This book was itself magic. Much as the circus "arrives without warning", without warning I was lost in it, completely engrossed and utterly swept away in the tales of The Night Circus. I felt as if I was a part of it myself. Perhaps that was because of the way that it was written. Throughout the novel there are sections describing a tent or attraction within the circus, written in the second person, so you really feel like you are walking through it yourself. As I researched some discussion questions for our book club meeting a majority of them revolved around the way the book was written in fragments. Not just the attraction descriptions, but also the fact that some of it was out of order and going from character to character. The questions were asking if this was jolting, or too disconnected, or did it suit the book by mirroring the circus itself? Most of us weren't taken back by this style. While it may be slightly confusing at first, once you get the hang of it, I believe that it actually enriched the novel.
SPOILER ALERT:
This book is sort of a warped version of Romeo and Juliet. Two fathers who are in a war against each other pit their talented "children" against each other to basically use magic in a battle, the Night Circus being the venue in which they will do so. This will only end when one of them dies. These two children, bound to together from such a young age can not help but to fall hopelessly in love with eachother when they finally meet. The novel follows the story of them and the people that surround them and the Night Circus. The fathers do not want them together, ironically, even though they are the ones who bound them together in the first place.
I also can not help but connect it to The Hunger Games. We have two talented young people fighting (this time with magic) eachother and must do so against their will until one of them dies. That is almost identical to the Hunger Games. In the end of the novel, they find a way to escape by what you might call suicide- or a version of suicide if you may. (I.E. Romeo & Juliet's poison, Katniss & Peeta's berries...) This act finally ends the nightmare of the "fighting" and makes way for peace.
It's a beautiful story. And besides the story, the writing was immaculate and creative. It was so colorful and vivid. I loved the
description of the food at the midnight dinners. One in particular stays
in my head. The food was described as being all gray and once you cut
into it, it would burst with different colors. The plates were flat
circular mirrors which just added to the beauty and depth of it. My favorite
scene, at one of these dinners, was when time litterally slowed down and Celia and Marco finally kiss. I
felt as though it was me he was kissing. And how sad that he made them
all forget it....
END SPOILER
I truly loved this book and felt like I watched it or even like I lived it rather than read it. I would love to see it turned into a movie but I don't know how it could be done justice. Plus they'll probably cast Anne Hathaway and then I'll want to shoot myself! Even the ending was truly satisfying and tied all the segments together in an interesting and thought provoking way. I sat staring into space when I finished it, saddened. It was a dream I did not want to wake from.
If you've read this book, please post comments and or good discussion questions you can think of!
Thanks for reading!
