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The Night Circus, By Erin Morgenstern, Part III (Apr 2018)
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Thiessen's role was , I think, to be an outside view without being too outside. To be the occasional dreamer instead of those who lived in the dream. To be an anchor to the world and a bridge to between it and the circus which was its own reality.You know, it is hard to talk about this book without falling into enigmatic epigrams.
For me, Herr Thiessen represented the audience - quite literally as well as figuratively.And after all, is there really a performance without an audience?
Clocks and clock makers remind me eerily of Mitchell's Bone Clocks and of time slipping away. I Thiessen the time keeper?
I haven't read Bone Clocks, but I like the idea of Thiessen being a time keeper. I saw him as an audience member who views the circus but also gets to see inside it a little bit--see what makes it tick (hardy har har).
I think there's something magical about clocks. Clocks and trains. Maybe it's partly the sound they make that stands for time passing.
We've already established Morgenstern's world of mind bending circus tents and other treats, the creation of these surroundings is bar none...It's all quite fascinating, transporting, and lovely. True escapism at its best. While I find the narrative to have its flaws, it's obvious to me that the circus is the main attraction, everybody else, everything else falls to the wayside, and rightfully and happily so. However, I think we should at least touch on a couple of aspects where the narrative has fallen short, or not, dependent on if it has for you, as we're a little past the 75% mark.
The characterizations for these characters have been dodgy in my eyes, neither here nor there, or if present, it's quite minimal in messaging. The foreshadowing is blatant, sometimes even forced. For example, the Celia, Marco and Isobel, triangle...The Lovers tarot card inferred as much in Part II, but the dynamics in Part III and what has transpired here, read to me rather superficial; especially for characters who make rooms shake when in one another's presence; whose attraction for one another transports spectators into a reverie of all things beautiful and lovely, Celia and Marco who make one another shudder at the slightest touch from the other...Shouldn't their dialogue match their earth shattering energy? You're beautiful, or you're handsome, intermixed with circus talk, just doesn't equate to me.
In this scenario, Isobel is probably the most impactful out of the three...and she has the least dialogue out of the three, more can be inferred through her actions, demeanor, and surroundings, than anything else. The atmosphere (there's that word, again), Morgenstern creates around Isobel reads better than any dialogue between two or more characters, does she not? Taking into consideration, Isobel's pining over Marco, waiting in the shadows trying to catch a glimpse of him in Thirteen , and the first sight of him is watching him dance with Celia...the mood itself spoke volumes in that room. Another instance of this is when Marco finally tells Isobel he's in love with Celia, we read about it having already happened, not privy to the dialogue; yet I notice despair and anger in Isobel as she's taken out Marco's bowler hat adorned with braided ribbons of lace and velvet; "tearing at the ribbons, pulling apart the bows in fury" (366). Did anybody else catch how integral Isobel was to keeping the balance in the circus, until now... to the point of being able to cause great harm or death?
In Bedtime Stories , Bailey peruses through the bottles filled with nostalgic memories and sentiments. The last bottle he opens stokes his nose with an
aroma of caramel wafting on the crips breeze of an autumn wind...There is the impression of people wearing masks. The smell of bonfire mixes with the caramel. And then there is a shift, a movement in front of him. Something grey. A sharp pain in his chest. The sensation of falling. A sound like howling wind, or a screaming girl (316).Oh, come on...Really? Thou dost foreshadow too much.... It could have been such a great moment, yet it turned silly quickly.
As for the end of Retrospect ...well, hmmm. Obviously, it was going to come to this moment, but was it fitting or integral to the story...I think not, personally. I knew them as children, perfunctorily as young adults; but, as consenting adults in their 30's?
Yeah, no...it was weird. Okay, enough about these characters, from me. Now, on to the good stuff... The circus!
Although Isobel has not aged these many years, she's certainly lived them, waiting for Marco. I get her anger, but it would have been felt and understood more deeply if we had had an opportunity to see more of their relationship. Unfortunately, except for their astounding and richly imaginative meeting, we know nothing about them as a couple.That Isobel was more than a card reader makes sense, especially since almost no one visits her tent. But I thought it was Marco and Celia who provided the balance; but it wasn't, or it was, but they had unexpected assistance. This makes me wonder if Marco's and Isobel's meeting was sheer chance.
Still seeing the ice sculptures. Wish I was there.
There's probably 10 sequels to this that could be written.
On to the Circus...FBG* refers to the interactive Failbetter GameLet's talk tents...and Accents
The Accents
The Ticket Booth : Mundane and human-staffed. The only entrance beyond it is to the tunnel.
The Elaborate Iron Gate: Opens at nightfall. Closes at dawn. Trespassers will be exanguinated.
The Tunnel: Directly beyond the ticket booth and the only public entrance to the circle. A black and white, twisting tunnel with black velvet curtains on either end. Described as lengthy and magic may have been used to make each visitor appear alone in the tunnel.
The Central Cauldron: contains a white, constantly burning fire. This is also the source of the spell that binds the performers and Marco to the circus and protects them.
Friedrick Thiessen’s Clock : placed near the entrance. Not described as magical, although probably not realistic.
