages of sensory description. Which may be some readers' cup of tea; it's just not mine.
If this book hadn't been so hyped, I may not feel as let-down as I do. And I certainly recognize that, objectively, The Night Circus is a masterful piece of work. It just wasn't the type of novel that worked for me.
Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub
Written on Jan 13, 2016
empressbrooke
Written on Nov 22, 2015
readingwithwrin
Written on May 20, 2015
I'm not going to lie this book was a huge disappointment to me. I was expecting a competition to the death. Instead, what I got was slowly drawn out story of two people who were "raised" by insane father figures who "taught them" how to compete against each other. Except there was no real teaching much it was more here is what you need to do, now go and figure it out how to make it happen. In fact for the majority of the book the two didn't even know who there competitor was or that they had been working with them this whole time. Because of that fact there was no real competition between the two, it was just them making things to attempt to outshine the other one, and then to try to show the other one that they loved them.
I think what frustrated me the most about this book was the pacing, for the majority of the book everything was so slow in happening until the end and then it all seemed a little bit rushed.
If I disliked so much of it than why am I giving it three stars? Well it's simple the background characters. I loved them and loved how they were trying to figure out why certain things were happening in the circus. I did get slightly confused on who was saying what at times though due to the fact that there were 15 characters in all and it was a switching POV in each chapter sometimes.
Maybe in a few years I'll reread this book and feel differently about it. In fact I would love if that happened because I really did want to love this book.
See more reviews like this on my blog
Joséphine
Written on Aug 31, 2014
Quick thoughts: I can't think of a book I've read over the past year that was anywhere near as beautiful as The Night Circus. I can't argue with anyone who refers to this book as enchanting (even if at this point it sounds cliché) because really, it is enthralling, captivating, spellbinding, delightful and every other synonym you can think of. From the very first chapter, I was taken in. The fact that Jim Dale narrated the audiobook pretty much sealed the deal for me. After all, who wouldn't be intrigued by the following sign at the entrance of a circus?
Opens at NightfallFull review to follow.
Closes at Dawn
leahrosereads
Written on Aug 18, 2014
The circus arrives without warning.
I absolutely loved this novel, and I think it’s been by far my favorite novel of 2014. Maybe I just needed an extremely fantasy world to escape to, or maybe it’s because I am a dreamer by nature and reading this world just hit my inner love of dreams and escape on a very real level. Whatever the case may be, this novel was near perfection for me. Erin Morgenstern weaves a tale so beautiful, that I fell in love with it every step of the way, and was praying that the novel would magically add another 100 pages to it; unfortunately it did not.
The Night Circus is primarily about a competition, and while I understood some of the essence of the competition, until I fully grasped its true nature, I still loved Prospero, and he was one of my favorite characters. Maybe I was slow on the uptake of the competition’s true ending, but when I discovered it, I was extremely upset and felt lied to by Prospero, and he is now one of my least favorite characters...ever.
The Night Circus is also a love story. One that surrounds our two competitors, Marco and Celia. Because I never really developed a close bond with Isobel, nor did I ever really see love between her and Marco, I won’t even say that there’s a love triangle in this, but if you did see it, then I guess it was there.
However, I really just felt this novel centered around Marco and Celia coming into their gifts as two very different magicians and trying to grasp what the competition was about, with very little help from their respective mentors.
When Celia and Marco meet though, gosh, Erin Morgenstern did a remarkable job at showing their instant connection. It was spectacular to witness.
This was also one of those weird novels, that I truly loved every character (aside from Prospero near the end). I even still ended up really liking Mr. A. H. (Alexander). However, the twins - Poppet and Widget and a dreamer in love with the circus, Bailey, really ended up stealing the show away from Celia and Marco near the end, and I ended up really enjoying reading their story and how it all ended up intertwining.
