The Night Circus

The Night Circus is a 2011 fantasy novel by Erin Morgenstern. It was originally written for the annual writing competition National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) over the span of three competitions.[1] The novel has a nonlinear narrative written from multiple viewpoints.

For works with similar titles, see Night Circus.
The Night Circus
Front cover of the first edition
AuthorErin Morgenstern
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreFantasy
PublisherDoubleday
Publication date
2011
Media typePrint (hardcover)
Pages387 pp (first edition)
ISBN978-0-385-53463-5

Plot

The Night Circus is a phantasmagorical fairy tale set near an ahistorical Victorian London in a wandering magical circus that is open only from sunset to sunrise. Le Cirque des Rêves (The Circus of Dreams) features such wonders and "ethereal enigmas" as a blooming garden made all of ice, acrobats soaring without a net, and a vertical cloud maze where patrons who get lost simply step off and float gently to the floor. The circus has no set schedule, appearing without warning and leaving without notice; they travel in a train disguised as an ordinary coal transport. A network of devoted fans styling themselves "rêveurs" ("dreamers") develops around the circus; they identify to each other by adding a splash of red to garb that otherwise matches the characteristic black and white of the circus tents. The magical nature of the circus is occluded under the guise of legerdemain: the illusionist truly transforms her jacket into a raven and the fortune teller truly reads the uncertain future, and both are applauded for their ingenuity.

The circus serves a darker purpose beyond entertainment and profit, however. Two powerful magicians, Prospero the Enchanter and the enigmatic Mr. A.H-, groom their young proteges, Celia Bowen and Marco Alisdair, to proxy their rivalry with the exhibits as a stage. Prospero teaches his daughter to hone her innate talents by holding ever larger and more complex magical workings in her mind. Celia takes her position on the game board as the illusionist who makes true transformations, adding tents and maintaining wondrous aspects from the inside. Mr. A.H- trains his orphan ward with books in the ways of glyphs and sympathetic magic and illusory worlds that exist only in the mind of the beholder. Marco takes a position as an assistant to the producer of the circus—he works from the outside in, connected to the circus via a magical link to the central bonfire, but not a part of it. The two beguile the circus goers and each other with nightly wonders, soon falling in love despite being magically bound to a deadly competition with rules neither understands.

As the competition continues, both competitors become strained with no sign of a conclusion in sight, nor inclination of how a winner will be determined. Others within the circus start to notice strange events connected to it: the blueprints disappear from the designers' offices, and the performers appear bound to the circus and can never fail, leave permanently, have accidents, or even age. Poppet and Widget, twins born to a performer on opening night, have developed magical powers. The producer of the circus has his memories erased, and one of the initial investors dies in dubious circumstances when they begin to discover the underlying truth of the circus. When the building tensions between Prospero and A.H- and the jealousy of Marco's ex-girlfriend spurned for Celia result in an innocent "rêveur" being accidentally stabbed in a circus tent, Celia begins to search for a way to end the game as quickly as possible while preserving the circus and those involved with it.

Celia learns from Prospero that the game must continue until one of the participants is unable to go on, which usually means their death. She also learns the circus contortionist, Tsukiko, is not only a magician herself but the winner of a previous contest in which her opponent committed suicide. After Celia and Marco's negotiations with their mentors fail, Tsukiko believes the competition is putting the circus and its members at risk. She plans to magically kill Marco to end the contest, believing him to be less important than Celia because he was not part of the circus. At the last moment, Celia rushes to save him, resulting in the two being ripped from reality and becoming incorporeal spirits bound to the circus. With its magical keystones removed, the central bonfire goes out and the circus environment begins to break down. Celia and Marco preserve the circus by magically rebinding Poppet, Widget, and their new friend, a keen circusgoer called Bailey Clarke, back to the circus, relighting the fire and bringing back the spirit of the circus.

With Celia and Marco both existing only as ghosts, unable to compete but content to haunt the circus together forever, the contest is declared complete via stalemate with no winner. Poppet and Widget negotiate the release of the remaining circus properties from the former producer and Mr. A.H-, and the book ends with the revelation that Poppet, Widget, Bailey and the circus still exist in the modern day, preserved for a century and more.

