Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

[Cymrugirl]

Anybody here a fan of Susannah Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell? A huge bevy of Narnia fans have read this book together over the last couple years at Narniaweb and are now hovering in anticipation for the film.

The heaviest literary influence for the novel, according to the author, were the two magicians in the Chronicles of Narnia. Indeed the book is filled with a multitude of spiritual references and imagery.

The most intriguing thing about the success of this book, however, is that when published it quite literally broke all of the hottest writing trend rules. For starters, the book is longer than Anna Karenina - and some publishers have broken it into volumes as the old classics used to be. But one of the most unusual traits of the book is Clarke's extensive use of footnotes. Some of these are actually several pages in length, breaking into the novel with lengthy interruptions - and entirely fictional themselves. In fact, the footnotes in places reference each other, reference books not yet written by characters in the book, and contain quotes by characters that reveal some of the future of the story. They're brilliant - and for some readers, they are even the best part of the book.

Aside from this, Clarke abandons all advice to show and not tell, and reverts to telling - and telling with flare. Her book was considered well-loved but a pure gamble by the publishing industry - and it looks like their gamble has paid off.

Not to mention, Neil Gaiman has called it the most important work of fantasy in 80 years - and can't seem to stop talking about it. Not bad for a cookbook author's first novel.

Anyhoo, several of us are tearing up the forums on Nweb making mad guesses as to who will play Jonathan Strange, King George, the Raven King, and a host of other amazing characters. I thought I'd find out if there are any fans here.

[Phy]

It sounds like the sort of thing I might like if not for the length. Zelazny left an indelible impression on me with his spare, yet lyrical style. Books that are so full of all that feeling and relating and which take the better part of a 1000 page to read come across to me as far too much of a good thing, taking an entirely effective story and blowing it up into frankly preposterous proportions.

I /can/ read longer works - I'm currently lapping up Brandon Sanderson's book Warbreaker (available as a free e-book /before/ its 2009 release) and am quite enjoying it, but I can't help but feel that every single scene has bloated compared to what the grandmaster Zelazny would have done with it, and the pace feels sloggy even though Sanderson does a masterful job at adding gravitas and depth to Every Little Thing.

[Cymrugirl]

Well, to ease your mind on that account - her story is not touchy feely at all. It is highly visual - but neither Strange or Norrell would waste their time wandering the halls of a book that is "feely." *snickers* Her writing style has been compared to be a mix of Tolkien and Austen by such a large number of people because that's really the best way to describe it. And though it's long, it's a fast read because it draws you in. The length comes from really the story itself being so vast. She covers the Brittish in Spain. She gives an entirely new account of Waterloo. She dives deep into the madness of King George (one of the best parts of the book). Her characters go wandering in the land of fae. There are knights - Mabinogian type scenes in the book - humans being kidnapped by fairies, ships made of rain, an old woman who speaks cat, and the like.

When I say it's "telling" I mean, she narrates a story - from an omnipresent voice - in the old fashioned classical style.

Many of the members on Narniaweb who have poured through her book without troubling their attention span are as young as 14, so that might give you an idea of the type of spell it casts. Not Doestoevsky. Much more Lord of the Rings, if Jane Austen had written it. There's a constant humorous, jabbing tone throughout - jabbing mostly at the English (lovingly so).

The best thing to do would be to peek at the first few chapters next time you're in a book store and see if you like it. She immediately takes your breath away with the first event and you think, "How can she top that?" but then she does, again and again.

Best of all, she leaves a strong impression about magic at the end of it that's quite different than the one left by, perhaps, J.K. Rowling?

[Tarin]

It's on my too-read list. Glad to hear further word that it's good. ;)