The Night Circus - Discussion

[mischiefmama]

The Circus arrives without warning...

1.  Who was your favorite supporting character?  Why?  Were you pulling for one competitor over the other?

2.  If you could add one tent to the circus, containing anything, what would it be?  Describe it.  

3. Chandresh is portrayed as a brilliant and creative perfectionist at the beginning of the novel, yet he slowly unravels as the competition matures. Is Chandresh merely a puppet of the competition—solely used for his ability to provide a venue for the competition—or do his contributions run deeper?

4.  Poppet and Widget are especially affected by the lighting of the bonfire. How crucial are their “specialties” to the ongoing success of the circus?

5.  How do you feel about Celia and Marco's exit from the competition?  Was there a winner?  

6.  Celia tells Bailey that he is “not destined or chosen” to be the next proprietor of the circus. He is simply “in the right place at the right time…and care enough to do what needs to be done. Sometimes that’s enough.” In this situation, is that “enough?” Can the responsibility of maintaining the circus be trusted to just anyone, or unlike Celia suggests, is Bailey truly special?

7.  Did you send an email?  If the circus came to your town, would you visit?



(some questions from litlovers.com)

[mischiefmama]

I'll go first!

1. Mr Barris is my favorite! he's a straight-laced, square of a man, engineer yet somehow he is the one to realize there is something magical happening, and instead of being afraid he embraces it and uses it to his own advantage. As for the competitors I thought Celia would win the entire time.

2. I would want to build a tent that was full of snow, but you were never cold. You could build sculptures and have snowball fights, but not feel the cold or get wet.

3. I think Chandresh is a very important puppet. At the beginning he is integral to the start of the circus/competition, and without him being the face of it I think things would have crumbled. But in the end he is still a puppet.

4. I think Poppet and Widget are EXTREMELY important to the circus, and fear for the circus when they grow old themselves. The magic working at the start of the circus seems to have almost made them/given them their powers, and as such the circus ensured it's own survival.

5. I love/hate their exit. You can get all romantic with it and say they chose each other over everything else (literally), but at the same time if they can do in that state what was hinted at near the end of the book, are they really freed from the competition? Frankly I was a little confused by it. I don't think one could be declared a winner.

6. Bailey is truly special in that he does care enough to do what's right. He isn't special to the circus (like Poppet or Widget) but he is special. I agree with Celia though, in that he is in the right place at the right time. Should Herr Thiesen have been around (or perhaps some other Reveurs) I'm sure they would have done the same thing. People like that are special in our society though.

7. I've sent several, nothing but the same form letter reply from the author acting as Bailey's assistant. Even tried to email celia@nightcircus (or whatever it was) but no reply there. If the circus came to town I would buy tickets to go every night!

[mischiefmama]

@justinslovo Thiessen was my second favorite! I have a soft spot in my heart for Germany (for no reason) and I could just imagine them there in his workshop.

Your tent idea is awesome! I can just see it, you step inside and there is some sort of message asking you to do something simple like take off your shoes and suddenly you're floating!

[mischiefmama]

Yeah where are all the readers!?!?!?

[mischiefmama]

I need to figure out if anyone has either of the winning books they can send me electronically... Did we pick winner yet?

[mischiefmama]

I think two works well when they are different types/genres as they aren't all interesting to some, but at the same time participation this month has been so outstanding maybe we should limit to one?

[ashtog]

1. Who was your favorite supporting character? Why? Were you pulling for one competitor over the other?

I also loved Herr Friedrick Thiessen.I loved how he became so obsessed with the circus and created the reveurs, I love that he raced home and wrote everything down that he could remember to have something tangible. I have felt that way about things in my life too, where even taking a picture isn't enough. I was devastated and audibly gasped when he died, it just seemed so extremely unfair. why couldn't it have been Isobel?? I was rooting and hoping for Celia to win! But I am romantic at heart and wanted there to be a romntic gesture, which there was. but it wasn't quite what I wanted.

2. If you could add one tent to the circus, containing anything, what would it be? Describe it.
I would have have a tent where you could see loved ones who had passed before you. Not actually seeing them in the afterlife or anything like that, but sort of the moving picture idea from Harry Potter, just a little more elaborate. it would be based on your imagination, so if say your mom died when you were 10 you could choose to see her as your memory imagines she would look and sound and smell and feel how you think she would.

3. Chandresh is portrayed as a brilliant and creative perfectionist at the beginning of the novel, yet he slowly unravels as the competition matures. Is Chandresh merely a puppet of the competition—solely used for his ability to provide a venue for the competition—or do his contributions run deeper?

I thought Chandresh was more integral in the beginning until it should that Alexander and Marco were really pulling the strings, then I saw him as a puppet. I'm glad that poppet cleared his mind for him again, and I loved the scene where he figured out that things were not quite right about Marco and the circus. But yeah, I think he was just the cheque book.

4. Poppet and Widget are especially affected by the lighting of the bonfire. How crucial are their “specialties” to the ongoing success of the circus?

I loved Poppet and Widget. I too feel that the story would have been dramatically different if they hadn't been born when they were or with their powers. I loved that the lighting of the bonfire cast a spell over everyone involved in the circus and the two who were just arriving. The circus couldn't be without them, although that is in large part because of Celia tangling so much of herself in the circus. but if they weren't magical too when she left they wouldn't be able to do anything and the circus would fall apart.

5. How do you feel about Celia and Marco's exit from the competition? Was there a winner?

I personally love romanticism, but I was disappointed in how they left the competition. I think they both lost, as yes they are now trapped in the circus forever. yes they are together, but I think that there could have been a more clever way around it. Or Celia would have sacrificed herself as was planned and Marco would have destroyed Alexander and trapped him some place and then faded away himself. OR Bailey could have made his wish on the wishing tree that he would have made it to the circus on time that night, and then whatever could have happened so Celia and Marco could be together would have worked. So many options, and the book was so incredible, that I was disappointed with how they chose to end that part.

6. Celia tells Bailey that he is “not destined or chosen” to be the next proprietor of the circus. He is simply “in the right place at the right time…and care enough to do what needs to be done. Sometimes that’s enough.” In this situation, is that “enough?” Can the responsibility of maintaining the circus be trusted to just anyone, or unlike Celia suggests, is Bailey truly special?

I didn't think Bailey was really special in any way either. I thought somehow he would save Poppet, which in a way he does, but I think it could have been anyone. I still honestly don't really understand why Poppet or widget couldn't have been made the proprietor of the circus themselves?

7. Did you send an email? If the circus came to your town, would you visit?

It didn't even occur to me that I could email lol. I might have to try that later

Oh I would hang out there from open to close every night. I would get very little sleep and my clients would hate me, but whatevs. it's only a few nights a week

[ashtog]

mischiefmama and @justinslovo I love your tent ideas as well! and yes Barris was great too, I liked how he was just so accepting of the magic and not at all skeptic or judg-y. that was cool

((sorry I am only now just getting on- I had a lot to do when I got back today- there was no time for forum checking until just now ))