Author: Erin Morgenstern
The Night Circus has a writing style that left me enchanted by every word. The experience of reading this book was like watching a well-choreographed, one-of-a-kind performance. Morgenstern excels at visual imagery and creating a mysterious, magical mood that made me feel like I was walking through the circus myself.
summary
Le Cirque des Rêves shows up with no prior notice and opens only at night. The masterminds behind this spectacle? Two illusionists with diametrically opposed philosophies and an eccentric but oblivious theatrical producer with a penchant for midnight parties. Each illusionist places his bet on a prodigious student trained solely to win a duel of time, patience, and endurance in the extravagant venue. The two opponents’ stories unfold with flourishes of magic and a gradually intensifying romance.
thoughts
- This book made me interested in tarot again and consequently pick up Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom
- Absolutely exquisite writing style that left me in wonderment with each word
quotes
People see what they wish to see. And in most cases, what they are told that they see. – p. 33
Chandresh relishes reactions. Genuine reactions, not mere polite applause. He often values the reactions over the show itself. A show without an audience is nothing, after all. In the response of the audience, that is where the power of performance lives. – p. 57
but wishes on sheep appear to work no better than wishes on stars. – p. 114
The past stays on you the way powdered sugar stays on your fingers. Some people can get rid of it but it’s still there, the events and things that pushed you to where you are now. – p. 263
Someone needs to tell those tales. When the battles are fought and won and lost, when the pirates find their treasures and the dragons eat their foes for breakfast with a nice cup of Lapsang souchong, someone needs to tell their bits of overlapping narrative. There’s magic in that. It’s in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be different, and it will affect them in ways they can never predict. From the mundane to the profound. You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone’s soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words. – p. 505