Published: 20th November 2023
The Night Circus Synopsis:
This spell-casting, dreamy novel is centred around a mysterious travelling circus, Le Cirque des Rêves, which only opens at night and is entirely black and white. It becomes an international sensation, delighting all who visit it, and even acquiring a group of fans that call themselves rêveurs. It has many fantastical tents, like the ice garden and the tent of bottled stories, that seem to be more than mere illusion.
However, there is a darker side to the circus. It is the venue for a long and deadly competition that two young magicians, Celia Bowen and Marco Alisdair, are bound into by their teachers. As the competition escalates, and they become closer, the consequences of their rivalry become stronger – not only for them, but for the circus itself.
My Thoughts:
Every time I open this book, I am sucked into the circus and its magic until the last line, and when I close it I feel as though I’ve woken up from a dream. Erin Morgenstern invites the reader into the circus itself, evocatively capturing the sights and smells of it. Throughout the novel she writes chapters in second person, showing the perspective of the reader as they themselves wander through the circus. These chapters are small, dotted between two other timelines. The main timeline goes from the initial conception of the circus, to the climax, when it merges with the timeline following Bailey Clarke, a young boy who, tired of his dull life on a farm, becomes enraptured with the circus. I really liked the use of these timelines, as they provided more depth to the story and highlighted the impact of the competition through the years, as well as making the reading experience even more immersive. Bailey’s perspective was also the only one that really showed much of the world outside the circus. I feel that this emphasised the feeling of stepping into a dream every time you enter the circus.
This novel is very slow paced, for example with the two central characters only properly meeting quite far into the book. Because of this the action and consequences take a while to occur, and this might cause some readers to dislike this book. I personally loved it, because of the atmosphere that Erin Morgenstern created, and the sense of anticipation and enchantment around the circus. However, I do feel that many scenes don’t really do anything to further the plot, and the writing could be considered too flowery. For me, these things contribute differently, making the book more immersive and teaching me more about the circus and, for example, the rêveurs. If you seek fictional places that you can get immersed in, and you appreciate atmospheric writing, then you will probably love this book. If you prefer faster-paced books this might not be the one for you.
A part of this book that I absolutely adore is the rêveur part. As the travelling circus gains more fame, people start to follow it. They distinguish themselves from the one-time visitors by wearing all black or grey or white, but then also make themselves stand out from the black and white colours of the circus by wearing one bright red item, like a red scarf or a rose. I absolutely loved this image and the idea of a group of people that form a community around their love of a travelling circus. It also gave a feeling of realism to the story, as it reminded me of real “fandoms” in modern day, for example around popular books or movies. My personal favourite character, the clockmaker Herr Friedrick Thiessen, was the figurehead of the rêveurs. I loved how Morgenstern included excerpts from his journal, in which he wrote about his visits to the circus. It made the story even more immersive.
There are some dark themes in this book. Hector Bowen, Celia’s teacher, is verbally and physically abusive, and Celia is trained very differently to Marco. In general, the two teachers seem very separate from the rest of society, not understanding what it truly means to bond two people so strongly through magic, and then pit them against each other. They are too out of touch with their emotions, as it is put by a character later on in the book. In addition, the competition forces the characters to do things they would not do otherwise. This is particularly the case with Marco, and the actions he and Celia are forced to carry out have very strong consequences, also for the other members of the circus. It feels like the majority of the characters are just puppets in one big chess game. This definitely makes the book a little darker, raising issues of manipulation and the lack of control over one’s own life.
While there are some sad and dark parts of this book, it is an enchanting read and, as I said at the beginning, I felt like I’d stepped out of a dream by the end. I’ve read this novel many times by now, and I don’t read it for the plot (though I enjoy that as well) – I read it so that I can step back into Le Cirque des Rêves – The Circus of Dreams.
Quotes:
“The circus arrives without warning.
No announcements precede it, no paper notices on downtown posts and billboards, no mentions or advertisements in local newspapers. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.”
“People marvel at the staggering heights of the tallest tents. They stare at the clock that sits just inside the gates that no one can properly describe.
And the black sign painted in white letters that hangs upon the gates, the one that reads:
Opens at Nightfall.
Close at dawn.”
“I find I think of myself not as a writer so much as someone who provides a gateway, a tangential route for readers to reach the circus. To visit the circus again, if only in their minds, when they are unable to attend it physically. I relay it through printed words on crumpled newsprint, words that they can read again and again, returning to the circus whenever they wish, regardless of time of day or physical location. Transporting them at will.
When put that way, it sounds rather like magic, doesn’t it?
– Friedrick Thiessen, 1898″