Betsy’s Comments (group member since May 07, 2013)

Betsy’s comments from the Unbound: A Book Club group.

Absolutely, Maureen. As long as our hero Bailey can sustain it...

I absolutely agree that much of this novel was undeveloped. I think the way Morgenstern tried to develop her use of time drained away the power of many characters. A linear timeframe would have allowed greater development and we could see the development of Bailey from spectator to participant.

First, sorry! I logged on at 8 pm my time, when it should have been 7. My clock is wonky right now! If the circus continued today, I don't think it could continue in much of the western world. The magic of the circus seems to hinge on the ability of the viewers to accept and participate in each tent. Trying to figure out the cloud tent or the ice tent would prevent people from embracing it fully. Then again, a space to embrace magic without pressure to explain the how, might be a much needed space for our society.

Yes, Shawn! "The going to the circus as the reader" was very aggravating. Breaking into passive voice every once in awhile to address the reader really broke-up the novel for me and at first ruined any sense of magic she created for me. I have finished the novel and I can say that the passive voice slows greatly (to be replaced by the boy slightly in the future...though he is pivotal to the circus in the end). Speaking of slightly to the future, the time jumps get to be a burden as well. I know some reviewers felt she "broke literary boundaries" with her use of language, but I feel she didn't quite pull it of (telling two(ish) stories simultaneously through these time jumps and switching to the storytelling, passive voice). I think linear would have been more effective since the mystic feeling she was trying to achieve would be stronger without these interruptions. I also have strong opinions about the conclusion, but I will save that for the discussion. I did end up enjoying the story and the sense of magic in the circus, but it was dampened by the end.

Update from me: After the awkward "Anticipation" section of this novel, I read on and have yet to get into this novel. I am definitely reading it as a forced assignment right now. Maybe I need to take a step back. The writing is odd, when reading it, I feel like a moody teenager or English Lit undergrad stayed up way too late writing one weekend.

Tiffany wrote: "I'm planning to start tonight too. I have the same question as Kelly, is there a timeline?"

Hi Tiffany! Thank you for asking! We completely forgot about putting our timeline. We will have our final discussion on June 22.

Kelly wrote: "Getting it tonight! Do we have a date we need to finish it by or a schedule for reading or anything? Sorry, I'm new to online book clubs!"

Hi Kelly! We will have our final discussion on June 22. Thank you for asking!

Right now our final discussion is scheduled for June 22. We will also host a midway discussion the first week of June (date yet to be determined). We'll be sure to post all the dates on here and get a timeline up and running. We will also post questions and thoughts as we read. We encourage you all to do so as well! You can post here or on our FB group. Thank you Kelly and Tiffany for reminding us to post our timeline! What were we thinking?!

Have you started reading "The Night Circus" yet? What are your initial thoughts? The first line gave me the shivers. What type of circus arrives without warning? Maybe it is a circus from Ray Bradbury, like the carnival in "Something Wicked This Way Comes."

I'm at the end of the third book in Elizabeth Chadwick's William Marshall series, The Scarlet Lion. Great historical fiction series!