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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
I admit that I am not the typical reader, in that I actually enjoyed reading Jane Austen in high school English....
But I vibed with this hard. Full review probably incoming, later.
OK attempt at writing down why this book Vibed with me.
There are two very different halves of the novel, in my opinion, in terms of tone and topic, and they appealed to me in different ways.
Half 1:
A pastiche of Austen's Regency-era comedy of manners, where the titular Mr. Norrell attempts to and fails to integrate with London polite society in order to court the rich and powerful, to further his cause of English Magic.
Half 2:
A pastiche of a Byronesque dark fae (with 'She Walks in Beauty' energy) tale that is sinister and Strange (as befitting the slow descent of the titular Mr. Strange into madness and despair), as the titular Mr. Strange fights in the Napoleonic wars, then attempts to rescue his ladylove from Death.
Half 1 is, although on its surface a dull affair of dinners and polite conversations, is actually snidely and drily hilarious under its surface, as the narrator makes fun of the snobbiness, stuffiness, and stupidity of the British upper class's aesthetics and obsessions with propriety, via contrasting the wonder and glory of MAGIC to how the characters treat it with such a banal, uninteresting fashion - discussions at luncheons, petty magazine attack articles, and rumors of laundry.
Half 2 is darker, as Strange goes off to war, and the madness of the fae get increasingly prominent, and prophecies come to pass. This half is more overtly entertaining as magic and conflict come more to the fore, and there are scenes of beautiful, awe-inspiring horror that made me shudder.
Among all this, the author has scattered numerous footnotes, which I personally enjoyed but is probably not for everyone. I thought it enhances the fake 'historicity' of the work, to make it seem more genuine - like it has real scholarship behind it.
Lastly, I think that this is a novel with one of the strongest voices that I've read in a while. Clarke didn't do this on her own - she clearly used authors of the past as a stylistic trellis, and even effects a Regency-era spelling style (chuse instead of choose, shewed instead of showed for example) - but the uncanny beauty, clarity, and whimsy of her descriptions is world-class, and every few pages I pause and go Wow, I love that adjective, wow, I love that comparison. The sights, sounds, and tastes just crackle right off the page and hit me right in my little aesthetic tingle box. Truly magical, truly.
But I vibed with this hard. Full review probably incoming, later.
OK attempt at writing down why this book Vibed with me.
There are two very different halves of the novel, in my opinion, in terms of tone and topic, and they appealed to me in different ways.
Half 1:
A pastiche of Austen's Regency-era comedy of manners, where the titular Mr. Norrell attempts to and fails to integrate with London polite society in order to court the rich and powerful, to further his cause of English Magic.
Half 2:
A pastiche of a Byronesque dark fae (with 'She Walks in Beauty' energy) tale that is sinister and Strange (as befitting the slow descent of the titular Mr. Strange into madness and despair), as the titular Mr. Strange fights in the Napoleonic wars, then attempts to rescue his ladylove from Death.
Half 1 is, although on its surface a dull affair of dinners and polite conversations, is actually snidely and drily hilarious under its surface, as the narrator makes fun of the snobbiness, stuffiness, and stupidity of the British upper class's aesthetics and obsessions with propriety, via contrasting the wonder and glory of MAGIC to how the characters treat it with such a banal, uninteresting fashion - discussions at luncheons, petty magazine attack articles, and rumors of laundry.
Half 2 is darker, as Strange goes off to war, and the madness of the fae get increasingly prominent, and prophecies come to pass. This half is more overtly entertaining as magic and conflict come more to the fore, and there are scenes of beautiful, awe-inspiring horror that made me shudder.
Among all this, the author has scattered numerous footnotes, which I personally enjoyed but is probably not for everyone. I thought it enhances the fake 'historicity' of the work, to make it seem more genuine - like it has real scholarship behind it.
