Her use of language in this book is incredible. There is one point where I'm not sure if she uses the word "hovering" in a figurative sense, with the character Celia hesitating before walking through the door, or in a literal sense as in Celia is actually hovering inches above the ground at the doorway. With the premise of magic in the book, it could be either and in that case I'm extremely impressed with her usage of the double meaning.
One thing that really struck me early on is that this is not a loving book at all. It is actually quite disturbing to contemplate the way that the children are treated by their parents/guardians as they're growing up. Celia is sent to live with her father, Prospero the Enchanter, when her mother commits suicide (at least that's what the reader is led to think up until this point - I'm constantly questioning what the truth will end up being for many aspects of the story) and Prospero (given name: Hector) treats her terribly. He doesn't even see her as his daughter, just as a student with great potential to train and send into a challenge against his friend and rival. This rival, Alexander (not his given name, but we don't know what that is yet) adopts a young boy named Marco to train as Celia's challenger and keeps him locked in a room, secluded from the world with only books and training lessons for most of his life. Alexander doesn't even ask Marco's name, not for the ten years that he has so far been Marco's guardian. While the behaviors of both these characters, Hector and Alexander, blow my mind and slightly disturb me, at the same time I am intrigued and hooked into the story because of how unusual and different it is.
The way Morgenstern writes, there are constantly a lot of things that we don't know. As I read, I'm reading more slowly than usual to try and make connections and figure things out, or remember small and seemingly insignificant facts because I think they will be important later on in the book. I love the way she organizes her chapters; for the most part they go in chronological order and jump back and forth to talk about Celia and Marco's experiences, but there are also a few very short chapters included that talk directly to the reader about standing in line for and entering the circus, and there was another chapter that jumped ten years or so ahead of the main story and described one child's experience when the circus came to town. With the lack of consistency that this book displays, you might think that it would be difficult to read and understand. On the contrary, I've found that it makes the story more interesting and gives it a mysterious personality.
Some things I'm wondering right now are:
How old are Hector and Alexander? Their conversation early on suggests that they've been friends for an extremely long time, and I got the sense that they've been around longer than normal human beings would be.
Who is this girl Isobel? Is that her real name and what role will she play in the book, since she seemed to understand Marco's studies so easily?
Was the idea for the Night Circus really Chandresh's (an acquaintance of Alexander's) or did Alexander approach him with it? Obviously, Alexander send Marco to work for Chandresh for a reason, but what's the real connection there?
This book will most likely end up on my "favorite books" shelf when all is said and done.
No comments:
Post a Comment