This year... this year of trying to achieve a modicum of balance between being a mom and being a reader, as well as a TV and film viewer in relation, featured more wins than I expected. Sure, it hasn't been easy, because those pockets of free time to read or watch are hard won, and it hasn't always been easy reconciling myself with that loss of freedom to do whatever the hell you please when you want it. But, it does give you a sense of accomplishment and a greater appreciation for every minute of screen time you get to watch or every chapter you get to finish.
I set a 12-book goal in the Goodread's 2016 Reading Challenge, matching last year's accomplishment, thinking that I wouldn't be able to do better (really, how pessimistic of me). But here we are, only two thirds into the year, and I've already finished 11 novels and 1 short story collection. I met my goal, and I'd be hard-pressed to find a novel as satisfying as The Night Circus to meet it with.
There is a circus that set out from London, one that has gained fame for its many wonders. A fantastically designed clock meets you at the entrance, and every tent features different attractions. Le Cirque des Rêves or the Circus of Dreams opens only when the sun has set and closes its gates only when dawn approaches. It moves from city to city, suddenly appearing in a large enough space, eliciting excitement among the nearby citizens who wonder at its arrival, and wonder even more about what they experience the moment they enter it. Unbeknownst to those who visit it, the circus is the setting of a years long magical duel, between the students of Prospero the Magician and the mysterious Mr. A.H.. Celia Bowen and Marco Alisdair, taught magic in very different ways, create the most magical of attractions in the circus, attempting to best each other. Not knowing when the contest will end or how a winner is decided, their efforts affect the other circus folk and the personnel responsible for its inception. And in every meeting, they find themselves more drawn to each other.
Where should one start when it comes to something as expansive as The Night Circus?
Celia and Marco are understandably the most important characters. Their invidual stories begin with their unusual upbringing and training with their respective mentors, with Prospero focusing on making Celia work magic in her mind, while Mr. A.H. lets Marco learn magic using symbols he learns from books in order to influence other people's perceptions. For most of the book, their interactions are through the different feats of magic they perform, adding attractions to the circus in turn and trying to outdo their opponent's last accomplishment. But there is chemistry, undeniable at its core, even when they are not in the same room together. They take their opponent's feats in consideration, somehow learning about each other and, while the competition is forefront in their efforts, they end up dedicating certain acts of magic to each other. And when they finally face each other with the full knowledge of their dueling roles, that chemistry is magnified. It's been a while since characters on a page make me believe that sparks can and should fly off the page, and their every interaction afterwards is no less impactful.
But beyond Celia and Marco, and their off the charts chemistry, The Night Circus is actually an ensemble piece... the story of many different characters who are connected to the circus in different ways. Prospero and Mr. A.H.'s wager affects more than Celia and Marco, starting with the circus's owner Chandresh Christophe Lefevre and the experts he gathered to help shape it... Tante Padva, Lanie Burgess, Tara Burgess and Ethan Barris. Then, there are the circus folk, notably Tsukiko the contortionist, Isobel Martin the fortune teller (and Marco's former lover), and the twins born on the circus's opening night, Poppet and Widget Murray. The circus also draws in those who work and live outside it, such as clockmaker Friedrick Thiessen and circus goer Bailey Clarke, who struggles with his plans for the future and befriends the Murray twins. One might think that they would serve as mere supporting characters for Celia and Marco, but they, one and all, have their own stories to tell. Each one is affected in turn by the circus, and their stories are no less interesting than those of the two leads.
I used the word expansive, because The Night Circus is not designed to be a straight and simple story. Aside from its rather large cast of characters, author Erin Morgenstern chose not to tell the story in a linear fashion. At some point, the timeline jumps, going back and forth in time. One chapter you are experiencing the circus in the eyes of its visitors or even Celia herself, the next you are reading about how Chandresh's midnight dinners bore fruit to the circus. In between those chapters are descriptions of the different attractions of the circus, detailed for the reader's benefit, as if you gain the experience of attending the night circus yourself as you read. There is no confusion, only a narrative tapestry so wonderfully rich as your reward at its end.
And Morgenstern's background as a multimedia artist lends itself to how deftly she describes all those sights and sounds (and even smells) that one can experience at the circus. You empathize greatly with the wonder that characters like Friedrick and Bailey must feel every time they enter the circus and its many tents. The descriptive magic Morgensten wields is the most effective when the circus attractions written about in the pages of The Night Circus are the ones dedicated to Celia or Marco. There is no denying that even long before they realize the love they would obviously feel, they are courting each other in the language they know best... magic.
Yes, there is magic in The Night Circus, and I don't just mean the magic that Celia and Marco wields to great effect. For a reader, it's the best kind of magic. I would suggest that you brush off the Harry Potter and Twilight comparisons. The Night Circus is its own storytelling heavyweight, and definitely a superior creation compared to the latter title. It features magic that is wonderfully conveyed in words, characters as colorful as the circus is beautifully black and white in its theme, and a love story that doesn't put an unnecessary burden in the story, and instead enriches it. It is a story that can move a reader, taking you along, imagination and emotions included, for a phantasmagorical ride that you will not hesitate to revisit in the future.
Happy reading!!Labels: Books, Erin Morgenstern, Fantasy, Fiction, Reading List, Romance, The Night Circus
