Tuesday, June 19, 2012

The Night Circus

Author: Erin Morgenstern

Publication Date: 2011

Category: Fiction

Who'll want to read it? Do you love fairy tales? Do you love beautiful descriptive text that augments the reading experience? Do you love being totally immersed in your reading experience?
If so, this book is for you.

Point of no return: Page 4: You are amongst them, of course.
I love a book that is so descriptive that you feel you can see everything, but not so descriptive that it detracts from the story. To have the level of description, and then to be spoken to directly, really pulled me into this book, with no chance of leaving it until it was finished. Even when I stopped reading (to go to work, for example) I was still half living in Erin Morgenstern's world.

Classic line: There are so many beautifully classic lines, so I have just opened the book at random and chosen a sentence.
Page 241: She claims there is a fire-breathing paper dragon somewhere in the tent, and though Bailey believes her, he has difficulty reconciling in his head the idea of paper that breathes fire.

What's it all about? Le Cirque des RĂªves really is the Circus of Dreams. This circus arrives with no warning, appears lifeless during the day, only opens at night, closes at dawn, and is the most perfect circus you could ever imagine.

Unbeknownst to the spectators, and to most of the performers, it is also the venue for a competition that two illusionists have been trained for, and bound to, since they were children.

Celia and Marco do not know the rules, or even how to win. As the competition progresses, the two begin to design their 'moves' for each other, and begin to fall in love. The lives of everyone involved in the circus become enmeshed in their competition, and the safety of everyone becomes reliant on the continuation of the 'game'. But there can be only one winner, and the winner is the last one left standing.

I did not want to finish this book, and yet I was unable to stop reading. It made me laugh out loud, tear up, and, at one point in particular, my heart was racing and beating so loud, you could probably have heard it if you were sitting across the table from me.

The way the story panned out amazed and delighted me. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for Erin Morgenstern's second novel!



Publisher: Doubleday

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2 comments:

Natasha said...

Jo, I am so glad you've reviewed this! I loved it but I couldn't put my feelings into words, I'm like that with some books. This is the perfect review!!!

The Fresh Ingredient said...

Yes, what Natasha said. I loved it too, did not want to leave that world, but couldn't stop reading. Thanks for the review