The Night Circus in The Dusty Bookshelf

Jan 11, 2012 Anne (Booklady) Molinarolo rated it liked it

Shelves: winter-2011-12, sci-fi-fantasy, literary-fiction

The circus suddenly appears where it wasn’t before. In its labyrinth of foot paths, tall black and white tents tower over the smaller tents against the grey sky. I am standing in line with the others waiting to see what kind of circus is open from sunset to dawn. And the circus is grand! Morgenstern has created the best living character I’ve read in a long while. Yet the reason of the Night Circus’ existence is mediocre. It is the setting in which two young illusionists will compete. Only one wi The circus suddenly appears where it wasn’t before. In its labyrinth of foot paths, tall black and white tents tower over the smaller tents against the grey sky. I am standing in line with the others waiting to see what kind of circus is open from sunset to dawn. And the circus is grand! Morgenstern has created the best living character I’ve read in a long while. Yet the reason of the Night Circus’ existence is mediocre. It is the setting in which two young illusionists will compete. Only one will survive.

Celia Bowen and Marco Alisdair have been bound together by two aging illusionists since they were ages 6 and 9 respectfully. Hector Bowen sees in his daughter a greater talent than he ever was. (Note: Prospero’s “unfortunate” trick that caused him to be dead to the world.) Any child will do for the man in the grey suit; Marco is picked up from an orphanage. The children are told they will be trained for a great competition and only one of them will win. The rules are never explained. And the competition is drawn out over 30 years with the NIGHT CIRCUS as their battleground. One performs in the circus; the other comes up with projects for it. Marco cannot travel with it for many years. Marco knows who his opponent is while Celia doesn’t and collaborates on projects with him.

I found myself drawn toward the teen Bailey more and more as he would be the lad to run away with the circus. Poppet and Widget were very interesting, while tarot reading Isobel was as psychotic as the sociopathic Hector and Alexander H. While the changing POV bothered some reviewers, I found the change very refreshing, especially the 2nd person narrative. It really pulled me into the circus and into the story. I cared about the child competitors while they trained in their own magic technique, but slowly lost interest in them after a while despite an ending that was satisfactory. Celia and Marco seemed like cardboard cutouts rather than three dimensional. But the circus kept me reading to the novel’s last page.
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Jan 12, 2012 Diane rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: wpl, historical-fiction, audiobook

I listened to the audiobook version read by Jim Dale, whom my children immediately recognized as the narrator of a long-since-canceled TV show "Pushing Daisies". I am sure my enjoyment of the book was enhanced by listening to his voice, which I think is amazing and uniquely engaging. The imagery in the book was some of the best and most beautiful I have ever read (listened to). I was transported to the Night Circus and could easily envision the scenes and visuals presented. I saw an author inter ...more

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May 23, 2012 Nichole ~~The Grey Lady~~ rated it did not like it

I got about a hundred pages into this book when I realized that I really had no idea what was going on...and I just didnt care enough about it to try reading on to figure it out. Mostly I didnt like the way that it was written. I am not sure what the technical term for the type of narration would be. But to me it feels kind of flat and passive. It doesnt pull you into the story. The timeline was jumping around a lot which i think added some to the confusion. In any case, I am moving on. It's bee ...more

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Sep 19, 2011 Ruth rated it really liked it

An atmospheric historical novel, timeless in its telling of a fairytale full of magic, love and mystery. I really enjoyed it.

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Dec 27, 2011 Jane(Janelba) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, kindle, books-read-in-2012, fantasy, reread

One of the most beautiful books I've read this year ! Amazing descriptions, loveable characters. This book gave me most emotions. I laughed, I cried, I had fun, it was just an amazing book. ...more

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