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81st out of 162 books
—
422 voters
The Circus of the Earth and the Air
by
Brooke Stevens (Goodreads Author)
A woman volunteers for a circus magic trick...and vanishes. When her husband sets out to discover what has happened, he is tortured, tempted, and analyzed and eventually sheds his identity and gains a new one-as a tightrope walker whose strength is his vulnerability. Photographs.
Paperback, 432 pages
Published
March 10th 1995
by Mariner Books
(first published 1994)
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This book has been described as an "action novel," as "ethereal" and "esoteric" and "suspenseful." I argue that it is none of those things. In fact, I would argue that this book is nothing more than a meandering, clumsy tale that appears to have been made up as the author went along.
The set-up is great, and as far as novel concepts go, a good one: a couple go to a circus, the wife volunteers for a disappearing act, and, uh-oh, she never reappears. The circus performers completely ignore the pani...more
The set-up is great, and as far as novel concepts go, a good one: a couple go to a circus, the wife volunteers for a disappearing act, and, uh-oh, she never reappears. The circus performers completely ignore the pani...more
Brooke Stevens joined the circus as a young man, and somewhere along the way he realized circuses are kind of like a religion. Or maybe stages are like... life... and we are all performers? Or maybe audiences are what hold truly incredible performances back and so the trick is to have a permanent circus isolated and without spectators.
Or maybe he just decided it would be great fun to write a story about a man whose wife vanishes inexplicably after volunteering for a vanishing act at a circus and...more
Or maybe he just decided it would be great fun to write a story about a man whose wife vanishes inexplicably after volunteering for a vanishing act at a circus and...more
This book would be better categorized as some kind of inner-journey fiction, rather than fantasy.
Both the good and bad reviews of this book are spot on. The synopsis says all you can say, becuase this isn't an action book, and, 'a guy goes to the circus, looses his wife and spends way too long looking for her,' really says it all. In a summary like that, you can't add, 'but he looks for her with the most poetic musings', and not make it sound FoS.
That said, I read this ages ago, but I remember...more
Both the good and bad reviews of this book are spot on. The synopsis says all you can say, becuase this isn't an action book, and, 'a guy goes to the circus, looses his wife and spends way too long looking for her,' really says it all. In a summary like that, you can't add, 'but he looks for her with the most poetic musings', and not make it sound FoS.
That said, I read this ages ago, but I remember...more
Feb 23, 2009
Kate
marked it as to-read
From Josh Bazell interview: I just finished a so-called literary novel, The Circus of the Earth and the Air by Brooke Stevens. It has about 20 things I hate in a book—dream sequences, doppelgangers, magical realism, and so on—but was fantastic.
So far, this book is really good. It is a story about the love of a man for his wife and how that love takes him into a strange world of cruel people. The world may or may not be real. It also involves a circus ;-)
Failed the "100 Page Rule" - If after 100 pages you still don't care about any of the characters, life is too short to be reading this.
With this book, it failed the 100 Page Rule by page 93. Next!
With this book, it failed the 100 Page Rule by page 93. Next!
If you want to read a page-turner that gets into the "twisted soul" under the Big Top--its sacraments, fanatacism and illusions--then this yarn, which reads as if came out from under Fellini's top hat, might be up your crooked alley.
A very original story, beautifully crafted. It's like you've entered the twilight zone. My only complaint is that the end leaves a lot of questions unanswered, but this is still a very enjoyable and fascinating read.
The book first appealed to me because the synopsis on the back implied that it was going to take you into a nightmarish scene in the circus world as a man tries to find his wife, whom he believes was abducted by traveling performers. What I wished for was a novel that had the same light irony as Nights at the Circus was instead some weird, poorly written piece of people struggling to join this circus troope...reminded me unfortunately of George Orwell's 1984. Basically, alot of people died, acto...more
i love this book. it haunts me. i want more from the author. or maybe not, maybe this is enough. it left me longing for a tutu and the truth.
I'll admit that I was suckered into reading this by the descriptions on the back that involved 'hallucinatory' (if I recall correctly). I'm always a sucker for something hallucinatory. But this didn't really live up to its promise. The story is definitely non-standard and could I guess be considered downright weird, which is fine by me. Maybe it was the writing I didn't really enjoy - it was a little bland for my taste. But for all my bitching, I was pretty engrossed through most of it and didn'...more
OOOOhhh... it wasss SOOO GOOD!!
A perfect book.
I had high hopes for this book. Between the weird cover and mystical nature of the circus. I was thinking this book would be a supernatural roller-coaster ride but it never came to fruition. I kept waiting for some great explanation to the mystical circus. I was also looking to be immersed in a twisted circus atmosphere Over all I expected much more Mildly entertaining.
Favorite Quotes
Everyone has to play a role; everyone has to take a point of view.
When you’re growing up, it takes a long time for you to realize that there’s something different about you. On one level, you know there’s something strange, but on another, yourself is the only thing you ever knew.
Everyone has to play a role; everyone has to take a point of view.
When you’re growing up, it takes a long time for you to realize that there’s something different about you. On one level, you know there’s something strange, but on another, yourself is the only thing you ever knew.
I've lost count of how many times I've read this book. This book will suck you in in under twenty pages, you won't want to book this book down. I burrowed this book from a friend in high school and I never want to give the book back to her. It took me a very long time to track down this book.
Two trusted friends recommended this to me so I took it on my honeymoon but was very disappointed. Though sometimes I remember the language and want to give it another shot. Haven't had the heart yet, though.
I read about half of the story and then concluded that I had better things to do with my time. The story was strange and not believable.
Read it once - halloween is coming - time to read again. The freak show is taking place in my front yard - think this will help get me in the 'spirit'.
I only thought that this was OK......a little on the strange side for me.
Great fiction. Would love to find more books by this author.
One of the worst books I have ever read. Sophomoric and wooden.
I only bought this because John Barth blurbed on the cover. He lied!
Cathy wrote, "Read right after Harry Potter #5."
May 17, 2013
Rae
is currently reading it
May 14, 2013
Renee Michelle
marked it as to-read
May 10, 2013
Irina Merten
marked it as to-read
May 04, 2013
Jordan West
marked it as to-read
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“When you’re growing up, it takes a long time for you to realize that there’s something different about you. On one level, you know there’s something strange, but on another, yourself is the only thing you ever knew.”
—
15 people liked it
“Remember this word: to dream. To live is to dream--it is the same thing. ”
—
2 people liked it
More quotes…
6 de Ago 15:27