Scan barcode
A review by embossedsilver
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
5.0
Clarke’s fantasy world is so completely realized, so organic to the England that she describes, that it is hard not to be swayed by her conviction and imagine that there is a long, forgotten history of English magic. And that is the book’s power—although it is lengthy and not at all quick read, it wraps itself around the mind of the reader and it is not easy to separate your thoughts from Clarke’s fantastical world. It is a book to be lived in.
This book is basically what would happen if Jane Austen wrote fantasy, and because of this it has her ironic, detached style and it plays like a comedy of manners. But not only does this melding of genres—the high comedy of Austen and fantasy—work, but Clarke manages to not make her book feel derivate. This is one of the freshest, most original books I have read in a long time and certainly one of the most unique of the last few years. Most of this is due to her treatment of magic. In this world it has all the respectability of an ancient discipline but it is tinged with something wild and horrible. There are several stories in the footnotes that, while not being important to the main story, do much to flesh out this world and explore its unsettling undercurrent. It is reminiscent of the original fairy tales, before they were sanitized for Hollywood.
The best of books are the ones that completely entrap you from the start and leave lingering traces on your thoughts long after you have finished. This, for me, is certainly one of them.
This book is basically what would happen if Jane Austen wrote fantasy, and because of this it has her ironic, detached style and it plays like a comedy of manners. But not only does this melding of genres—the high comedy of Austen and fantasy—work, but Clarke manages to not make her book feel derivate. This is one of the freshest, most original books I have read in a long time and certainly one of the most unique of the last few years. Most of this is due to her treatment of magic. In this world it has all the respectability of an ancient discipline but it is tinged with something wild and horrible. There are several stories in the footnotes that, while not being important to the main story, do much to flesh out this world and explore its unsettling undercurrent. It is reminiscent of the original fairy tales, before they were sanitized for Hollywood.
The best of books are the ones that completely entrap you from the start and leave lingering traces on your thoughts long after you have finished. This, for me, is certainly one of them.