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cristinaro wrote: ↑13 May 2018, 10:02

Vlinstry wrote: ↑01 May 2018, 11:32 Still reading the book but I can say that I have always found the circus life so alluring. I am a weird one because I don't actually like going to what most people think of as the circus as I am terrified of clowns, but I do love the more traditional cirucus' with the ideas being centred around misfits and the strange, yet wonderful. I love the pull of the circus. I love that it seems like a way of escaping the every day. It looks like it is a way to be part of a faimily and to bring joy to lots of other people at the same time.

Once I have finished the book I will be able to answer your other questions.

I don't find clowns so amusing either, yet I used to go to the circus and I am still going sometimes. It's interesting you mentioned misfits and the strange in connection with the circus. There is this novel I have read - The Gaze by Elif Shafak. It's about the weird love affair between an obese woman and a dwarf. In a magical realist sort of way, all kinds of other characters emerge. In the past, one of these characters has the idea of building up a cherry-colored tent where women come to see the ugliest creature and men come to see the most beautiful girl in the world. It's all connected to people's "gaze", voyeurism, prejudice, self-sufficiency, the readiness to judge, etc.

chelhack wrote: ↑12 Jun 2018, 03:08 You have some very good questions...

I believe that the image of circus life is underrated or not really seen nor thought of as more than what meets the eye. Which to me actually before reading this book was merely entertainment purpose and or value. Most of the time in my own perspective when seeing a circus worker/performer they seemed to have that own the road living look about themselves but not much more had to perform/entertainers, on the road living, here a couple of days then pack up and heading to the next venue. So to answer that question in my own opinion I do not believe that they are seen in the light of just everyday humans beings some with good hearts good intentions, some with deformities that have come to accept their fate and use that to provide entertainment.

I would still go to the circus and take my daughter if they happen to be in our area and even though this is a fiction book, I believe that I will appreciate it more in some ways

P0tt3ry wrote: ↑01 May 2018, 09:56 The circus has always fascinated me because it seems to be a foreign country that travels from place to place. My father was a carnie during his teens and early twenties. He'd entertain us with stories of the behind-the-scene aspects of tear-down and set-up, including the mishaps. I visualized a close family on a constant adventure. The book described circus life but not in-depth. I wanted to know more about the Duke's circus family and was disappointed that people he was close to just disappeared from the story. Duke was an adrenaline junky and sword swallowing, with the constant chance of death, satisfied the itch. Adding more and more acts struck me as a way for him to find new ways to achieve the adrenaline high.