Reception

The Night Circus has been compared to Harry Potter and Twilight, as well as to Neil Gaiman, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.[2][3][4][5] Ron Charles writing for The Washington Post compares Morgenstern's imagery to Steven Millhauser's, albeit with "more playful and more dramatic surrealism".[6] Olivia Laing writing for The Observer compares the book to an "eminently intriguing cabinet of curiosities" with an intricate but unmoored setting and colorful but clockwork characters.[7] Laura Miller writing for Salon likewise praises the "aesthetic fantasia with all the trimmings" but not the plot itself.[8] Sarah Stegall writing for SFScope praises the vivid imagery, predicting that it should be nominated for literary awards.[9] Richard Peabody writing for The Washington Independent Review of Books describes the narrative as nonlinear, with frequent shifts in points of view, tangential vignettes, and short almost cinematic chapters.[2] Stacey D'Erasmo writing for The New York Times Book Review criticizes the lack of specificity of the imagery, describing the experience as being "continually told how magical the circus and its denizens are without ever being truly surprised, entranced or beguiled."[10]

The Night Circus was a candidate for the 2011 Guardian First Book Award.[11] It won an Alex Award from the American Library Association in 2012.[12] The novel spent seven weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list, reaching number two on the hardcover fiction list.[13]

Associated media

An audiobook version of The Night Circus is read by Jim Dale.[14]

The UK publisher, Harvill Secker, contracted Failbetter Games, creators of Fallen London, to create a puzzle game to accompany the book.[15][16] The site went live on September 1, 2011, two weeks before the book was published.[17] The game has since been moved to the Storynexus site[18] and modified to remove the aggressive social promotion that the original included.

The film and TV rights to The Night Circus were optioned by Summit Entertainment, and a film is being produced by David Heyman and Jeff Clifford under Heyday Films. Moira Buffini was hired in February 2012 to write the screenplay.[19][20][21] In February 2019, it was announced that Geremy Jasper would direct the film adaptation for Lionsgate.[22]

References
  1. Emma Oulton (November 1, 2016). "8 Best-Selling Books Written During NaNoWriMo That Show You It Can Be Done". bustle.com. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
  2. Peabody, Richard. "The Night Circus review". The Washington Independent Review of Books. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  3. Rhule, Patty (September 10, 2011). "Erin Morgenstern creates a magical 'Night Circus'". USA Today. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  4. Richman, Simmy (October 2, 2011). "The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern: a fine first stab at the greatest show on earth". London: The Independent. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  5. Martini, Adrienne (September 30, 2011). "Adrienne Martini reviews Erin Morgenstern". Locus. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  6. Charles, Ron (September 13, 2011). "Erin Morgenstern's "The Night Circus" reviewed by Ron Charles". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  7. Laing, Olivia (September 10, 2011). "The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - review: The book itself looks beautiful but creaky plotting and lifeless characters leave The Night Circus less than enchanting". London: The Observer. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  8. Miller, Laura (September 4, 2011). ""The Night Circus": Magician vs. Magician". Salon. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  9. Stegall, Sarah (September 22, 2011). "The Circus of Dreams - Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus". SFScope. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  10. D'Erasmo, Stacey (October 7, 2011). "Erin Morgenstern's Magician Death Match". The New York Times. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
  11. Flood, Alison (August 31, 2011). "Guardian first book award longlist". London: The Guardian. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  12. "YALSA's Alex Awards. 2012 Winners". Retrieved January 29, 2012.
  13. Schuessler, Jennifer. "New York Times Best Sellers (Hardcover Fiction)". The New York Times. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
  14. Carstensen, Angela (August 10, 2011). "The Debut: Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus (interview)". School Library Journal. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  15. O'Hara, Jan (September 9, 2011). "Author Interview at Writer Unboxed (Part II)". Writer Unboxed. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  16. Khan, Yasmeen (September 1, 2011). "The Night Circus". Failbetter Games. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  17. Franklin, Dan (May 27, 2011). "The Night Circus - an opening out of the storyworld". The Literary Platform. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  18. "The Night Circus". The Night Circus. Retrieved April 26, 2018.
  19. Morgenstern, Erin. "FAQ". Retrieved April 5, 2013.
  20. Brooks, Brian (February 21, 2012). "Moira Buffini To Write 'The Night Circus' For Summit". Deadline.
  21. Kit, Borys (February 21, 2012). "Summit Taps 'Jane Eyre' Screenwriter to Adapt 'Night Circus' for Big Screen (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
  22. "'Patti Cake$' Helmer Geremy Jasper To Direct 'The Night Circus' For Lionsgate & 'Harry Potter' Producer |". Deadline. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
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