Book: The Night Circus
Author: Erin Morgenstern
Why I Read It: I wanted to read a fantastical period piece.
First Line: "The circus arrives without warning."
First Impression: Oh. It's about dueling magic, not a circus.
Last Impression: Wow. That was.....sad and unexpected and romantic and hopeful. Just beautiful.
Ratings
Overall – 4 Heart Skipped A Beat The story was certainly unique, but not what the title and visuals led me to expect. Those who pick up the book prepared for a magical love story will have expectations set accordingly and be instantly entralled.
Characters – 4 The cast is small and you get to know each character intimately. Their quirks breathe life into them and you are drawn in deeper as you progress, addicted to their world and desperate to discover their futures.
Story – 5 Hands down, completely amazing. So many unique wonders soar across the page, from the clock to the duel to the twists Morgenstern slowly unravels. I will say little to keep the discovery and anticipation intact. Just know it will be unlike anything you've read before.
Narration – 4 The world was picturesque, but the language that carried it was utilitiarian in comparision. It moved the story along, and painted the world in blocks of black and white and red, but could have given more.
Read Again? Most certainly. Not quite sure when the desire to visit this world again will capture me, but I am sure that it will.
Tell Others to Read? Yes. It is refreshingly different, easy to read, and well written.
Excerpt: Herr Friedrick Thiessen receives an unexpected visitor in his Munich workshop, an Englishman by the name of Mr. Ethan Barris. Mr. Barris admits that he has been attempting to track him down for some time after admiring several Thiessen-crafted cuckoo clocks, and was pointed in the right direction by a local shopkeeper.
Mr. Barris inquires as to whether Herr Thiessen would be interested in making a special commissioned piece. Herr Thiessen has a constant stream of custom work and tells Mr. Barris as much, indicating from a shelf of variants on the traditional cuckoo clock that range from simple to ornate.
"I'm not certain you understand, Herr Thiessen," Mr. Barris says. "This would be a showpiece, a curiosity. Your clocks are impressive, but what I am requesting would be something truly outstanding, das Meisterwerk. And money is absolutely no object."
Intrigued now, Herr Thiessen asks for specifications and details. He is given very little. Some constraints as to size (but still rather large), and it is to be painted solely in black and white and shades of grey. Beyond that, the construction and embellishment is up to him. Artistic license, Mr. Barris says. "Dreamlike" is the only descriptive word he uses specifically.
No comments:
Post a Comment