1. Entertainment
About.com
Bestsellers

Discuss in my forum

'The Night Circus' by Erin Morgenstern - Book Review

About.com Rating 5 Star Rating
Be the first to write a review

By , About.com Guide

See More About:
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Knopf Doubleday
  • The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern was released in September 2011
  • Publisher: Doubleday
  • 400 Pages
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is the novel I have been waiting all year to find. It is my favorite kind of book -- the kind that completely absorbs my imagination and makes me forget the world around me. Those kind of books leave me feeling disoriented when I have to put them down, a feeling of not being quite sure what is real anymore. It's a feeling that reminds me what it was like when I first fell in love with books as a child and could spend whole afternoons holed up with a good story. Some books make me think. Some books impress me with their writing. But the books I truly love set my imagination on fire. The Night Circus is that kind of book.

The Night Circus involves two main characters, Celia and Marco, who are bound together in a magical competition. They were chosen as children, had no choice in the matter, and do not understand the parameters of the competition or how a winner will be chosen. They are pawns, but they take a dark situation and create light. Le Cirque De Reves is the venue for the competition, though none of the participants or spectators are aware of how they are being used in the game.

Sounds dark, huh? The Night Circus does have a dark tone, but it is also exciting and hopeful. Just as the circus is only open at night but uses elements of light -- fire, stars, illuminated ice sculptures -- to enchant the visitor, so the reader experiences feelings of light and darkness while navigating the story. And while there is an ever present struggle between good and evil in the novel, the story is never heavy or depressing. The reader, like the magicians, is always attempting to bend the imagination to find new possibilities.

There is one element of the novel that I think will turn some readers off: The action is not linear. At the start of each chapter, it tells the year, and chapters go back and forth, sometimes skipping a decade. I found myself flipping back a lot to remember when some other event happened in relation to what I was reading, and I wondered if some of my friends who have e-readers would have a harder time keeping track of the sequence of events. For me, flipping back and forth and rereading segments with a new perspective added to the excitement of the novel, but I could imagine this annoying some people. Still, I think the structure is perfect for the story. It mirrors the confusion and disorientation circus visitors feel and also highlights how timeless the actual circus is. The structure reminded me of The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, and I have a feeling that my friends who were frustrated and confused by that novel would also be frustrated by The Night Circus.

Another criticism could be that the main characters are not developed as deeply as some might desire. I did not notice this until I finished the book. In fact, I think that perhaps the "main" characters are not the main point. Sure, Celia and Marco drive the story, but the novel would not be the same without any of the characters. I think, like the circus, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. We could spend the whole night with any of the characters, but we are compelled to try out different tents during our visit to the circus, and part of the allure is that the characters, and the circus, leave us wanting more.

Overall, The Night Circus is an excellent book. It is the best book I have read in 2011, and the moment I finished it I e-mailed a friend and told her to pre-order a copy. I recommend you do the same.

Reading The Night Circus with your book club? Check out these book club discussion questions on The Night Circus.

For Those Who Want More

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.

©2012 About.com. All rights reserved.

A part of The New York Times Company.