Enchanted Night: A Novella ~Steven Millhauser
–published 2009
–Crown Publishers
–109 pages
–4.75/5 stars
‘Tis a dangerous thing to journey into the realm of a book blogger as ’tis easy to be ensnared by the lure of enticing books. Such was my peril when I recently came across this review by my friend Chris. When he wrote “Millhauser’s writing is something that is just a pure gift to readers”, I was hooked.
Enchanted Night is an all-too-brief glimpse into the magical and mysterious events that happen to a handful of residents in a small Connecticut town on a particular hot summer moonlit night. As darkness is pierced by the almost-full moon, strange forces begin to work on a group of people and inanimate objects in seemingly random, unconnected ways. Millhauser weaves these diverse elements into a cohesive though unconventional story, a story with its own set of dangers and mysteries yet filled with such beauty that it is nigh unto impossible to put this book down.
In Enchanted Night, Steven Millhauser introduces characters and situations in brief (sometimes one paragraph) stories that build upon themselves and ultimately each other as the night unfolds. Individual “chapters” are sometimes less than a page long, seldom more than one or two pages, which lends itself to a quick read because of the temptation to read “just one more”.
In the light of the moon a mannequin begins to feel stirrings of life, children hear the siren song of an unknown player. 5 code-named teenage girls break into people’s houses and leave notes announcing “WE ARE YOUR DAUGHTERS”. Attic toys suddenly spring to life, a 14 year old girl believes the only place she can feel free is on the moon. A single man who lives with his mother discovers himself having an unexpected adventure. These and other even more eccentric story lines dominate a book that one cannot help but find, as Chris did, enchanting.
I have mentioned before that I am a fan of short stories which has lead to a great enjoyment of many novels that are structured as a short story collection with an overall arching story line. When Chris described it as such, I was intrigued. The night setting, which reminded me of Murakami’s book, After Dark, clinched it for me. Many is the time that I’ve taken a walk after dark and a story placed in this setting requires very little imaginative power on my part to place me right there in the thick of it. With Millhauser’s concise yet insightful descriptions I found it easy to feel that hot night air, to see the town in the moon’s glow, to hear the insects creating their night music.
The players in this little drama are all very interesting and the stories that Millhauser tells are unlike anything I have previously read. The fantastical is handled so matter-of-factly that nothing about this feels as implausible as it should. I suspect that multiple readings of this book would give the reader a new perspective on the individual characters each time through.
I was thoroughly impressed with this, my first experience with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Steven Millhauser. I ensured it would not be my last by promptly borrowing his short story collection, Dangerous Laughter, from the library this evening. Enchanted Night is indeed enchanting. It is a magical, fitting Once Upon a Time IV Challenge book and one I highly encourage you to pick up and read…soon! Steven Millhauser captures the imagination with idiosyncratic romance, small-town nostalgia, and touches of whimsy mixed liberally with an edge fitting of a story that takes place all in darkness.
Chris says in his review: “Call me crazy, but I so wanted to just go lie in the grass in my backyard after reading this one and soak in the moonlight”. I don’t consider you crazy at all, because all I thought about as I finished the book this afternoon is that I couldn’t wait until it got dark so I could take a late night stroll. To my bitter disappointment, the weather has not cooperated and soon after the sun sank down the rain rolled in. I will be paying homage to the book with an enchanted night of my own very soon.
Thank you, Chris, this book is a real winner!
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This book is a selection for the:
2010 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge
and the
2010 Reading Challenge, in the Who Are You Again? category
and
I read this last year and loved it. It was so strange, not at all what I was expecting when I went into it, but even after a year I still think about it sometimes. It was my second book by MIlhauster, as I’d read The Barnum Museum (collection of stories) before that. One of my favorite short stories – A Game of Clue – is from that collection.
Oh, I’m definitely going to have to read this! I love plots that weave several different stories into one.
I looked for this at both B&N and Borders, but neither had it in stock, so I ordered it from the library. If Chris hadn’t already sold me, you most surely would have! I can’t wait for it to get here. 😀
Debi: that’s what I did too. I want to own a copy of it now, though. I’ll have to keep my eyes out at Half Price books as I have sincere doubts that my local bookstores have it in stock. I think you’ll really enjoy it.
Paper: It great fun, I hope you enjoy it.
