And so we begin the ambiance section. This small section (it will be two titles) is about books where the overall feeling is what makes the book worth reading. So let's start with:
The night circus is one of what seems to be a growing number of a new fiction subgenre: Circus Fantasy. I'm sure this has been done in the past but circuses seem in vogue in the underground now. But anyway, back to this circus.
The Night Circus is a fantastical creation that is elegant and timeless, possibly literally. It is a secretive machine of people who are dedicated to being part of this elegant machine. And that's about it. If that seems a bit like a perpetual motion of souls then you're spot on. The circus is more about being a kind of circus than actually being a functional circus. It's built up not by what it offers but what is not there. There is a very controlled, small color palette. Sounds are infrequently described leading to a muted feeling. The Night Circus is a place defined by being a roaming void of normality. It's a hole that pulls people out of their lives and out of the mundane.
I hope you're starting to see why this book fits into this section of reviews. The entire novel touches on many lives and how they're affected from visiting or working with the circus but more than that it's just a long presentation of the feeling these people get when they visit. And all of that is conveyed exceptionally well. Once I gave myself over to the general feeling of the book I really enjoyed it. The problem is that I was waiting for the story to kick in for about one hundred fifty pages before I realized what was going on. So keep that in mind when you pick this one up.
The Night Circus is a fantastical creation that is elegant and timeless, possibly literally. It is a secretive machine of people who are dedicated to being part of this elegant machine. And that's about it. If that seems a bit like a perpetual motion of souls then you're spot on. The circus is more about being a kind of circus than actually being a functional circus. It's built up not by what it offers but what is not there. There is a very controlled, small color palette. Sounds are infrequently described leading to a muted feeling. The Night Circus is a place defined by being a roaming void of normality. It's a hole that pulls people out of their lives and out of the mundane.
I hope you're starting to see why this book fits into this section of reviews. The entire novel touches on many lives and how they're affected from visiting or working with the circus but more than that it's just a long presentation of the feeling these people get when they visit. And all of that is conveyed exceptionally well. Once I gave myself over to the general feeling of the book I really enjoyed it. The problem is that I was waiting for the story to kick in for about one hundred fifty pages before I realized what was going on. So keep that in mind when you pick this one up.
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