In 1873 a package was delivered to a magician. A package that was, in fact, his daughter. The child’s mother had killed herself, distraught at being abandoned by the magician, and yet he rarely even thought of the woman again. His daughter however, she provided a new opportunity to challenge an old not-quite-opponent. She would play as his piece in this game, another would be chosen as her opponent.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
It is a tale of romance and love, of adventure and magic. And the writing itself is just spot on in creating and maintaining the atmosphere of mystery and enchantment.
can you tell that I enjoyed this book?
Some of it may be a little mysterious for mystery’s sake, but any faults this book has aren’t enough to make me not love it. The Night Circus has a great dreamlike quality. And the imagery is lovely. There’s that word again! It may face a little criticism for being slow, but to me that was part of the appeal. It develops and unfurls, it is never rushed or hurried.
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I absolutely adored this book – I haven't wanted to visit a fictional place more than I want to visit that circus!
Me too! Of course a tent I'd love to visit isn't there anymore….
I have a signed copy of this one. I can't wait to read it!
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Enjoy Kathleen
I am so happy you enjoyed this book! I loved it!
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I don't know, Fence… your "lovely"s were actually what convinced me to try the book! It's one of my trigger words. That, and lyrical… magical… transcendent… aah. I put it on hold at the liberry, where I'm 89 out of 89. :/ I've been worse before!
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Hmm, maybe lovely is different in Ireland :)
I hope you enjoy it, I know you haven't been into fiction as much, but this really is a lovely! read. Also, with tarot card goodness!
I'm very tempted but I seem to remember that someone in The Lantern group read mentioned it had similarities… If that is the case, then it isn't for me.
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I don't know if I would compare the two to be honest. I suppose they both have multiple narrators, and different timelines, but the style of writing is very different. And this is a lot better. I enjoyed The Lantern, and I'm glad I read it, but I don't think I'd recommend it to a lot of people. This I would.
I finished this book yesterday and while I didn't absolutely love it, I liked it a lot. The author was amazing at evoking the magical atmosphere of the circus world and I was imagining the excitement of some filmmaker who was reading it with an adult version of Harry Potter in mind (though HP was also for adults). It could be a fascinating blockbuster of a movie.
HOWEVER, what I really came over here to tell you is that I just finished A Monster Calls (I couldn't leave a comment on that review for some reason). Fence, I LOVED IT. I loved it so stinking much that I'm going to buy myself a copy immediately so I can lend it to people to read. It was incredibly moving, so perfectly written, the dialogue was spot on, and I adored the green man yew tree monster that wasn't what we thought it was initially. Ness pulled no punches in that book, thank GOD; there was nothing namby pamby about it and I think it could be so helpful to a person who is going through or has gone through similar grief. (It reminds me a bit of one of my favorite childhood books, The Taste of Blackberries, in its honest approach to death.) The illustrations were gorgeous. I am in love with this book. I'm so glad you recommended it and I'm going to look for other books by Ness now.
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Kelly I really really enjoyed The Night Circus. While reading it.
But now that I have a bit of gap I find that it hasn't really stayed with me the way a book I really really really loved would have done. I still think it was a very good read, and I loved the whole idea of the circus. The black and whiteness, the atmosphere etc. That was all great.
I have some time limit or other on comments. I think I was being in-undated with spam at one point, maybe I'll reopen all comments though…
Anyway, YES! A Monster Calls is just so fantastic. And moving, and great, and true! (can I use more exclamation marks? Hmmm, yes, because A Monster Calls deserves them!!) I haven't read, or heard of, The Taste of Blackberries, but I'm off to investigate as soon as I finish this comment.
I really hope you try the Chaos Walking series. It is YA, and I was a bit doubtful when I started the first book because of the narrator's voice, but I fell in love with it so quickly. It is another that is just so honest that it hurts in a great way.
Oh, but I forgot to tell you, I DID give myself a wonderful tarot reading after finishing the Night Circus! I was just THAT inspired. :)
Kelly´s last blog post ..Turn that dirty clown frown right upside down
Perfect way to finish up the book :) What did you make of the tarot cards in The Night Circus?
I gave A Monster Calls to Jess to read, and he said he wept like a baby all the way through the end of it. Of course! Also, the book I mentioned is called A Taste of Blackberries, with an "A" instead of a "The," but if you looked it up you probably figured that out right away. :) I'd love to hear what you think of it if you read it.
I got the first two books of the Chaos Walking series yesterday but am reading another book right now so I handed them over to Jess (he was visiting) to read; he'll give them back when he's done. I am really impressed by Patrick Ness.
Also, I really did love to see the tarot feature so prominently in the Night Circus–it reminded me a lot of Carnivale–and it struck me near the end (I'm slow sometimes) that the little between-chapter insertions had something to do with specific cards, though sometimes HOW was a little confusing. Anyway, it's not a book that's sticking with me either, though I liked it.
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I did discover that, but I also discovered that it doesn't seem to be in print over this side of the pond. I'll have to get it from amazon.com at some point.
I really hope you enjoy Chaos Walking, (fingers crossed).
I never got around to finishing off Carnivale, I bought the first season on DVD ages ago but have yet to make my way through it. My bad.