Review: The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus
Erin Morgenstern 
2011

                            An Alexandine Couplet About The Characters In Night Circus

                                              Magicians duel to the death at a circus!

                                              Lots of people are there—all caught in the action

When The Night Circus started showing up in bookstore windows a year ago, I wasn’t impressed. It seemed like just another variation on the teens/love/magic/supernatural/the taste of vomit in my mouth thing.

But I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t tempted by the word “circus” in the title. Books about circuses are tempting. I LOVE the circus. I’ve read lots of circus lit. I own Carnivale. I’ve made people watch The Greatest Show On Earth.

                                                                                                      

This is 2 hours and 32 minutes long,

it’s a Cecil B. DeMille EPIC, and

it stars Charlton Heston

I see Barnum and Bailey every year. I’m actually, literally, a human blockhead. These things are important to me. 

I don’t have this tattoo, but I could. I could have this tattoo.

So, one day I was in a bookstore waiting for a table to open up next door at El Toreador, and I saw The Night Circus. I figured “why not?” and bought it.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t expect to be disappointed, but it turns out, it’s a really good book.

It is about magicians, and mostly about two young magicians, their lonely childhoods, and the unfortunate contest that control their lives. That, and their epic battle to the death set against the backdrop of a black-and-white, stylistic, Victorian Era circus. It’s about lonely people looking for connections, about wanting more, trying to find more, trying to find happiness, to find companions. It’s about a farm boy who doesn’t want to spend his life tending sheep, but also doesn’t really want to go to college. It’s about love, and learning what matters, and fighting for what matters. It’s about psychic twins, a bad-assed contortionist, and a really sexy circus.

Just don’t forget: it’s also about a magic duel to the death. Throw in human statues, bizarre diner parties, mazes, and so many other things near and dear to our hearts.

Erin really is a master of plot and prose. She handles a high number of characters, jumps back and forth in time (admittedly, this can get confusing – the only real flaw), leads beautifully to a great ending without giving too much away, and keeps it interesting through 500 pages.

There’s a reason you still see this on bookshelves. There’s a reason it’s in the “employee recommended” section. Long after the rest of the teens/love/magic/supernatural/the taste of vomit in my mouth books have flitted insubstantially into their own waves of miasmic nothingness, The Night Circus will remain.

I’m looking forward to Erin’s next book. If you haven’t read this one, you should be looking forward to it.

 

Other Circus Lit books:

Clown Girl: A Novel, by Monica Drake

Geek Love: A Novel, by Katherine Dunn

Our Lady Of The Circus, by David Toscana

The Traveling Death And Resurrection Show: A Novel, by Ariel Gore

Water For Elephants: A Novel, by Sara Gruen

This list goes on and on and on. No idea why they all feel the need to tell us they’re novels. Anyway, read The Night Circus. You won’t be disappointed.