Confessions of a Circus Goer

Between all the emails I get from Indigo, Amazon, and E-Bay, I felt like Erin Morgenstern’s Night Circus was being thrown at me in a million directions. I also thought that because it was being pushed so hard that maybe they had bought too many and were trying really hard to get rid of them. Regardless, I’m fascinated by the early 20th century, and with the old circus tradition, so I decided I’d give it a try.

What I read was magical. I was brought into Morgenstern’s world and couldn’t get out. I felt as connected to Le Cirque des Rêves as Celia and Marco were, and was concerned about their fate, right from the beginning. Although I felt the “love story” was predictable in the sense that there was never any doubt in my mind that they were going to end up together and overthrow their challenge somehow, I had no idea how it was going to happen, and that’s what kept me reading until the very last page.

Every single character was interesting, and had a reason for being in the novel, which I appreciated. Although I do wish we learned a little more about Alexander, I was satisfied by the outcome of the book and felt that everything was well-explained, which is something that I feel lacks in some books these days: authors try so hard to make the ending of the books exciting, that they forget to tie up some loose ends and leave some of my favourite characters hanging.

I was a little confused with the fact that the book jumped through time a lot, and wasn’t always chronological, but as I kept reading on, I realized that it made sense, since nothing about these characters was chronological or orderly. I was even quickly intrigued with Bailey’s character, and related to him the most, as he saw the circus from the outside, and desperately wanted in. Readers were exposed to both the details of the circus, as well as its intrigue to outsiders, and even to the rêveurs. That, coupled with the fact that this circus was unlike any other I’ve ever read about, made the reading experience unique and unforgettable.

I’m looking forward to Morgenstern’s next book, whatever it may be.

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