Lastly, I think that this is a novel with one of the strongest voices that I've read in a while. Clarke didn't do this on her own - she clearly used authors of the past as a stylistic trellis, and even effects a Regency-era spelling style (chuse instead of choose, shewed instead of showed for example) - but the uncanny beauty, clarity, and whimsy of her descriptions is world-class, and every few pages I pause and go Wow, I love that adjective, wow, I love that comparison. The sights, sounds, and tastes just crackle right off the page and hit me right in my little aesthetic tingle box. Truly magical, truly.
Easily one of the greatest books i've ever read. I'm going to think about this one for a long time
Such a beautiful celebration and critique of a time and place. I honestly think I like this novel more every time.
Written April 2017
I loved this book even more the second time. The thing that most stood out to me this time was the way that this book is both a celebration of 19th century English novels and a refutation of the racism, classism, and sexism of that world. Most, but certainly not all, of the characters in this novel are 19th century gentlemen but Clarke sets up a story where you aren't rooting against the men themselves but are certainly hoping for the downfall of the society that benefits them.
Written May 16, 2013
This book is magical. I mean that in every sense of the word. It is beautiful and wonderful, but it is also meandering and frustrating and impossible to pin down. The characters are brilliantly complex and human, the tone is positively impressive, and the story itself is enchantingly bittersweet. The book mirrors the magic it chronicles. It is often tangential and genuinely odd and it refuses to be controlled. If you love footnotes and 19th century lulls where nothing much happens, than this is a fantastic book. If you do not, you probably shouldn't bother; really good magic doesn't work for everyone and there are so many wonderful stories in this world that it really isn't worth laboring through ones that don't speak to you.
Written April 2017
I loved this book even more the second time. The thing that most stood out to me this time was the way that this book is both a celebration of 19th century English novels and a refutation of the racism, classism, and sexism of that world. Most, but certainly not all, of the characters in this novel are 19th century gentlemen but Clarke sets up a story where you aren't rooting against the men themselves but are certainly hoping for the downfall of the society that benefits them.
Written May 16, 2013
This book is magical. I mean that in every sense of the word. It is beautiful and wonderful, but it is also meandering and frustrating and impossible to pin down. The characters are brilliantly complex and human, the tone is positively impressive, and the story itself is enchantingly bittersweet. The book mirrors the magic it chronicles. It is often tangential and genuinely odd and it refuses to be controlled. If you love footnotes and 19th century lulls where nothing much happens, than this is a fantastic book. If you do not, you probably shouldn't bother; really good magic doesn't work for everyone and there are so many wonderful stories in this world that it really isn't worth laboring through ones that don't speak to you.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's well written but there is to much story in this book.
It's too long to the point it becomes tedious to read. Especially every little notes. Some notes are 4 pages long.
If you're looking for a book about magic this is not it. There is actually very little magic. It's about the life of two magician not magic itself.
I understand the author wants to write a very complex world but at some point it takes away from the actual story. The constant notes kills the pace of the book, which is already extremely slow. Some of the notes are unnecessary has they explain something that the readers can already understand by themselves.
The story is extremely slow, some part are completely repetitive (the second war brings nothing new and just repeated the Spanish war). There's a lot of details, somehow just too much.
When the plot actually moves along the author often cut to something else, again killing momentum.
It pains me to have dislike this book so much. As I said it's well written but I think it's at least 200 to 300 pages too long. I would have enjoyed it a lot more if the pacing was faster.
It's too long to the point it becomes tedious to read. Especially every little notes. Some notes are 4 pages long.
If you're looking for a book about magic this is not it. There is actually very little magic. It's about the life of two magician not magic itself.
I understand the author wants to write a very complex world but at some point it takes away from the actual story. The constant notes kills the pace of the book, which is already extremely slow. Some of the notes are unnecessary has they explain something that the readers can already understand by themselves.
The story is extremely slow, some part are completely repetitive (the second war brings nothing new and just repeated the Spanish war). There's a lot of details, somehow just too much.
When the plot actually moves along the author often cut to something else, again killing momentum.
It pains me to have dislike this book so much. As I said it's well written but I think it's at least 200 to 300 pages too long. I would have enjoyed it a lot more if the pacing was faster.
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It took me several years, but I finally finished this book.