Two magicians shall appear in England.
The first shall fear me; the second shall long to behold me...
The year is 1806. England is beleaguered by the long war with Napoleon, and centuries have passed since practical magicians faded into the nation's past. But scholars of this glorious history discover that one remains: the reclusive Mr Norrell whose displays of magic send a thrill through the country. Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician: the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange. Young, handsome and daring, Strange is the very opposite of Norrell. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms the one between England and France. And their own obsessions and secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine.
This is a long one. The copy I have is 846 pages long.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is a unique book in that it was written in the twenty-first century, yet reads as if it was written in the nineteenth, something the author did deliberately. It almost reads as a love letter to the writers and the literature of the nineteenth century. It is a pastiche of the works of the time in which this novel takes place. It was an enjoyable callback to the novels of the time, even down to the writing style and use of words in the way they would have been used (i.e.: chuse, surprize).
This book is not a quick read. I started this book on August 7, and it is now August 20, so just one day shy of two weeks. This is a novel that demands you take your time with, which is fine. I feel like in this case, it's better to take your time with it rather than inhale-read it. That way you get more out of it and things are not so rushed. The thing about this book is that if you don't take your time and speed-read your way through, you miss tidbits of information. There are plenty of footnotes in this book (I'll get more into that later), and they involve pivotal information so it's best that you read them too. While the page count is a bit daunting, I think it needs to be this long so Susanna Clarke can convey and get across everything she needs to. All that being said, however, there were times were this book ... wandered and strayed a little bit.
This book was good, not great, in my opinion. I liked the concept and thought the characters were fine. Clarke has a strong writing voice, and her attention to detail is impeccable. The number of footnotes and references is astounding. I could have done with fewer or shorter footnotes (some of them go on for a few pages), but again, I think ultimately, they were necessary for the type of story she was aiming for. The wit is there, it's well-detailed, and has a great concept. Alternative history is something that always intrigues me, and she does well in making hers work.
People either love this book or hate it. I think it all boils down to taste. I liked this book well enough, I thought it was fine, but I liked By Gaslight better. It has some great observations, great writing, and excellent attention to detail. The backstory in this is incredible, and I have to give Susanna Clarke major kudos for mapping out a meticulous backstory with such rich detail. That for me was the highlight of this book. If you like slow, meandering novels with a lot of backstory, then you will probably like this book. As I said, this is a book that deserves time and attention and should be read slowly.
Ultimately Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell didn't pull me in as much as I wanted it to. While the writing, concept, and detailed history/background that Clarke created were all incredibly meticulous and sharp, it didn't completely hold my attention all the way through. I found it was a bit too long to get to the climax, and could have done without as many footnotes as there are, while at the same time, I understand why it is this long, as it covers a decade or more of time. I liked how she paid homage to the writers of the nineteenth century, which made it all the more atmospheric. I am going to give Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell 3.5/5 - I thought it was fine, and if you like books like this, you would probably enjoy this book.
No comments:
Post a Comment