Well, I suppose this is what always happens...I neglect my blog for a period of time and then realize that I need to come up with something insightful to see about books I read months ago. Why do I continually do this to myself?All the way back in January, I read Robert B. Parker's first novel, The Godwulf Manuscript. I came across it when I was reading the Amazon reviews for Painted Ladies last year; a couple of reviewers had praised it, but to be honest, I didn't think it was all that great. The Godwulf Manuscript and Painted Ladies tread the same basic ground -- a priceless work of art is stolen, college students are involved, Spenser continues with his search even after he's removed from the case -- and neither of them held all that many surprises. There's not a plot twist in either -- the person who seems guilty is, in fact, guilty.
I'm not going to mention the third book I read this year -- it was a biography that I read in the course of research for a project, and it wasn't terribly well-done. And besides, it's not relevant to these here discussions.
In February, despite my crazy job, I managed to read Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus, which I enjoyed and also sports a kickass cover. Morgenstern's debut novel is about two "magicians," Celia and Marco, who are pitted against each other in a contest by their teachers but don't initially know it -- the venue is the Cirque des Reves, a magical circus that moves from place to place unexpectedly, enchanting its patrons. There's a subplot about an ordinary boy named Bailey, who ends up befriending two twins who live in the circus, that really reminded me of Neil Gaiman's Stardust, I think because Bailey and Stardust's main character, Tristran, have the same sort of innocent hope.
I found the world of The Night Circus entrancing -- Morgenstern's descriptions are quite vivid, and her imaginings of the different kinds of magical exhibits Celia, especially, comes up with were incredibly creative. The plot was a little weaker, though. With this kind of a set-up, I expected a much more epic story, with greater stakes -- a life-or-death situation for the two contestants -- but it was never really like that, and nothing was ever terribly urgent. As Laura Miller wrote in Salon, "Plot is this novel’s flimsiest aspect, however, serving mostly as a pretext for presenting readers with a groaning board of imaginative treats," which I think sums up the novel well. But despite this, overall, I still enjoyed the time I spent inside the world of The Night Circus.
