rameau's ramblings

This book is fools gold. It's pretty and it glimmers but there's absolutely nothing of worth inside. Because Lucy already did the "let's take the blurb and point out each and every lie in it" review, I'm just going to say this—maybe more later maybe not, but for now this:I did like many of the storytelling methods Morgenstern used. I liked the nonlinearity (see spoiler below), I liked the detailed description of the world, and I did even like some of the characters. What I didn't like was that all that beauty and theoretic storytelling genius was wasted on something as pointless, plotless, and wholly worthless endeavour as this story of a night circus. It's like looking at a beautiful spread of canvas thinking "I want that, I bet there's treasure inside" only to find out what you've been looking is a hot air balloon that'll occasionally waft a little warm air at your direction.For Blodeuedd:These are the place and setting details from the beginning of each chapter (I removed the spoilery notes I made for myself):NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 1873London October 1873London January 1874Magic lessons, 1875-1880London, May-June 1884July-November 1884London December 1884Concorde, Massachusetts, September 1897London, February 1885New York, March 1885London, September 1885Munich 1885London, April 1886x2Concord, Massachusetts, October 1902PART IILondon, October 13 and 14, 1886x2x3Concord, Massachusetts, October 19021887-1889Lyon, September 1889Cairo, November 1890Paris, May 1891London, September 18911891-1892September-December 1893Vienna, January 1894Prague, March 1894Concord, Massachusetts, October 1902Barcelona, November 1894London, April 1895Munich, April 1895Celia meets FriedrickGlasgow, April 1895Concord, Massachusetts, October 1902London, August 1896London, Friday, October 13, 1899PART IIIMarco makes many unbelievable claims, quits the game, and storms outConcord, Massachusetts, October 1902London, March 1900London, Basel, and Constantinople 1900Dublin, June 1901Concord, Massachusetts, October 30, 1902London, October 30, 1901London, October 31–November 1, 1901Concord, Massachusetts, October 31, 1902London, October 31–November 1, 1901Concord, Massachusetts, October 30 and 31, 1902London, November 1, 19012xPART IV3xEn route from London to Munich, November 1, 1901Concord and Boston, October 31, 1902Montreal, August 1902September 1902En route from Boston to New York, October 31, 19022xLondon, October 31, 1902New York, November 1, 1902New York, October 31, 1902New York, November 1, 19022x3xPART VLondon, December 1902Paris, January 1903