Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Susanna Clarke had enormous aspirations when she wrote Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell; a book with a strong plot and lots of potential.

I was really excited by this book initially, thinking that the story was going to be magically mesmerising. It is set in an alternative version of 19th century England, where practical magic that was once common place has now died out. Enter Mr Norrell, a man who claims to be the only practical magician in existence and who sets out to return practical magic to the world. It soon becomes clear, however, that there is a second and more personable practical magician in England, Mr Jonathan Strange.

Mr Norrell takes Mr Strange on as his apprentice, and it chronicles their different magical approaches and activities that culminate in their falling out – which as an enormous influence on the practice of magic in England.

The events all stem from one of Mr Norrell's most terrible magical acts – the raising of a young woman from the dead – and the consequences it has for the magical and human realms.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell falls into many different genres (historical, fantasy, classic) and so is a book that no doubt has a wide appeal.

It's biggest appeal to me was its authenticity. Clarke used many different techniques to make it feel as if it really were a 19th century book. Clarke also wrote Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell in the language of the 19th century, very similar to the language of Austen or Dickens or Louisa May Alcott. She used real historical events but wove magical elements throughout and around them to give them their own distinct character.

There are wonderfully drawn charcoal drawings throughout the book that are very dark and blurry and are a perfect representation of the atmosphere that Clarke creates in the story.

The book has a significant volume of footnotes, a lot of which take up more room on a n individual page than the story itself. For the most part, I found these footnotes fascinating. Clarke has created an entire history of magic which she shares through the footnotes. I was astounded by this creative feat, initially at least, although I have to admit that I ceased to read them close to a half of the way through the novel.

Finally, Clarke successfully gave the book a very English feel. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell may have been based in an alternative world/universe but the language she used, the atmosphere she built and the characters that she created were so very English that it added a strong impression of realism to the story.

Did I love it?

I wanted to love it and I almost did, except that it was about 300 – 400 pages too long. This book looks and feels like a brick and is almost impossible to carry around with you for extended periods of time. By the time that I got half way through the story I was losing interesting, and by the time that I was ¾'s of the way through it I was skim reading.

I understand that Clarke was attempting to write an epic historical novel set in an alternative history or world (a la LOTR perhaps?) but the result was a lot of redious and unnecessary detail about the activities of the magicians and the other characters whose lives intersect with the magical realm. We read about a lot of different events and occurrences, but so few of them seemed to add anything to the plot.

Overall, I felt like Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell had a lot of potential to be an enjoyable and unique book (despite its not so unique style and storylines), but I feel like Susanna Clarke got a bit carried away and in the end the result was a long and tedious novel.

5.5 / 8

Good and worth reading if you have the opportunity, but not one to get excited over.

What did you think of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - did it keep you interested for its entire length or did you lose interest like me?

A Blast from the Past: The Time Traveller's Wife

A Blast From the Past is a weekly meme where I intend to review book that I read in the past that has had some form of impact upon me, whether it be good or bad.

Join in by leaving a comment or leaving a link to a post at your blog about your own Blast From the Past.

The Time Traveller's Wife

This book is one of my absolute all time favourites. I do try not to play favourites if I can help it, but something about this book really clicked with me. It is the story of Claire and Henry, soul mates from the very beginning. They do have problem though, and that is that Henry has a neurological condition that means that he can time travel at completely random points in tome, turning up in other years completely naked, having to find clothes and shelter and essentially wait until he travels back to the time that he comes from.

This makes it a really interesting story. The story is written chronologically from Claire's point of view, as Henry does not really live a chronological life in that the way that you and I do. Claire is visited by an older Henry all throughout her childhood until one day she meets him for the first time as a young man. He falls in love with her, she is already in love with him having grown up with the Henry from Henry's future. Then they attempt to commence a life together like any other couple, with the additional challenge created by Henry's condition.

I love this book because of the love story. You can really sense how much they love each other. Their life is so challenging compared to other people's, getting married and having children create very big barriers for them to overcome, but despite this they cling to each other through thick and thin.