The Menagerie : There may also be a display featuring "big cats" (ie, tigers, lions, etc). Not described as magical, and these do exist. In FBG*, the Big Cat show features the cats prowling around next to the audience, allowing the audience to pet them and interacting with them directly.
The Carousel : constructed entirely indoors and behaves as a sequence ride. Part-magical; a ride with similar effects could probably exist, but not in the 19th century and not with all the details described. Detailed description does not appear in the original book but is added in the paperback and on Morgenstern's web site.
The Tents
The Hanged Man Acrobatic Display: an acrobatic display where visitors watch from below. Includes silks, globes containing aerialists, chairs used as trapezes, and a bungee jumping compere. Not described as magical and similar acts do exist.Illustrated by Adam Sanford
The Illusionist’s Tent: Celia's performance, actually not illusory but entirely magical. Performance repeats every 15 minutes and visitors may be trapped in the tent during each one.
The Wishing Tree: A tree where patrons can write wishes on candles, light them from previous candles, and leave them. Described as magical but not clear what the magical element is (other than possibly preventing the tree catching fire); similar structures exist and are common.
Illustrated by Adam Sandford
The Fortune Teller: Isobel’s tent
The Labyrinth: A series of chambers each with a different experience. Magical. Marco and Celia's collaborative work.
The Ice Garden: an interior garden, larger than it seems, and made entirely from ice. Magical. Marco's work and Celia's favourite attraction.A room in the labyrinth
The Stargazer : A slow roller-coaster allowing visitors to look up at the stars
The Cloud Maze : A maze constructed from cloudlike platforms where the aim is to reach the top. Rather than "getting lost" visitors can exit the maze at any point by jumping out of the side.
The Scented Jars : Widget’s tent a room of jars, each containing a scent invoking memories of past idyllic scenes, the jars hold actual memories. Magical. FBG gives this the name The Pavilion of Memories.
The Drawing Room : a tent surrounded by blackboards and with buckets of chalk provided for guests to draw. Not described as magical and commonly exists. In FBG, the drawings come to life after people have drawn them.
Creatures of Mist and Paper : an exhibit of animated paper creatures inside a misty tent
The Pool of Tears : a silent pool of water surrounded by black stones, which visitors can toss into the pool.
The Hall of Mirrors : contains small individual mirrors which are not full-length, some of which show reflections of people who are not there, and finishes with a gaslight surrounded by mirrors.
Most of the information was taken from the The Night Circus: Wiki Fandom Page
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Freestanding Circus Acts
The Kittens: Poppet and Widget’s performance of somersaulting kittens
The Juggler: juggles black, white, and silver globes, which "float in the air". Not described as magical and exist.
The Sword Dancers: mentioned only once in an inside.
The Contortionist: Tsukiko’s performance
The Living Statues: The Empress of the Night, the Black Pirate, the Lovers, the Paramour, and the Snow Queen. The Snow Queen bears an unnamed memorial, actually to Tara Burgess
The Concessions
Cocoa, optionally with spice or cream topping
Popcorn, optionally with caramel or chocolate topping
Caramel Apples,
Sugar flowers,
Cider and eiswein and tea, in the Drinkery tent
Delicious little cinnamon things, Cinnamon twists with icing
Chocolate mice with almond ears and licorice tails
Chocolate bats with delicate wings
Dumplings
Edible paper with illustrations matching the flavors
and that was just in the circus, it doesn’t cover the midnight dinners!
Xan Shadowflutter wrote: "Although Isobel has not aged these many years, she's certainly lived them, waiting for Marco. I get her anger, but it would have been felt and understood more deeply if we had had an opportunity to..."Yes, this is my thought as well...we have a beginning and an end, but nothing in the middle.
I was under the impression that everybody, those who were responsible for the creation of the circus held the balance in their hands. It's true that Marco did some conjuring on his own, as seen in the leather-bound book with a piece of each individual's hair...It made sense for the true balance to be held by everybody. It so turns out, this was not the case, that it was really Isobel who was responsible. I do wonder, even if Marco had her join the circus to keep tabs on it in his absence, that it wasn't Alexander, the man in grey, who could be responsible for Isobel's presence...throwing another wedge in between Celia and Marco?
Here's one for you, Xan...Enjoy!
Wonderful. Thank you.I had another thought. Perhaps as long as Isobel maintained the balance there could be no winner? Now, let's see.
Xan Shadowflutter wrote: "Wonderful. Thank you.I had another thought. Perhaps as long as Isobel maintained the balance there could be no winner? Now, let's see."
No winner means the circus infinitely exists, and Celia would still be in the picture. Do you think she would be content with that, to be near Marco, but to never truly have him?
I’ll be done with this book by this weekend, let’s see what happens...
Xan Shadowflutter wrote: "But what does losing mean?"I would think it means, to the death.
Each new part is introduced by a quote from Freidrick Thiessen. Here in Part III, Herr Thiessen, our illustrious clock maker says... What, in your opinion, has been Thiessen's role in this novel...other than being the clock maker, of course? He seems to shine without being center stage underneath a spotlight, does he not?