All in all, this was just a wonderful novel to me, and one that I plan on picking up so that I can have my own copy to re-read, and re-read, and re-read for years to come. Just perfection, to me.
melanchalina
Written on Jan 20, 2014
Я обожаю цирки. И пусть я сто лет не посещала их, это не отменяет того факта, что цирк для меня самое волшебное и прекрасное место в мире. Так как же я могла пройти мимо книги, где цирк – это главный герой?
«Ночной цирк» удивительная книга. Казалось бы, что привлекательного в книге полной черно-белых тонов? Где нет экшна и яркой страсти? А вот все. Повествование – словно стихи. Красота в каждом слове, картинка перед глазами оживает с первых строк. Это очаровывает. Запутанная история, которая охватывает и подчиняет читателя.
Испытание силы, где приз не так уж и желанен, а проигрыш грозит смертью. Испытание, которое может длиться веками, высасывая жизнь из всех окружающих. Здесь может быть лишь один победитель, один продолжит свой путь, а другие будут чахнуть, бороться с безумием и все сильнее запутываться в паутине лжи.
1873 год. Гектор Боуэн известный фокусник (на деле настоящий маг), также известный как Чародей Просперо, однажды получает шокирующий подарок – пятилетнюю дочь. Вначале с презрением относившийся к дочери Просперо, неожиданно понимает насколько она уникальна и решает – это его шанс. Шанс победить в древней игре, соревновании, которое давным-давно начали они с его знакомым.
С другой стороны истории, юный Марко становится учеником мага, известного под именем Александр.
Ставки сделаны, кости брошены.
Годы обучений, тренировок и вот наступает время соревнования. Да начнется сражение магов! Наконец главные герои встречаются. Две стороны одной медали, солнце и луна.
«Ночной цирк» охватывает промежуток в тридцать лет. Повествование скачет от настоящего к прошлому, мы видим, как растет цирк, как Селия и Марко развивают свое волшебство, как все обитатели и работники Цирка вынуждены участвовать в игре. А главный вопрос в том, кто стоит за всем этим? Высшая сила? Гектор и Александр? Это судьба? И возможно ли разорвать все эти невидимые узы?
Вы погрузитесь в эту историю с головой, вы полюбите второстепенных героев, потому что каждый здесь имеет значение, каждый играет важную роль. Вы полюбите стиль Эрин, потому что он также волшебен, как и сам сюжет. И Боже, какая красивая романтика, какая прекрасная любовь. Любовь, что ярче звезд и тише легкого бриза.
Моя оценка? 10 из 10.
inlibrisveritas
Written on Oct 5, 2013
Morgenstern takes a story and weaves it together slowly and deliberately until we see the full and final picture, with her unconventional style and beautiful details. The story switches between two timelines in a sort of ‘then’ and ‘now’ set up until the two finally converge near the end, it’s not at all confusing since the dates are printed at the top of each chapter. There are also little sections where it is written as if you were there, watching the shows and smelling the caramel tinged air. I think this combined with the detailed style in the normal narrative really works wonders in terms of immersion and when I closed the book for good I found myself missing it. I felt like I had seen the black and white striped tents filled with sights normally on found in dreams.
Celia and Marco are two magicians who are bound together in a competition set before them by their teachers, and despite the lack of information find themselves with a rather unusual venue, The Night Circus. Celia is a incredibly smart and charming young woman who struggles with control and a painful past. I truly loved Celia. She’s incredibly friendly and she put so much of herself into everything she helps with, and given that her teacher is an incredible jerk I loved her all the more for it. Marco is also a charming individual who prefers to write and plan meticulously until his fingers are ink stained. I really loved their stories and how they slowly overtime come together as they work to win a competition they care nothing about. Then there are the wonderful side characters who are actually main characters in their own right. They are surrounded in their own appeal and their own stories, some of which Morgenstern tells us while others she leaves to mystery.
This is one book I wish I had purchased instead of borrowing from the library. It’s gorgeous to look at and amazing to read. I can definitely see this as a book I’d enjoy revisiting in the future.