*Spoilers Within*
I need to start off by saying, as others have, that this book is certainly not for everyone. This isn't a bad thing, though. Clarke has crafted a beautiful novel that reads smoothly for the audience it's geared towards, while it may stump others who are used to the fast-paced, action-packed, romance-ridden novels that have become so popular. It reads like Austen-- so if you're not into Austen, you most likely won't dig this book. That said, if you LOVE Austen (as I do) and also have a great affinity for the fantastic and sometimes ridiculous, this will be right up your alley.
I like to make lists, so that's how I'll review this novel. The things I like best about this novel are:
1) The tone. I have never read an author who sets a tone so beautifully before. Throughout most of the book, the feel of the world she's created is dark and dreary, but the book never feels heavy or weighed down by it. Her dark skies, rainy afternoons, and Perpetual Darkness are balanced artfully with a near constant outflow of humor. Even the darkest moments in the book never feel especially bleak-- at some points in the book she made dreariness seem almost inviting. She could have chosen to make the entire novel be heavy and somber, but she did the exact opposite with it, which I thought was very clever and creative.
2) The humor. As most people have noted in their reviews, Clarke is a master with subtle humor. Her jokes don't beat you over the head and are never inappropriately placed. Most of the laughs come from the very obvious jabs at English propriety. Like Austen, she points out ridiculous human behavior without ever directly saying "humans can be ridiculous."
3) The characters. Clarke doesn't bother to introduce characters who don't serve some kind of purpose. Unlike some other writers (*cough* George R. R. Martin *cough*) Clarke won't mention a name more than a few times if that person doesn't ultimately affect the course of action within the plot. Case in point: Vinculus. At first I thought it was strange that Clarke kept bringing up this particular character's name after it seemed that he would be insignificant, but after reading on I began to realize that every mention of Vinculus' name, and eventually every one of his appearances, was another spoke in the wheel always turning in the direction of the action. All of her characters are illustrated not through descriptions, but through their actions and words. She never outrightly says that Lascelles is a despicable person, but we KNOW he is based on what he says and how he behaves.
4) The villain/the conflict. The gentleman with the thistle down hair! His character reminds me of Christoph Waltz's character in Inglorious Bastards. His attitude throughout the whole novel is just delightful, and yet his appearance in any scene is enough to make your skin crawl. He doesn't exude the typical villain's persona, which is absolutely brilliant, because it makes him even more frightening. And I think it's wonderful that Clarke could have written an entire novel in which good-battles-evil without the opposing forces every really meeting (except for once-- and that was towards the beginning, before the two knew they were enemies,) and even without the opposing forces every really understanding what they were up against. The triumph occurs almost by complete accident, but is all the sweeter because it comes at the hands of Stephen Black--who, I might add, I was rooting more for than any other character in the novel. It was a completely unconventional way of seeing the conflict through to the end.
So there it is. I loved this book- if I didn't know better, I'd have thought that Clarke knew exactly what my tastes were and wrote this book just for me. I loved every word of it, but I wouldn't ask her to to write more of it because it was so perfect just the way it was. If you're a fan of Austen, The Lord of the Rings, and Dickens, then I'd venture to say that this book will be one of your favorites!
That said, throughout the novel I began to cast this in my mind in case a movie or series was ever made based on it. I just like to cast books in my head, so here's what I came up with:
Mr Norrel- Ian Holm
Jonathon Strange - Paul Bettany
Arabella- Anne Hathaway
Lady Pole- Mia Wasikowska
Gentleman With Thistle Down Hair- Jude Law
Stephen Black- Djimon Hounsou
Childermass- Michael Sheen
Vinculus- Tom Hollander
Lascelles- Rupert Everett
Drawlight- John Leguizamo
Miss Greysteel- Justine Waddell
Lord Wellington- Kenneth Branagh
I could cast the whole book but I'll stop there. I'd love it if they made this into a miniseries or something-- but I'd only trust the British to do it justice. (^:
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Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
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Reviews with images
1 lb, 15 oz of Pure Delight
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is one pound, fifteen ounces of pure delight. I only mention the weight because it is long, and if I have any advice to others it is1. By all means, read it! It is an excellent use of your time, and2. Buy the kindle version! (Unless you have some masochistic love of carrying two pound books around.)It's like an historical novel, but the history is completely made up, because it's a fantasy novel. She has footnotes that reference books that never were. It's funny. I had to buy reading glasses to make out the footnotes! (Another reason to get it on kindle.) But whatever hardships I went through to read this book were entirely worth it for the pure entertainment value. The characters are very true to human emotions. The wit is dry.The plot centers around two magicians in England around the time of the Napoleonic wars. They are rivals, and amazing magicians, but also goofy and not all that amazing as people. Mr. Norrell has a simple wish: to be the only magician in England. So, he collects all of the magic books and hides them away, so no one can learn how to do magic. Jonathan Strange has a simple wish: to share magic with everyone in England. Then you throw in the gentleman with the silvery hair, an evil fairy who kidnaps people each evening from England and makes them dance all night in his ballroom of horrors, but whenever they try to tell other people in England about it, everything comes out as nonsense.The true joy in this book is reading all of the little details of the lives of the minor characters. Even the subplots have subplots, and then footnotes. And then more subplots.The TV series is fairly true to the book, but the ending is different. I like the book ending much better. As usual, the book is better all around, with all of its juicy little details.The biggest surprise of all was at the very end, when I read that this was Susanna Clarke's first book. Seriously? She has achieved quite a level of excellence for a first novel. I can't wait to read her second.
Top reviews from other countries
Artur Barretto Lins
Quando a magia retorna, muito ainda há a ser feito.
Reviewed in Brazil on July 13, 2021
Artur Barretto Lins
Reviewed in Brazil on July 13, 2021
Ela consegue unir a pompa superficial da aristocracia e da fleuma inglesas à circunstância de um conto de fantasia, de magia.
Recomendo demais para quem gosta de algo como se Downton Abbey tivesse sido escrita por Neil Gaiman.
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