I think there is a metaphor in this book - sometimes when you are in a couple you can still find yourself in a different place (metaphorically) to your loved one and with different priorities sometimes, but it is important to live in the moment and appreciate the time that you have with each other.

The story is compelling, the love story is heartfelt and then end leaves nothing to be desired. I have read this book so many times, and I never fail to cry each time.

I know that the movie has come out and a lot of people may have already seen it, but I very much recommend the The Time Traveller's Wife to everyone.

Have you read this?

What is your Blast from the Past that you would recommend to people?

The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende

The House of Spirits is Isabel Allende's first novel. It is set in an unnamed South America country and follows the Trueba family saga through 3 generations. We see the family revolve around the patriarch as he slowly but surely destroys what he loves through his best but misplaced intentions. Its a story that revolves around love, family, politics and spirituality. 

I love the women in this story - Isabel Allende always makes her women so strong and powerful. I love Clara's spirituality and Blanca's independence and strong will. I think I identified most with Alba though - I loved her involvement with the politics of the time. Initially I think she was involved in the politics because of her love for Miguel. She is politically minded, but not in an active way. I believe it is her active love for Miguel that leads to her active involvement in politics. Regardless of how her love of politics starts, she immerses herself in what she believes to be the right cause, even though it is against her father's strongly held political beliefs and even though it ultimately causes her significant pain.

Having read later books by Isabel Allende, such as Paula and The Sum of Our Days, I appreciated reading Alba's story even more because I think that it reflects a lot of her struggle in Chile during the dictatorship. For a first novel, it is so thoroughly written, the language rolls along just describing events in such a manner as you barely notice time passing and the generations moving on. If you like Isabel Allende (and she is undoubtedly one of my favourite authors), then reading her first novel House of Spirits is something I highly recommend.

Star Rating

7 / 8

Brilliant, couldn't put it down. Recommend that you buy it.

The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie

This book was very challenging. Normally, for a book that size, it would take me no more than a week to finish, this book took about 3 weeks to finish. 

It starts with the 2 main characters, Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha, falling from an aeroplane that has exploded because of a terrorist attack. Somehow, they alone survive. They fall the earth, flying the last part, and land unharmed on a beach in England. A lady with the ability to see ghosts takes them in, and they each almost immediately start noticing changes to their person, Gibreel develops a halo, and Saladin develops horns and turns into a goat/devil looking being. When Gibreel fails to assist Saladin when he is removed from the house by immigration police, the two are cemented as adversaries. There are various subplots too, involving different characters and stories, the main subplot being that of the Prophet Mohammad. 

Although I understood the book in a basic sense, I found it extremely difficult to entirely follow the intricacies of the story, that is, the different plots that take place and how these different plots intersect. I read the book, but I'm not sure I understood what it was trying to say.

It was definitely trying to make a comment about migrants, and the challenges migrants face in terms of conflicting identities. This was particularly clear in the character of Saladin. It was perhaps also making a comment on the lack of spirituality in our consumerist society.

I don't understand though whether Gibreel and Saladin really were supposed to be angel/devil, or if it was a metaphor? If Gibreel really did have paranoid schizophrenia, then what was Saladin's horns an goat legs all about and why did they disappear. How do all the different plots intersect? Why do the characters in all the plots all share the same names?

I can see why there was an issue surrounding the plot involving the Prophet Mohammad - that was definitely asking for some controversy. The book suggests that the Prophet wasn't really receiving messages from God, but was making them up to suit himself. Furthermore, it suggests that the scribe was falsifying the Prophet's messages from God.

It is definitely worth reading, but it takes someone more intelligent than me to really understand the ins and outs of what is happening. 

28 July 2009 - I watched a documentary about The Satanic Verses on Sunday night. It followed the progress of the fatwa against Salman Rushdie following the publishing of this book. It made me realise that perhaps because of the style of Salman's writing, I was perhaps looking for more meaning than what is there. I am still uncertain what the implications are for characters in some sub-plots sharing the name of the of characters in other sub-plots, but I now realise more than before that this book is really a comment on religion, but I think more importantly, on migration and the difficulties of identity faced by migrants to other countries.

Star Rating

6 / 8

Really enjoyable and well written. I would recommend it.