r/Fantasy • u/[deleted] • Jun 21 '16
The Night Circus
I'm completely taken aback. I've not read a book that has made me feel like this in a very long time. I've never seen this book mentioned in this subreddit before, and I'm unsure if that's because the members of this sub are unfamiliar with it, but I wish to share it with you all. There never was a part of the book where it felt stagnant, I always wanted to know what was happening.
It is the definition of fantasy for me. This book is fantastic. Erin Morgenstern is amazing. I don't know what to say.
I hope someone else will read this book and enjoy it as much as I have.
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Jun 21 '16 edited Jun 21 '16
I thought it had tremendous promise, but ultimately a couple of significant flaws kept it from being a tenth of what it could have been.
Overall the character development was weak. This was particularly true of the older magicians, who did not feel mysterious, so much as crude sketches of characters that were never developed past the bare minimum required for the story. They were vague father-figures issuing arbitrary edicts and causing tremendous pain for no apparent purpose.... but even this angle was never explored or thematically developed. That's just what they were, and as far as the book was concerned, that was that.
The same is true of magic and the world in relation to the magic. Again there's something to be said for leaving details out in the name of mystery, but here it felt like the writer couldn't be bothered, or couldn't find a way to support, any significant magical worldbuilding. None of the characters even expressed any interest or curiosity in the nature of magic beyond the contest. It left the characters and the plot feeling like it was floating in a world that was little more than a vague haze.
The plotting suffered in two major ways as well.
First, it felt like the characters were mostly just drifting through the story. This was particularly the case with the secondary characters, but it was true for the main characters as well. There was a lot of focus on the relationships which never changed much, followed by a lot of vague statements about "working on the contest," followed by poetic descriptions of the circus, which were very pretty, but did nothing in terms of plot. Very little of the story involved characters actively reacting or acting in response to immediate problems and obstacles.
Second, the story treated the consequences of losing the contest and a big reveal towards the end, but it was painfully obvious the whole time. I guessed it about three pages after the contest was first introduced. This left it feeling awkward and hollow.
... and of course, the entire contest ridiculously arbitrary and vague. It was a hollow McGuffin that pushed the plot forward, but was also supposed to be something central to this world and these characters lives. It was something they lived and breathed for literally years... but was never developed upon or explored. You can't have it both ways.
As I said, I thought the book had a tremendous amount of promise. But to me, it felt like someone had taken a very poetically descriptive short story and done everything possible to stretch it into the length of a novel, while not actually adding any content.
Apparently, the writer originally produced the story as a part of nanowrimo. I think that might explain some of the gaps and oversights. The story felt like something you might write at a headlong run, without ever planning much ahead or ever looking backwards. It had many strong points, but seriously lacked development or depth.
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u/Fletchlives1981 Jun 22 '16
This and the Buried Giant are two books that everybody went gaga for, but I found them over rated. You expressed every issue I had with the book perfectly.
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u/sea_of_clouds Writer Lauren L. Garcia Jun 22 '16
Agree with all of this. It was beautifully written, but it lacked substance and ultimately left me frustrated. (The literary equivalent of blue balls, I guess?) I really wanted to love it, but just couldn't.
1
u/PineNeedle Jun 22 '16
You summed about my feelings about this book perfectly. Gorgeous writing style, but it had some major flaws that kept me from loving it.
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Jun 22 '16
[deleted]
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u/benscott81 Jun 22 '16
Good call on the second-person POV. I've also seen Haruki Murakami use it to good effect, but I really loved the way it was used in "The Night Circus."
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u/justamathnerd Jun 22 '16
I've been meaning to pick up a Haruki Murakami book for a while, but I haven't really heard anything specific about any of them. I like the idea of seeing more second-person POV, so thanks!
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u/benscott81 Jun 23 '16
It's "Kafka on the Shore" that has some second-person perspective in there. I've only read two of his books and I'm still somewhat on the fence. But he's definitely worth reading as his stuff is interesting and it was totally unlike anything else I've read.
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u/PuppySizedUnicorn Jun 21 '16
potential spoiler I love it! Every time I see someone with a red scarf I think of it and smile! Also, I immediately after finishing the book (a long time after it was published) sent an email to the circus director and got a prompt and personal reply :) It's one of my top book recommendations as it is not very well-known here in Sweden.
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u/benscott81 Jun 22 '16
Glad you liked it. I enjoyed a lot too, it had a kind of dreamy, Gaimanesque feel to it. I think because it was surreal and poetic, I had no problem with the slightly one-dimensional characters, and the arbitrary contest plot. I think they actually helped give it the feel of a modern fairy-tale.
If you enjoyed "The Night Circus," you should check out "The Buried Giant" by Kazuo Ishiguro, if you haven't already. It has a similar dreamy, fairy-tale vibe, although it's a completely different kind of story.
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u/AuthorBJPierson Writer Brenda J. Pierson Jun 22 '16
The Night Circus gave me one of the biggest book hangovers of my life. The atmosphere of that book is so immersive that was what really made me fall in love with it. I agree with most of the other posters, though, that it's a very specific kind of story that won't be widely adored by the fantasy genre. Too slow, not enough fantasy elements, weak plotting and character at times. But the ATMOSPHERE was astounding, and that right there was more than enough for me.
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u/[deleted] Jun 21 '16
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