Book-a-book of the Month Club discussion

A discussion of the characters in The Night Circus.

I like how the book spans time and the characters grow and change. The characters start off separate and random as begin to intersect as the book develops. I don't want to say too much, but I really love this book!

There are a lot of characters and I am having trouble keeping them all in order. But, that may have to do more with the fact that I am reading 6 books at once right now! :)

One thing I love about this book, that might annoy me in other books but just seems right here, is that all the characters are somewhat mysterious, remain mysterious throughout, and continue to be mysterious after the story is over. In this case, I am enjoying the questions that I am left with instead of being frustrated that all was not revealed.

I would agree, Matthew. I'm not usually a fan of so much mystery. This book is just the right amount. Bailey was one character that I had to keep asking myself, why is he important?

It sort of fit with the idea that the characters themselves are aware of a lot the things going on, but not really able to pull all the pieces together the way they want.

I did find it hard to connect with any of the characters because of this fact. Even the main characters never really felt like friends. Which I guess made it easier, when I think about it. I think in a book when you become invested in the well-being of a character you want more to figure things out. This book was more like a soft idea of characters and people and much more focused on the "business" of running the circus. So the mysterious characters seemed fitting.

I had a hard time letting go of the idea that magic needed to at least make sense. Once I did I began to really like the characters more and even enjoyed reading about the characters I disliked. My impression of the story usually colors how I feel about individuals. I often wish I had encountered certain characters in better books, but not here.

Kandice wrote: "I had a hard time letting go of the idea that magic needed to at least make sense."

I like this statement. I have run into books that the magic does not make sense and it drives me crazy to the point I have given up (i.e. The Dresden Files). However, here it did not bother me too much. I cannot really put my finger on it, but I guess that some people just write magic better than others.

I agree that it is all about the way author writes it. As is so often the case, it's not what is said as much as how it's said!