You may or may not be wondering how I discovered this book in the first place? It was a complete accident. This book was first published in 2011, I didn't even know it existed until August this year. I went on a 2 week driving holiday to Europe and I usually bring a rucksack or two full of books. However this year I was given a kindle, I will always pick paper/hardback books over digital books whenever I am able to, but for a long driving holiday in a tiny car it made sense to save space and download books. I had a £20 limit so I picked a couple of books (unfortunately kindle books are really cheap) and had a couple of pounds left over that I wasn't sure what to do with, kindle recommended this book and it was cheap.
Let's give the book synopsis a brief overview. Two magicians have very strong ideas about the best ways to teach magic so they decide to engage in a bet. They will each train an apprentice and then make them compete with each other. Sounds really innocent right? Wrong! The participants are bound together although they don't know the identity of their opponent until the game begins, the rules are mostly unspecified and the game ends when one of the participants dies. There is no way of backing out. If you couldn't guess by the title of the book, the competition itself takes place in a circus and this is where my synopsis stops. Read the book to uncover the rest. Now it's time to get into the meat of the book so SPOILER ALERT! Also BAD LANGUAGE ALERT!
I am going to start by talking about morality in this book because it is a serious issue. I don't believe that Prospero and Mr A.H don't consider the true implications this game has on the lives of their competitors, if they do consider the implications, they clearly don't care. They have done this competition a few times before so they know full well the risks that come with this and they know that one of the competitors will die, yet they are okay with this. Their last two competitors fell in love, why was this not factored in? What kind of a person bets with people's lives? What kind of a person is willing to have someone else die for the sake of proving a point?
There are so many morality issues in this book between various characters, which makes for interesting conversations among readers.
Where do I stand in terms of the game? I don't think that betting with people's lives is morally right, nor do I believe that forcing people to do it is right either. I hate that the only way to escape the game is through death or limbo! I think that the game is wrong in every way, however I know that without the game, there wouldn't be a story.
This book is one of the best books I have ever read. It's incredibly captivating and sends really strong messages, which brings me on to my second point, quotes. There are so many to pick out, so I am going to highlight my favourites.
"Prospero's immediate reaction upon meeting his daughter is a simple declaration of "well,fuck."" This quote never fails to make me laugh because Prospero says it without thinking. It's like watching an adult swear casually in front of an impressionable five year old and then seeing the moment that realise what they have said and panic. Not to mention that this reaction is also hilariously relatable.
One that's a lot more deep is "it seems we are not as easily repaired as teacups". I really like this quote because it is so blunt. Humans may be as fragile as "teacups" but we are significantly more complex. Part of me wishes that we could be fixed more easily to take away the pain of actually being fixed and to help us get on with our lives quicker.
The other part of me knows that you can't fix everything, that some things aren't meant to be fixed and that sometimes we need to experience the difficult things in life in order to learn and to gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Do I wish I could be as easily fixed as a teacup? Yes. Do I think it will ever happen? No. Am I okay with this? My opinion changes on a daily basis.
"All empires fall eventually. It is the way of things. Perhaps it is time to let this one go." This one speaks to me because I struggle with change. I understand that change is a big part of life and that it is necessary, however that doesn't make it easy. I think that sometimes it's easier to cling on to something, even though you know it doesn't work, because it makes sense. Everyone has clung on to something at least once in their life, it is through this that we learn to let things go.
When I read this quote, I was aware that once the holiday I was on was over, I was coming home to a lot of major life changes. This quote helped me to begin to process all of the changes that were going to happen. I think that sometimes people forget that change is a process that we all work through at different rates. Ir's okay to feel scared by it, it's okay to feel overwhelmed by it and it's okay to reach out to people when you are struggling with it.
My final quote is ""I want this story. Your story." It is very true. I want to listen to stories as much as I want to tell them. This quote made me feel as if Morgenstern was talking to me directly. It's almost as if she was saying "Stop procrastinating and stop changing it. You have a story and I am listening." We need to say this to people more often. Everyone has stories to tell and everyone's stories deserve to be listened to.
Moving on from quotes, I'm going to talk more about why I am in love with this book. This story made magic come to life to the extent of wishing that "The Cirque des Reves" was a real circus that I could explore for myself. I became really attached to the characters of Celia and Marco, their love story felt a lot like Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". I became so attached that I burst out crying once the full picture of the game came to light and again towards the end of the book when both Celia and Marco were encased in flames. Tears of despair turned into tears of joy once they found a way to stay together and interact with the circus.
