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A review by bantwalkers
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
5.0
I read somewhere that this was a melding of Jane Austen and J.R.R. Tolkien, which isn't a selling point for me. However, if I have been putting off those authors because I think they seem boring, and they are half as inventive, witty, and well-drawn as this, then I have done myself a great disservice.
Of course, I have read neither of those. Nor do I know much about what they write. I am not a huge fantasy fan, and I could not tell you what a comedy of manners is. So I have no real jumping-off point, but my own.
I feel hard pressed to call this book epic, even if it takes place during England's war with Napoleon, has quite a bit of magic and fantasy, about 20 important characters that it spends plenty of time with, and is 800 pages long. No . . . what I enjoyed about it is not its epicness, but its lack of that. Instead I appreciated how complete it was. We get the complete history of the two title characters, but Clarke spends a good deal of time fleshing out more minor characters also. The reader can easily become invested in each and every person, even the more villainous ones, because they are completely 3-dimensional (and not in some gimmicky, James Cameron-y way.) In that same vein, she doesn't give the magic short-shrift. It feels organic and believable. The characters never use the magic to get them out of some sort of suspense-filled moment. Most of the magic is well-planned, researched, and comes with consequences both good and bad. Some of it is just plain beautiful, like when Clarke tells of Norrell creating ships out of rain to mystify the French military. Other times it is quite wicked, as in the story of Stephen Black's naming.
I was also in awe of how historically accurate Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell seemed. That is not to say it is historically accurate. After all, magic was not used to defeat Napoleon. Was it? That's how it works too. When Strange or Norrell venture out of their drawing rooms or libraries, into 1800's England, one can't help but wonder, "Did this really happen?"
Of course, I have read neither of those. Nor do I know much about what they write. I am not a huge fantasy fan, and I could not tell you what a comedy of manners is. So I have no real jumping-off point, but my own.
I feel hard pressed to call this book epic, even if it takes place during England's war with Napoleon, has quite a bit of magic and fantasy, about 20 important characters that it spends plenty of time with, and is 800 pages long. No . . . what I enjoyed about it is not its epicness, but its lack of that. Instead I appreciated how complete it was. We get the complete history of the two title characters, but Clarke spends a good deal of time fleshing out more minor characters also. The reader can easily become invested in each and every person, even the more villainous ones, because they are completely 3-dimensional (and not in some gimmicky, James Cameron-y way.) In that same vein, she doesn't give the magic short-shrift. It feels organic and believable. The characters never use the magic to get them out of some sort of suspense-filled moment. Most of the magic is well-planned, researched, and comes with consequences both good and bad. Some of it is just plain beautiful, like when Clarke tells of Norrell creating ships out of rain to mystify the French military. Other times it is quite wicked, as in the story of Stephen Black's naming.
I was also in awe of how historically accurate Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell seemed. That is not to say it is historically accurate. After all, magic was not used to defeat Napoleon. Was it? That's how it works too. When Strange or Norrell venture out of their drawing rooms or libraries, into 1800's England, one can't help but wonder, "Did this really happen?"