The Night Circus

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Random House 2011

Bold and unique, like describing a bottle of fine red wine or some Gordon Ramsey entrée, that’s what Erin Morgenstern’s Night Circus is. 

Morgenstern tells the tale of two star crossed illusionists, deeply in love and irrevocably competing under the black and white stripes of a circus tent.  This is the Le Cirque des Reves however, the Circus of Dreams, and quite unlike any other.  Celia and Marco are trained by two distinct gentleman (in Celia’s case, her father) and unbeknownst them, pitted against each other in a battle of style.  It is their magic that fuels the Night Circus.

In this debut novel, Morgenstern takes a fresh look at fantasy literature.  She allows it to flow in a hypnotic pattern that draws the reader along.  The chapters move between time, weaving the storyline together and creating a very exclusive mood and atmosphere for the novel.  This and her descriptive powers are Morgenstern’s true talents.  From the magic and aromas of the circus to the extravagant dinners with Chandresh (the circus’ enigmatic proprietor) she creates scenes that will haunt the reader long after the novel is finished.  It is no wonder that Summit Entertainment snatched up the movie rights.

The characters, unfortunately, remain a bit flat.  Celia and Marco are described as sharing an intense love but it somehow never quite makes it across to the reader.  The young twins as well, who are introduced as a new and mysterious piece in the competition, seem to travel along as mere flotsam.  Even Tsukiko, whose true role is revealed late in the novel, never quite blossoms into what she could.  Her back story is hastily described and the reader is left wanting more.

So who will enjoy this book with its remarkable scenes, tepid characters, and vividly imagined illusions? Is it for fans of Harry Potter and Twilight?  Is it for fans of literature and the written word?  Probably on some levels, it will appeal to all of them.  The magic of Harry Potter is certainly there.  Perhaps even more beautifully told.  But the depth of the characters and the plot can’t come close to Rowling’s.  (I don’t believe Ms. Morgenstern was really trying to anyway.)  The Twilightesque romance?  As much as this reviewer disliked “those” vampire novels, the passion between Bella and Edward certainly overshadows anything between Celia and Marco.  Other titles that come to mind are Magicians by Lev Grossman, The Bartilmaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud and one I intend to read again, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell by Susanna Clarke.  The Grossman title, like Morgenstern’s, has a flaw in its character development.  Unlike Morgenstern’s, Grossman’s unfortunately also lacks descriptive beauty.  Stroud’s YA stories about a djinni and the young magician who enslaves him are remarkable, and unforgettable.  Similarly, Clarke’s 2006 novel about two 19^th century magicians is one that never fully left me.  Pieces of it, images or scenes, will still float unbidden to mind.  I imagine that someday I will be saying that about The Night Circus as well.  In a way, it is almost too bad that Hollywood will turn it into a blockbuster; I quite like the images Morgenstern’s words created.

Moth Diaries

Moth Diaries by Rachel Klein

Bantam Trade Paperback 2003

Creepy fun.  I picked this book up because on the cover the Kirkus Review says it’s “A chilling debut, in the best gothic style...” and it is.

Written as the diary of a young girl at boarding school, “The Moth Diaries” describes her life, friendships, teachers and what happens to all of them when a strange new student enters the picture.  On one level it is the story of adolescence.  The protagonist talks about her best friend, Lucy, and their increasingly estranged relationship, about other girls and their quirky sometimes dangerous behavior, and about her parents, a poet father dead by suicide and a mother still coming to terms with grief.

On the other hand, it is a departure into gothic superstition.  Through some creepy discoveries, the protagonist comes to believe the new girl, Ernessa, is in some sense a vampire.  Her best friend Lucy first becomes distant then descends into a strange illness.  Another girl dies after, perhaps, getting too close to Ernessa’s secret.   There is a gruesome killing of a teacher’s pet.  Add to this the strange everyday things about Ernessa like not eating and a smelly room, and the protagonist creates a fairly good case for her vampire hunting crusade.

However, when introduced to the handsome young English teacher’s reading requirement, “Dracula”, and taking into account the already fragile and unbalanced nature of an adolescent girl’s mind, the reader is never quite sure.

A good beach read - i.e. in the daylight, with lots of people around, and warm sunny weather.

Age of Miracles

Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

Random House 2012

A book that combines the best of Juvenile reading with an exceptional setting. 

The protagonist here is a girl of eleven, facing all the regular issues a girl that age faces; boys, bras, friendships and family.  The difference is that this girl is living through extraordinary times.

One Saturday morning, Julia wakes up to find that the whole world has changed.  The Earth’s rotation has begun to slow down.  In ways familiar to all of us who lived through the World Trade Center attacks, the tsunami in Japan or Hurricane Katrina, Walker describes this young family’s reaction.  The day is spent glued to their TVs waiting for some kind of answer.  Watching interviews with scientist after scientist, listening to fanatics rave, and news anchors philosophize, they are completely and utterly absorbed by the tragedy around them.  The freaky thing about this scenario though is that this catastrophe is happening very slowly, and life for this suburban family keeps going.

Walker takes the reader through this changing landscape both gradually and suddenly. Juxtaposing the steady changes to the earth with the every day events of a middle school girl, she creates a wonderful flow to the timing of the novel. 

I just can’t say enough about the creativity that went into this seemingly simple novel.  I praise Walker for not letting it carry her away either.  She somehow finds a balance between letting her imagination soar and keeping the story real.

A die-hard sci-fi fan may be looking for a more factual account of what would happen when the Earth’s rotation slowed (Walker has been criticized for not researching the true effects).  But then those readers probably wouldn’t be interested in a thoughtful, character driven coming-of-age story either, which at its heart, is what “Age of Miracles” is.