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)

Enjoyable enough fantasy/magic book

This book could have been so much better. There is mystery and intrigue, romance, and a fantasy circus description. My first major problem with this book is the way it bounces around through time. Maybe it is easier to tell when reading the book but when listening, the book skips back and forth over decades. It feels like each chapter required me to concentrate on details (like the age of a cat) to try and figure out when it was happening. The problem lies with the fact that the bouncing around does not contribute to the story at the end. The narration was good and I enjoyed the book well enough. It is just frustrating to know this book could have been amazing.

Fabulous

I absolutely adore this book and the audio version does it justice! Can't wait to see it made into a movie

A story for dreamers and would be magicians

Captivating. Unforgettable. Narration adds depth and breadth and enables complete suspension of disbelief. A story all who were once children.

This book should be made into a movie!

Jim Dale brings this story to life! I couldn't stop listening even the second time through. The story is very detailed in the best ways. the characters are engaging and I was throughly taken away.

Took me halfway to understand what kind of story it was, then I loved it

I struggled with the first half of this book, but ended up loving it by the end. It took me a long time to understand that this book is about wondrous places and amazing things, not people. The characters are there to move the story forward, but the hidden main character of the book is the circus itself. Once I (finally) figured that out, I fell deep into the lush imagery of the story and loved it.

If you are looking for a character driven story, this isn’t the book for you. This is written like a fairytale for adults, with the main character painted in broad strokes, with very little nuance. You never really get deep into the heads of the main characters, because you don’t need to. If you are looking for characters to latch into, you’ll likely enjoy the secondary cast more than the main characters. In fact, although a romance is the centerpiece on the two main characters story, it’s the more organic and sweet nature of the romance between to members of the supporting cast (Poppit and Bailey) that is most charming.

The magic in this book is very loosely defined, and in fact it seems there is almost nothing a magician can’t do. However, in this world magic exists to create beauty. The vivid descriptions of every aspect of the circus will pull you in. Even the descriptions of the foods are magical.

Just don’t come to this book looking for fight scenes, plot twists, or deep character work. That just isn’t what this book is about.

I’m looking forward to rereading it now that I understand what kind of story the author is telling, so I can fully enjoy the first half of the book.

If there’s one quibble I have, it’s that Jim Dale, normally an amazing narrator, gives this book a very ominous tone for the first half of the book. I genuinely assumed it was going to end badly, just based on the ominous tones he used. He lightened up some for the second half and gave it a reading more in keeping with the fairytale nature of the story.

Enchanting and amazing

I have read this book in English and in Norwegian, and I have loved both translations. The story is magical and the narrative really takes you to the circus. After every time I have read it, it leaves an impression. So when I went looking for an audiobook to listen to while I work, it was not a difficult choice.
I always have problems describing this book to people if someone asks what it’s about, so I end up saying that it’s amazing and wonderfull and they should read it.
The narrator does a very good job of envoking the right emotion. There are accents and voices in a way that suits the story.
This is one of my alltime favourite books.

Beautiful and Twisty

I haven't read very much fantasy or YA in the past decade, and this hooked me. The storyline was delightful. The timelines were difficult to keep track of, but one could still continue with the book and the time skipping and come to some beautiful conclusions. The imagery was fantastical and mystical. I can seeing this at a national movie theatre chain. The ending did feel rushed - which is unfortunate. I noticed The Night Circus is "in development" as a film - exciting! Perhaps this could be made into a trilogy (hint, hint).

Interesting, long, and confusing

This book was one that I read for my book club. Currently I would rate it at a 3/5, mainly because it was hard to follow. The chapters kept bouncing around; past to present to future. I found I had to rewind the audible to figure put the timeline quite a bit, finally I gave up keeping track because I had to finish it before my book club meet. I just let the book play without listening to it. Which when I returned it was easy to pick back up and figure out what happen, which means that a lot of the information included could have been deleted from the book and not necessary for the story. It had a interesting storyline but no complete direction.

Thank you

Magical

I loved this book and it will be one i revisit. The love and romance between the two main characters was beautiful. the entire story woven together was a great experience.

Starts slow... stick with it

This story starts out slow and to me a bit jumbled. But stick with it. The story develops into a creative, colorful and intriguing story of a never ending game. You will favor different characters and dislike others. It really pulls you in after a bit.