The Night Circus

 Every October I think about a book. I am not in a time in my life where I can read this book every single October but it definitely lives rent-free in my head for most of the month. It's a book that I love very much partially because I love the story but also partly because of how much it evokes all things I love about the month of October. 

I don't mean to get all basic B, pumpkin spice latte on you. It's more than just apples and pumpkins and witches. October is a definite feeling. The weather changes rapidly so that in one day it can be gray, cloudy, cool and also bright, sunny, and warm. The month starts with all of this rich autumnal color and ends with dead, barren trees. The nights creep up on you so you are eating dinner with darkness all around you; but it's exciting because there's paper ghosts flying in trees and carved pumpkins on everyone's doorstep. There's a festivity in the air that is electric. 

The book The Night Circus perfectly captures this October mood. I love thinking about it (if not reading it) in the month of October. The centerpiece of the book is indeed a magical, mystical circus that "arrives without warning", as the book tells us. It is all in black and white and smells of popcorn and caramel. The author of the book, Erin Morgenstern, is superb at creating atmospheres so that you feel like you are truly experiencing the circus. I've never had a book take me to a place as deeply as this book does.

A strange quality of the book is how much I remember the mood, scents, images, etc. of the story while the actual plot eludes my memory even after having read it 4 or 5 times. I can sort of remember the main characters and I know they are in a duel of some kind. I know the side characters are unaware of what is going on but also bound to what is going on. But outside of that I could not recount specific details of the plot. 

This makes me want to read it all the more. The circus arrives without warning and when it leaves people usually forget what happened there. They can't describe it beyond the basic feeling of it. Much like the book for me, and October for everyone.