The Night Circus

A Novel

By: Erin Morgenstern

Narrated by: Jim Dale

Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway - a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love - a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

©2011 Erin Morgenstern (P)2011 Random House

Critic reviews

" The Night Circus made me happy. Playful and intensely imaginative, Erin Morgenstern has created the circus I have always longed for, and she has populated it with dueling love-struck magicians, precocious kittens, hyper-elegant displays of beauty, and complicated clocks. This is a marvelous book." (Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife)

"Self-assured, entertaining debut that blends genres and crosses continents in quest of magic…. Generous in its vision and fun to read. Likely to be a big book—and, soon, a big movie, with all the franchise trimmings." ( Kirkus Reviews)

"Debut author Morgenstern doesn't miss a beat in this smashing tale of greed, fate, and love... a giant, magical story destined for bestsellerdom. This is an electric debut on par with Special Topics in Calamity Physics." ( Publishers Weekly)

Wow

This book broke me apart into little pieces and put me back together again. I am quite certain I am no longer the same.

An incredible adventure

What a journey. A beautiful, graceful and enthralling story about love, magic and adventure.

I will read this again, and I cannot wait to analyze the details and relive this journey.

Thank you.

good read

it was a bit slow at the beginning but was overall an entertaining book about magic, relationships and dreams. I enjoyed it.

Should be a Burton movie!!

Where does The Night Circus rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Very high. You have to be in a mood for the fantastical and weird, but if you are, this book is it.

What did you like best about this story?

Tiny clues that hinted at the mystery Celia and Marco were involved in. I was guessing a lot about factors surrounding the game, and was kept guessing until the end.

Which scene was your favorite?

When they're describing the different tents in the circus, I could picture them in my brain. loved them. The twins were my favorite characters, though.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, but only because I wanted it to last for a long time. Absolutely savored it, and Jim Dale was the PERFECT reader.

Interesting and compelling.

What made the experience of listening to The Night Circus the most enjoyable?

Jim Dale

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Night Circus?

The descriptive narrative of the story.

What does Jim Dale bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His pacing and vocal quality.

If you could take any character from The Night Circus out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Chloe, she is multifaceted.

a true work of art

What made the experience of listening to The Night Circus the most enjoyable?

I grew up on Jim Dale's story-tape version of the Harry Potter books, so hearing him talk to me about magic again was compelling, soothing, a blast from the past and a complete delight. He's a truly remarkable narrator.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Night Circus?

Probably the scene that stuck with me most was the one of the father teaching his daughter with cruel and unorthodox methods. It's such a pretty, beautiful book, but that moment was so gruesome and harrowing.

Which character – as performed by Jim Dale – was your favorite?

Celia- it's a rare man who can perform women so beautifully and richly, and he captures her perfectly. You aren't even aware, after long enough, that it's a man playing a woman, you just hear her.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Pass- I'm terrible at taglines! But if this were a movie I'd see it in Imax, twice.

Any additional comments?

One of the things I also really like about this book is that it's fantasy that isn't based on a fight in the traditional sense of the word- a competition, yes, and there's even some bloodshed, but the protagonist/antagonist tradition is torn down and what emerges instead is complex and beautiful and poignant.

Wonderful book!

I was utterly enchanted by this audiobook. The tale, itself. The voice acting. The mood. Everything. I'll certainly be listening again, and have been recommending either the audio version, or the printed one, to my friends.

What an imagination!

This was a clever story. How she every came up with it is more than amazing but it was fun to listen to. There was a great plot with loads of off shoots to try and keep track of through the entire story. I really enjoyed the characters and "characters" is exactly what they all were. The Night Circus traveled from town to town adding to itself as it goes with the most remarkable tents to visit. Each tent is magnificent and your imagination is called to action as each is described through out the story. Jim Dale did an excellent job of narrating.

I'd revisit the circus, but not the book

This is one of the most unique books I've read in a long time. The whole thing is basically about two magicians trying to out-do each other in more and more elaborate ways. Yes, I know that doesn't sound unique, but it is. It would be hard to explain concisely without giving anything away, so you'll just have to trust me. The author's imagination when it comes to the feats of the magicians is stellar - I totally want to visit all of the circus's exhibitions. But the storyline itself kind of fell flat for me. I enjoyed it, but by the end I was ready for it to be over.

There were also a few characteristics of the book that annoyed me... There are a few short parts of the book that are written in second person perspective (e.g. You enter the circus. You look around and see some tents.), which was odd. I assume the author was trying to bring us into the story, but the circus is by definition outside the realm of our existence so I didn't feel brought in, I felt like I was reading a high school English project to demonstrate how to use second person perspective. Also, I didn't feel a strong connection to Celia and Marcos, the two main characters. By far my favorite characters were Bailey, Poppet, and Widget and they are side characters who don't even appear until near the end of the book. I thought there were too many characters in the book - I had trouble keeping track of them all and many were pretty one-dimensional as a result. Plus sometimes I felt like certain characters were meant to serve some metaphorical purpose that didn't come through. Ultimately I kind of felt like the entire book just skirted the line between innovative literary ideas and pretension... like when you're reading a poem and you think, is this poem so deep that I just don't get it or is it bad? I'm still undecided, but there's enough of interest to deserve a read - I just wish I'd checked it out from the library instead of buying it.

So, bottom line - I'm glad I read the book, but I don't think I'll ever read it again. I think its best use might be to read it chapter by chapter as a bedtime story to children - it's not the kind of book that you never want to put down until you've finished it, but it is the kind of book that inspires the imagination and although parts of it are kind of dark, it has a satisfying conclusion.

Beautifully Magical

this book took me on a fantastic magical adventure. i felt like a kid again