Amanda: It was very strange, in a good way, and I agree with you that it was not what one would expect. I just read the first story, Cat and Mouse, in his Dangerous Laughter collection last night and thought it was outstanding.
sounds interesting, i’ve placed both it and “The Barnum Museum” on my wishlist with Paperback Book Swap. Richard R. was right! that site is a delight to my bookloving soul!
This sounds great. Thanks for the review and recommendation!
This sounds very interesting indeed. The chains may not have it, but Amazon does, and several other of his books as well as books-on-tape. I’ll go the PB Swap route too, so I’ll be right behind SGist on the list.
Richard: I would be very interested in your thoughts on this one. And I really need to get off my butt and sign up for the PB Swap thing.
Logan: you are welcome.
SGist: If I enjoy Dangerous Laughter as much as I did Enchanted Night then I imagine I’ll be adding Barnum Museum to my list as well. I also really like the film, The Illusionist, which was based on his novel Eisenheim the Illusionist, and I would be interested in reading that as well.
My mouth is watering…another book from you for my teetering plate, and I was on a book diet.. sweet cover!
You’re not the only one to fall foul of Chris’ bad-blogginess 😉 I’ve got this one being winging it’s way to me via the Book Depository as we speak!
Darren: Yes, Chris is one of many bad places to visit unless you go in pre-determined to succumb to temptation.
Shellie: I’m sorry, but you know going to a book blogger’s site while on a book diet is the equivalent of taking a bath in chocolate sauce when you are on a no-sugar diet! 🙂
Where, exactly, was this review by Chris that got you started with this book?
If you click on “this review” in my post above it will take you directly to Chris’ review of the book.
Ah, I see it now. Sure wish the links were a different color, or underlined or something. Thanks very much.
Me too Richard. I’ve tried to mess with this template some but it hasn’t worked out well. I need to go back to putting (click here) after things that are links just to make it more obvious, I guess.
I’d want to read this just for the cover! And the plot sounds wonderful too. Hopefully my library will have it.
Jenny: I’m so glad you mentioned the cover. I was very neglectful in my review in not mentioning how much I loved this cover. And it actually ties in very well with the stories, which makes it even more fun.
This sounds lovely. We don’t have this title at work, but we have two others by Millhauser so I must take a look at them
I love the cover and the book sounds like a lot of fun. I’ll have to check and see if my library has it.
This sounds really good and I love the cover! I wish the library had it. 🙁
Kailana: It was a delight to read, I too wish your library had it! Are you through with the de Lint book yet? I’m almost there, should be ready to actually send you questions on the 15th. Should we plan to post our reviews/questions on the 19th?
Jeff S: The cover is very fun, I keep forgetting to look up the artist to see if they have any more work online.
Fence: I’ve read three of the stories from one of his short story collections and am really impressed with them as well. Looks like I’ve found a new author to add to my list.
oh I love this book it’s so magical! I don’t remember how I first came across it, but if I had to guess I’d say I probably initially picked it up solely based on the cover – which I also love. I’ve had it propped up and displayed on my shelf for years now. I think it’s time to pick it up and read it again 🙂
Melissa: It is certainly the kind of book whose cover makes you want to take it home and display it. I found myself turning back to look at the cover several times during the reading of the book. I plan to read it again before returning it to the library and I will for sure be tracking down a copy of this to own.
This sounds amazing. And I love the title of that other collection…Dangerous Laughter. Looks like I’ll be tabbing over to my library’s catalog as soon as I hit “submit” and requesting both of these books.
I’ve read a number of Steven Millhauser’s books and enjoyed all of them. He’s a very quirky writer!
“Quirky” is a really good word, George, fits perfectly with what I have read of his thus far.
I’ve read this book maybe ten times over the years (I think it was published in 1999 not 2009). I went looking for it again recently and couldn’t find it anywhere in my house. I suspect that someone snuck in in the middle of the night and stole it. Millhauser can be an acquired taste, I’d suggest to find his collection of short stories “In the Penny Arcade”. The last story “Cathay” is really beautiful.
Tim: I read his short story collection, Dangerous Laughter, not long after reading Enchanted Night and really enjoyed it, so I’ll definitely be checking out more of his short fiction. I am really hoping this one comes my way for my birthday or Christmas this year as I really want to add it to my personal collection as multiple re-reads of this book are in my future.
Best wishes for your birthday (or Christmas) Carl. You’ve identified what I think is best about Millhauser; his work bears repeated reading. Warm regards.
Thanks Tim, best wishes for your Christmas as well. It has been a long time since I’ve read a book that wowed me so much that I immediately turned around and read it again.