As one of the top ten books of 2004 on several book lists, I thought Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke would be fabulous for this month. I'm reading it right now, and if you love Jane Austen's books, you'll love this. It combines her comedy-of-manners style with a twist of the fantastic. Mr. Norrell is the only practical magician in 19th century England (the other magicians are theoretical--they read books and philosophize about magic) and quickly climbs into the elite of London because of his skills. Then along comes Mr. Strange, a practical magician that appears out of nowhere, and Mr. Norrell takes him as a pupil. But Mr. Strange isn't content with the conservative magic that Mr. Norrell performs. He delves into more dangerous magic as he learns about the Raven King--the most powerful magician in English history.
A word to the wise: if you want to read this for March, get crackin'. It's 700+ pages, and if your schedules are anything like mine, it could take a while.
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Well, I finished this monstrosity. And I quite liked it. It took a little while for me to get into it (by the first 100 pages I thoroughly detested Norrell--what a weenie--and where the heck was Strange? And I have never seen such extravagant abuse of the footnote. I believe the one that begins on pg 240 is the longest one I've ever seen--but the book doesn't take itself too seriously, so I guess it can get away with that). It was a bit long, wasn't it? And meandering...but that is part of its charm, I suppose.
I really liked so many of the characters, and the way the relationship between man and magic worked in this world. Stephen Black was a favorite, and Strange, and definitely Childermass. And I really liked the nature of Strange's curse, and the mad catwoman, all that. Other than that, I don't have anything deep or coherent to add, you know, like, I LIKED it, that's all, you know? Though I don't think I'll be reading it again any time soon...
I liked it, too. I bought the book because I was so taken with the language and the idea. I loved the much-abused footnotes. And I really loved the Duke of Wellington's role.
But was it ever meandering! I had the feeling that Susanna Clarke probably loved the concept, but had some trouble framing a plot with which to display it. I didn't feel the book ever veers into incoherence, but I sensed that, by the end, the author was struggling to bring it all together. And I can't blame her--anyone would struggle with that much material. I was unsatisfied by the way in which the Raven King thread was resolved. Shouldn't there be more to it? Something more once-and-future-king-ish? Or am I just too demanding?
I too loved the language--it made the book so enjoyable to read. The twists of language, irony, and sarcasm were great. And I had mixed feelings about the footnotes. Some I really enjoyed, others I thought were a bother.
The story was fun, but I too wanted more to come of the Raven King plot line. With all the building up around it throughout the book, I just expected more than his brief appearance toward the end. But that may be nitpicking.
Not too profound a book--just talking about vanity and arrogance and what comes of it, but nothing new. Just fun to read.
Suzanne, you are NOT too demanding. You'd think, after wading through THAT much book, you'd come to quite a whopping climax of some sort. Bringing magic back to England is nice, of course, but it's not big enough for a book that fat. It needed to be more along the lines of the Raven King coming back to England and then deciding that Napoleon had the right idea, and he decides to take over the world, etc. It was a little unsatisfactory that after reading so much, you find that the King's Book is rewritten with a new prophecy and that the King hasn't come back at all. Perhaps he'll come back for WWII...
But I can't say I was bothered by the lack of resloution or presence of the Raven King. Somewhere around pg 200 I decided not to expect too much from the book, so by the end, I was pleasantly surprised that she managed to do what she did. And I really liked the mad catwoman thing. Did I mention that already? And the Eternal Night?
There are other books, however, that I have never learned to forgive for falling a little short at the end. Huckleberry Finn, for example. Or The Color Purple. The Other Wind (shudder). And have you ever read anything by Patricia McKillip? (She writes fantasy, too.) Every time, I feel so let down.
I like the idea of the Napoleonizing of the Raven King. Bringing magic back to England was nice, but it was also done within the first couple pages. (Well, maybe a little later than that. But not much.) It felt like the Raven King copped out--he had really meant to make an appearance, but his schedule conflicted. Or he had acid reflux. Or he was in detox in Mexico. You know.
I have to say, it was a bit more of a disappointment to me. I read it overnight, and when you get out of the bathtub to find out that the sun has actually risen while you've been reading (let me tell you, it was a nasty shock; I'd figured it was about 3 am) and you still have 150 pages left . . . well, you want the compulsive reading to end with a nice, well-shaped bang. And it didn't. When I finished, I thought, "Here it is, nine in the morning, I haven't slept, I have that weird stomach ache o' fatigue, and WHAT WAS THAT WITH THE RAVEN KING?"
And then I went to bed.
I don't do that very often. The book caught me, obviously; I loved the characters, loved the idea, loved the writing--loved everything but the plot.
I adored the Cat Woman. The idea, I mean, not the character herself, who was creepy as heck. The Eternal Night didn't do much for me, mostly because I was getting a little short-tempered with the fairy guy's messing around. Didn't he have other hobbies? Wasn't there a whole other world out there that he could be inhabiting?
I guess I was disappointed because the Raven King was a symbol ripe with a thousand possibilities, and I wanted one of them to tie the book together.
Oh, and Wynne, I'm SOOOOO with you on the Huck Finn thing.
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