This book is truly indescribable (I know, ironic) and touches each person differently. It changes the perspective of every reader to such a vast extent. This story has stuck with me for 2 months now and I know that it will stick with me for a long time to come.
What do you think of "The Night Circus"? Did the messages in this book reach you? What do you think of the relationship between Marco and Celia? What are your thoughts on morality in this book? What's your story? Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments and we can all experience the magic of this book.
That's all for this week, thank you for reading and stay tuned as next week I'll be discussing "Amelie the musical".
I am going to start by talking about morality in this book because it is a serious issue. I don't believe that Prospero and Mr A.H don't consider the true implications this game has on the lives of their competitors, if they do consider the implications, they clearly don't care. They have done this competition a few times before so they know full well the risks that come with this and they know that one of the competitors will die, yet they are okay with this. Their last two competitors fell in love, why was this not factored in? What kind of a person bets with people's lives? What kind of a person is willing to have someone else die for the sake of proving a point?
There are so many morality issues in this book between various characters, which makes for interesting conversations among readers.
Where do I stand in terms of the game? I don't think that betting with people's lives is morally right, nor do I believe that forcing people to do it is right either. I hate that the only way to escape the game is through death or limbo! I think that the game is wrong in every way, however I know that without the game, there wouldn't be a story.
This book is one of the best books I have ever read. It's incredibly captivating and sends really strong messages, which brings me on to my second point, quotes. There are so many to pick out, so I am going to highlight my favourites.
"Prospero's immediate reaction upon meeting his daughter is a simple declaration of "well,fuck."" This quote never fails to make me laugh because Prospero says it without thinking. It's like watching an adult swear casually in front of an impressionable five year old and then seeing the moment that realise what they have said and panic. Not to mention that this reaction is also hilariously relatable.
One that's a lot more deep is "it seems we are not as easily repaired as teacups". I really like this quote because it is so blunt. Humans may be as fragile as "teacups" but we are significantly more complex. Part of me wishes that we could be fixed more easily to take away the pain of actually being fixed and to help us get on with our lives quicker.
The other part of me knows that you can't fix everything, that some things aren't meant to be fixed and that sometimes we need to experience the difficult things in life in order to learn and to gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Do I wish I could be as easily fixed as a teacup? Yes. Do I think it will ever happen? No. Am I okay with this? My opinion changes on a daily basis.
"All empires fall eventually. It is the way of things. Perhaps it is time to let this one go." This one speaks to me because I struggle with change. I understand that change is a big part of life and that it is necessary, however that doesn't make it easy. I think that sometimes it's easier to cling on to something, even though you know it doesn't work, because it makes sense. Everyone has clung on to something at least once in their life, it is through this that we learn to let things go.
When I read this quote, I was aware that once the holiday I was on was over, I was coming home to a lot of major life changes. This quote helped me to begin to process all of the changes that were going to happen. I think that sometimes people forget that change is a process that we all work through at different rates. Ir's okay to feel scared by it, it's okay to feel overwhelmed by it and it's okay to reach out to people when you are struggling with it.
My final quote is ""I want this story. Your story." It is very true. I want to listen to stories as much as I want to tell them. This quote made me feel as if Morgenstern was talking to me directly. It's almost as if she was saying "Stop procrastinating and stop changing it. You have a story and I am listening." We need to say this to people more often. Everyone has stories to tell and everyone's stories deserve to be listened to.
Moving on from quotes, I'm going to talk more about why I am in love with this book. This story made magic come to life to the extent of wishing that "The Cirque des Reves" was a real circus that I could explore for myself. I became really attached to the characters of Celia and Marco, their love story felt a lot like Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". I became so attached that I burst out crying once the full picture of the game came to light and again towards the end of the book when both Celia and Marco were encased in flames. Tears of despair turned into tears of joy once they found a way to stay together and interact with the circus.
This book is truly indescribable (I know, ironic) and touches each person differently. It changes the perspective of every reader to such a vast extent. This story has stuck with me for 2 months now and I know that it will stick with me for a long time to come.
What do you think of "The Night Circus"? Did the messages in this book reach you? What do you think of the relationship between Marco and Celia? What are your thoughts on morality in this book? What's your story? Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments and we can all experience the magic of this book.
That's all for this week, thank you for reading and stay tuned as next week I'll be discussing "Amelie the musical".
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