Discussion of The Night Circus

[Scott]

Please use this topic to discuss the September 2012 book of the month, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Please wait until you have finished the book to read this topic because this topic will contain spoilers.

What do you think of the book? What do you like most about it? Any favorite characters or passages?

[caprijo]

The author did a good job painting the scenes with words, but I'm not impressed by the plots. Do all stories have to have a love dilemma? It's so cliche.

[A24]

This is my first book of the month that I have actually gotten to (within the month timeframe too), however, I stopped reading after 80 pages or so. It was a library loan on my Kindle and since it then expired, I couldn't see renewing it. The plot just didn't grab me, nor the characters. I should've known better too as I hate circuses. Life is too short and my TBR list is too long to endure a book that I'm not enjoying!

[bencyjack1]

Well Everyone has their own opinion. According to me, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is an ambitious debut set at the turn of the 19th century that provides a feast for the senses. Immersible passages told in present tense describe the wonders and sights of The Night Circus, open only from dusk until dawn and completely themed in black and white.

[BookNymphoJae]

My favorite aspect of the book was all the imagery and descriptions of the circus and various acts. It was so visually stimulating and I could imagine myself right there at the circus. That being said, I couldn't really get into the story which I felt moved really slowly and for some reason I didn't like the characters that much. I wanted a happy ending but I wouldn't have been that sad if it didn't come. I just couldn't get invested in the people. I don't think it lived up to its hype but it was an enjoyable enough read.

[alwaysreading09]

I really wanted to read this book... but from the sounds of it since it cant be loaned through my kindle maybe I should wait to get it until I run out of other books on my wish list.

[michellezo]

I absolutely loved the imagery in this book. I have the benefit of what I believe to be a great imagination and found myself transported to the different scenes in the book. I really walked away wishing that I could spend time travelling with the circus wearing my crimson scarf. I agree that there were some slow sections in the plot but it was so nice to read a book that was not just another re-hash of whatever is popular at the moment. I feel that as a first book Erin Morgenstern did a fantastic job and I very much look forward to her future work.

[Sandra825]

Wow, I am suprised to hear so much negative about this book when over all I thouroughly enjoyed it!! And such short responses at that...

I was instantly sucked into this story. The mystery surrounding the circus at the begining made me itchy to find out what was inside, and the development of the characters was intrigueing. It was hard to get into the swing of the story at times due to the timeline bouncing around, but once I figured it out, I actually enjoyed that a bit too. Have a chapter that jumped ahead a year, and then the next jumps back, gave me some insight into how the events of the previous chapter effects the outcome in the future.

Celia's father is the first character you start to get to know, and although Celia is also introduced at the begining, she developes more as the story progresses. I grew steadily to dislike Prospero and his obvious disdain for his daughter as he uses her as a pawn in his game. Although he seems confident that she will win the challenge, it would appear that his confidence is less in her and instead in himself and his ability to best "the man in the grey suit", Alexander. I also grew to dislike Alexander as well, although not as much because at the end of the story he is given the chance to somewhat explain what the challenge represented, and he seems at least somewhat regretful to have played his games with their lives. It would have been interesting to hear what Celia's father thought of this final match being a stalemate, and if his ego had suffered any. In any case, he was a prominent player in much of the book, and depite my lack of sympathy for him, it was strange to see him fade with no final words or thoughts.

I found that the love dilemma was not the focal part of the story as much as it could have been, and merely set the stage for why the events unfolded as they did. Several other characters within this story had little or nothing to do with the love Celia and Marco developed for each other. I hugely enjoyed getting to "know" Widge and Poppet. Tsukiko is still a bit of a mystery to me, and I will have to revisit the chapters to sort her out a bit more.

[ChicotJPocket]

I read this book for the first time the month it came out. I was in complete love with it! While I wouldn't recommend it to someone who doesn't like to read, doesn't have the time for it, or someone who simply isn't a strong reader; It most definetly is an amazing book and these of us who can get through it would have afield day discussing it. An extremly great book with so many characters, each one has an exciting stry behind and ahead of them.

[ah824824]

plots is very good. i am impresed

-- 19 Sep 2012, 03:12 --

what is the book of this week. and what does it based on

[katesolomon]

well.....this book sounds really interesting and full of excitement, excitement to know the depth of the story.

I think it should be quite interesting.Since, I have not yet gone through it but I would surely love to read it.

Thanks...

[doglvr]

Absolutely loved this book & would love a sequel. Everyone I recommended it to enjoyed it immensely. What an imagination and her descriptions were wonderful. I wanted to be there, right in the circus.

[annie]

I love this book! I must say, though, I didn't read it, I listened to it on audio CD. It was read by Jim Dale, and like he did with the Harry Potter series, created the magic that was inherent in this book. I wondered if I'd enjoy it as much by reading it; the plot took a while to announce itself, but I was drawn in by her rich prose and of course, his talent as a reader. I don't have a problem reading a book with a love story --I listened to this right after my car pool buddies were reading Fifty Shades of Gray, and I thought I was getting the better end of the deal -- if it's intrinsic to the story. The circus was brilliantly conceived and described. Going in, know you have to suspend belief and go with it. It's magic!

[roozmarry871]

This book is related what's about . i have not read this book but its very interesting so please tell about this more.

[sjohnston922]

I really liked this book. I listened it with Jim Dale narratoring. I thought the use of magic was unique, especially with the contest between the two schools of magic. Can it be learned by anyone or is it a genetic talent? I've read a lot of fantasy novels and where the magic comes froms is always an important detail. That she mixes two different types is unusal, and unexcepted, which I enjoyed. I think that those who like Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Clarke and the Harry Potter series will also like The Night Circus.