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April 2013: Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

Meadow337 said:
Interesting study of the book:

http://jawsofthevortex.blogspot.com/2013/01/essay-on-night-circus-hyping-review-ing.html
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Interesting survey, Meadow. It seems to collect everything about the book that anyone might conceivably want to say, and said. That I abandoned half-way through; the book I finished.

After reading as much as I could, I am glad that I walk down here with my feet on the ground, instead of with my head up there where all the hype and buzz are. It was finally just too much to digest. I'll stick with my thoughts.
 
Peder said:
Interesting survey, Meadow. It seems to collect everything about the book that anyone might conceivably want to say, and said. That I abandoned half-way through; the book I finished.

After reading as much as I could, I am glad that I walk down here with my feet on the ground, instead of with my head up there where all the hype and buzz are. It was finally just too much to digest. I'll stick with my thoughts.
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Now see that I can read :) it has a beginning and a middle and an end and has a logical flow of events.
 
Meadow337 said:
Interesting study of the book:

http://jawsofthevortex.blogspot.com/2013/01/essay-on-night-circus-hyping-review-ing.html
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I read over some of the link, it did get pretty old at times, but found Claire Messud's review interesting at least. I'll partially quote her here.....
Claire Messud, author of The Emperor’s Children and part-time reviewer for The Guardian, sums up the plot of The Night Circuslike so:
The novel's plot is fairly straightforward: two magicians of indefinite but certainly magically long lifespan – one a public performer named Prospero the Enchanter, aka Hector Bowen; the other known only as "the man in the grey suit" or "Mr. A. H---" – are engaged in a profound rivalry, played out over many generations by appointed pupils.
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She also had high praise for Morgenstern's "world building". Morgenstern's creating of the circus world, etc.

It sounds very much like Peder's summation I thought.

Thanks for the interesting link meadow.
 
I finished my reread and I still hold to my original review, I don't know did I post it before? If not I'll do so now.


review​
I really was unsure if I wanted to give a 3 or 4 star rating on this book. I really liked it and there was much to like about it, the tone was great and the setting of the circus was as magical as it should be, but there were a few flaws that kept me from giving the 4 star rating. Some of the timing and dialog was a bit off and enough that it was distracting me but not enough to truly disrupt the mood of the book or my desire to keep reading. I wanted to know a little bit more about many of the characters, there was enough there to draw my interest but then nothing more really came, some at the beginning seemed to be interesting and important but midway got lost and I never quite knew why they had been there. This was a debut and I think a good one, it was not perfect and I think there's a lot that could be picked apart and found lacking amongst the literary minded but for pure escapism I liked it, it was the a nice way to spend a rainy cold weekend.
 
I think that's a good and fair-minded review Ronny. Often times a first novel shows the promise and the author only gets better. Same as first in a series.
I'm a sucker for a happy ending. :)
 
Sounds like a fair review to me, Ronny. I enjoyed the book and found it quite readable as entertainment, with some of the same awkward bumpiness that you mention.
 
There were parts of the descriptions that made me feel like I ought to like the book and enjoy it but I just could not get into it. It didn't irritate me, it bored me. Mostly because every time you tried to a grip on anything it just slid away and defied you to actually get any depth or understanding from it. And then flaws just got too much and I gave up.

A book like this ought to be transcendent. It ought to be written so well that you are taken on a journey with the book and spat out the other end, perhaps not entirely sure why that was so amazing, but it was. It ought to make you aware of things bigger than yourself and whilst asking for enlightment is too heavy a burden for a work of fiction, it ought to make you feel that you were in some way enlightened.
 
Meadow337 said:
There were parts of the descriptions that made me feel like I ought to like the book and enjoy it but I just could not get into it. It didn't irritate me, it bored me. Mostly because every time you tried to a grip on anything it just slid away and defied you to actually get any depth or understanding from it. And then flaws just got too much and I gave up.

A book like this ought to be transcendent. It ought to be written so well that you are taken on a journey with the book and spat out the other end, perhaps not entirely sure why that was so amazing, but it was. It ought to make you aware of things bigger than yourself and whilst asking for enlightment is too heavy a burden for a work of fiction, it ought to make you feel that you were in some way enlightened.
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I look for books like that, too. How many do you actually find, though?

And, how?

Just wondering.
 
Peder said:
I look for books like that, too. How many do you actually find, though?

And, how?

Just wondering.
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I find more than you would expect. I could go through my book list and make a list for you if you would like, but I suspect that it is a very individual thing. I have never been able to pick one from the blurb for a book. It is just something magical that happens between you and a good book, and the hope of finding the next one is why we keep reading.
 
No list needed, Meadow. I thought there might be some magical formula. Apparently there is, diffferent magic for different persons.
 
Peder said:
No list needed, Meadow. I thought there might be some magical formula. Apparently there is, diffferent magic for different persons.
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of course there is - we are all different after all :) and thank God for that. Imagine how boring it would be if everyone liked all the same things and everything was all the same all the time *shudders in horror* it might be our similarities that draw us together but its our differences that make life so fascinating.
 
41KkfSb8MxL__BO2,204,203Geek Love.jpg

A much better book with a circus setting...



I wanted to like Night Circus. I really did. I was looking forward to a great read and have always enjoyed books centered around the circus - Geek Love is one of my favorite books. I found myself feeling forced to continue reading (as I try to finish what I start). Night Circus had no clear (to me, anyway) plot. Characters seemed jumbled - they were introduced in one section and had no relevance to the book until much later in the book. I wish I had used the time spent with this book reading a classic, re-reading a well loved book or enjoying a "new" author... I suppose that is why Baskin Robbins has 31 flavors - we all like different things but I found this to be a disappointing read.
 
gonewiththewind said:
View attachment 308

A much better book with a circus setting...



I wanted to like Night Circus. I really did. I was looking forward to a great read and have always enjoyed books centered around the circus - Geek Love is one of my favorite books. I found myself feeling forced to continue reading (as I try to finish what I start). Night Circus had no clear (to me, anyway) plot. Characters seemed jumbled - they were introduced in one section and had no relevance to the book until much later in the book. I wish I had used the time spent with this book reading a classic, re-reading a well loved book or enjoying a "new" author... I suppose that is why Baskin Robbins has 31 flavors - we all like different things but I found this to be a disappointing read.
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Indeed! And life would be so boring if we didn't. However this book was still a muddled mess that could have done with a blinkin' good re-write, but at the same time, in a way, the author succeeded in writing a book that has no meaning but what you bring to it, which IMO she intended to do. However this limits the pool of potential readers to ones who allow themselves to be 'manipulated' (I use the word very loosely) in this way. If you are in any way an analytical reader who takes note of who, when, where and why you are going to have problems with the nonsensical structure of this book.

Think of the entire book as a giant Rorschach blot and you will be OK.

FYI I don't see 'pictures' in the blots unless I deliberately try to, so perhaps that is why this book was boring for me.
 
Anyone interested in a plot structure, lying dormant here since the last time it didn't seem relevant in the face of such emphatic dissing?
 
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