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2013 Book Review #91: The Night Circus
Title:The Night Circus
Author: Erin Morgenstern
Genre: Literary fantasy
Thingummies: 5
Synopsis: A man and a woman are trained from childhood to be rival magicians with a circus as their battleground, but fall in love in the midst of the competition.
Thingummies: One of the most brilliant pieces of theater that I've seen was Sleep No More, a phantasmagoria set throughout a rambling Art Deco hotel. You wandered through a sets worthy of David Lynch, exploring at your own pace, as the wordless play swirled around you. It was the most compelling, provocative, unsettling, fascinating, dream-like piece of art I've ever had the pleasure to be exposed to.
The circus in this book reminded me of that experience.
This has been marketed as literary fiction, and it certainly deserves the accolades for its thoughtful, dreamy, elegant prose. Characters are richly nuanced, descriptions leap off the page, and the plot tiptoes along at its own pace. But it's also very much a historical fantasy piece. (Although that would have garnered it far fewer reviews, so I don't blame the editors for going the more prestigious route.) I don't mean that as opprobrium; I love fantasy. And I'm frequently irritated with literary fiction for self-indulgence and an inability to stick the landing. The Night Circus has purpose and a plot with a genuinely satisfying ending, which far too many literary fiction pieces lack.
I loved this book. I loved the circus itself, and how much the characters love the circus. I found the characters deeply compelling, both major and minor. I found the setting to be incredibly inventive in a way that was not overly indulgent. And I thoroughly enjoyed the love story at the heart of this novel.
I only wish that the circus was real--Sleep No More could use some worthy competitors.
Author: Erin Morgenstern
Genre: Literary fantasy
Thingummies: 5
Synopsis: A man and a woman are trained from childhood to be rival magicians with a circus as their battleground, but fall in love in the midst of the competition.
Thingummies: One of the most brilliant pieces of theater that I've seen was Sleep No More, a phantasmagoria set throughout a rambling Art Deco hotel. You wandered through a sets worthy of David Lynch, exploring at your own pace, as the wordless play swirled around you. It was the most compelling, provocative, unsettling, fascinating, dream-like piece of art I've ever had the pleasure to be exposed to.
The circus in this book reminded me of that experience.
This has been marketed as literary fiction, and it certainly deserves the accolades for its thoughtful, dreamy, elegant prose. Characters are richly nuanced, descriptions leap off the page, and the plot tiptoes along at its own pace. But it's also very much a historical fantasy piece. (Although that would have garnered it far fewer reviews, so I don't blame the editors for going the more prestigious route.) I don't mean that as opprobrium; I love fantasy. And I'm frequently irritated with literary fiction for self-indulgence and an inability to stick the landing. The Night Circus has purpose and a plot with a genuinely satisfying ending, which far too many literary fiction pieces lack.
I loved this book. I loved the circus itself, and how much the characters love the circus. I found the characters deeply compelling, both major and minor. I found the setting to be incredibly inventive in a way that was not overly indulgent. And I thoroughly enjoyed the love story at the heart of this novel.
I only wish that the circus was real--Sleep No More could use some worthy competitors.
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