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)

Imaginative.

Reading and listening to this book is like going to Wonderland or Neverland and meeting all new characters. The descriptions are amazing and the creations are magical. As always, Jim Dale does a wonderful job delivering this story to us. I will agree that the women kind of sound like a Monty Python version of what a woman sounds like, but I pretend it is all part of the show.

Alluring but not All it could have been

What did you like best about The Night Circus? What did you like least?

Jim Dale's voice goes along way toward the enchantment of listening to this book. I loved his narration on Pushing Daisies too. I really liked the concept too- it's intriguing and I enjoyed the characters. There is a lot of charm here with a good dash of mystery. I felt though that the world was not as fully realized as it could have been especially toward the more darker elements of the world-- and more importantly how the world of magic effects the world at large- not just to simply point out that humans are missing something...as well as story telling as myth, as truth- more please! Anyway I felt it lacked the depth it could have but otherwise there's some good chemistry and intriguing plot points to keep this a good listen.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

My reaction to the ending was... hmm, ok I guess. Not just for the two main protagonists (which I liked how they resolved), but especially considering the conversation after- those two characters, I felt needed more flushing out and anchoring so that i was really moved by their discussion or inspired by it.

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

Bailey

Wish the story never had to end!

What did you love best about The Night Circus?

Absolutely wonderful story! It is magical and heartwarming! The characters are all very unique and the scenery is truly enchanting. You will not want to stop reading this book!

Worst narrator ever.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I could not get past this narrator. I tried. I hesitated writing a review at all because I could not get past the first few chapters but I wanted others to see that they really should spend some time previewing the narration, which I did not.
I read some of the other reviews on this book and I cannot understand why this narrator has received rave reviews. His voice is beautiful but after a very short while, it gets old and annoying. I felt it was even hard to follow what he was saying. His voice would be perfect as a voice-over/narrator of a cartoon movie with warlocks and princesses, but an entire book? No way. His voice is TOO grand, TOO dramatic and TOO exaggerated.

Would you be willing to try another book from Erin Morgenstern? Why or why not?

Sure. It wasn't the book I hated, it was the voice of Jim Dale.

What didn’t you like about Jim Dale’s performance?

Everything. Save the dramatics for the drama. Describing a setting or telling normal conversation does not need to be so over-exaggerated.

I didn't want to leave the circus!

One of the characters in The Night Circus describes the task of an author using the metaphor of a magician. If the author is successful, the reader is drawn into a new and magical world that for a brief period is hyper real, eclipsing the mundane world of everyday experience.

Erin Morgenstern joins a small group of author-magicians whose works, at least for me, opens the doors to the fantastic and charms the reader through them into magical worlds. It isn???t just the creativity of the ideas and images presented but the beauty of the words as the images are painted in one???s imagination. The Night Circus was not only a well-developed story but an experience of visiting the magical circus and being caught up in its charm and enchantment. By the end of the story, even though the circus was closing, I didn???t want to leave. I find this same quality in the best works of Ann Rice and Neil Gaiman. To place Ms. Morgenstern in the same company as those two authors is the highest compliment I can offer her. The prose a pleasure to hear read, not only because of the quality of the author???s writing but because Jim Dale is an accomplished narrator and creates a variety of believable character voices bringing the book to life.


For the sake of honesty, I feel that there are a few minor imperfections. There are a couple of places where the author???s turn of a phrase could have been crafted a bit better. The voice Jim Dale chose for one character didn???t resonate with the image in my head, and with another character I had a feeling he was channeling Dumbledore. These are very, very minor complaints, probably reflecting my taste rather than the quality of an audio book that was otherwise an exceptionally enjoyable experience.

Mesmerizing!

This story captivated me from the beginning and kept me going until the end! It has a very ominous tone throughout which was masterfully paired with Jim Dales narration. The concept of The Night Circus is very original and I don't think that it falls neatly into any one genre. The characters are intricate and the setting is imaginative and greatly detailed. If you are looking for something different than the" tried and true" story lines of many novels, give The Night Circus a try!

Can an audiobook be resplendent?!

Jim Dale's excellent narration and story are such a perfect match. Completely engaging and wonderful to hear. Definitely worth buying.

Meh

This novel brings forth a few interesting ideas about the manifestation of magic and illusion and attempts to draw the reader into a story of two lovers pitted against one another in a magical challenge. I really enjoyed the depictions of the circus and the various attractions that were created by the main characters. Unfortunately, Morgenstern was unable to make these characters real or in any way sympathetic or interesting. Celia and Marco bored me to tears and their love story was very one-dimensional and bland. The narrator did his best to draw the reader in with a very good performance (in spite of a small speech impediment that bothered me for a while). I would not recommend this book to others.

A most wonderful, magical experience

I haven't read the print version but this strikes me as a story that is best experienced in audio form. Erin Morgenstern has created an incredibly rich world of sight and sound that you can truly picture. Jim Dale's narration then adds even more depth to the author's words. Close your eyes and you feel you are in the night circus.

The character development is generally well done, except surprisingly for that of Celia and Marco. (This is why I have left off one star from the review.) Many of the other characters, however, more than make up for those two. I listened to this audio book twice about six months ago. While I can't remember the names of all the characters at this point, I can still well remember their personalities and their role in the story. The ones that particularly stand out for me are the tarot card reader, the clock maker, Bailey (the young man who saves the circus) and his friends, the twins Widget and Poppet.

The author has not come out with another book, which I initially found a disappointment because of how much I enjoyed this one. However, given the "otherworldly" magical qualities of The Night Circus, I can't help but wonder if she was fated to write this particular book and thus was invisibly/spiritually guided in the effort. If so, I'm very happy that she lets such a wonderful work stand alone.

I have noticed that the reviews break down into two camps-those who "got it' and therefore loved it and those who didn't and were bored by or even hated it. I think the difference in one's reaction may depend on the ability to suspend disbelief and find within a magical quality that many have either never experienced or lost when they were forced to "grow up." I think the world would be a much better place if we could all regularly experience the kind of magic that results in a novel like The Night Circus.

Magical!!!!

Great book, it is simply magical and I was really invested into the plot ...I love every second of it.