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edenfallingSo on Saturday, I happened to find a copy of Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell in the library. I'd been semi-seriously intending to read it for several months, but had decided that I was not quite interested enough to pay the library to put a hold on it for me.
In retrospect, that was a really stupid decision.
From about the time I reached, oh, page 80 or so, I could not put it down, with the minor exceptions of two phone calls. I was reading it from about (*does quick math to account for the telephone*) 8pm straight through until 5am on Sunday morning.
It has some flaws -- I have never known a book that didn't have some flaws -- but oh, it's a wonderful story. Clarke keeps the magic magical, the fairies are convincingly Not Human, the alternate history of England is wonderful, the Napoleonic Wars are interesting, the tone almost never slips from something that sounds quite convincingly like an early nineteenth century English novel (there are a few points where Clarke gets a bit arch and winks at the readers -- sort of an "I'm really from the 21st century and I know things they didn't back then" tone -- notably in a couple lines about metal ships), and I genuinely liked most of the characters, except those whom readers are intended to dislike.
(Also, it took me until I was halfway through the book the second time 'round before it occurred to me that really, if you look at it as a subject for fanfiction, Mr Norrell has nearly a textual unrequited love for Strange, and even Strange has a lot of affection for the stuffy old man. However, nobody could possibly argue that Strange is not in love with his wife... but then, there is always the ending to consider...
Gah. *slaps self* I am NOT going to go around seeing slashy subtext in things. I REFUSE. I further refuse to write anything about a lesbian love affair between Flora Graysteel and Arabella Strange, though I think it could be done quite interestingly...
*slaps self again*)
Um.
I did honestly intend to write or edit this weekend, but my brain was otherwise engaged. By Wednesday, or possibly as soon as tomorrow, I should be able to compose my own stories again.
In retrospect, that was a really stupid decision.
From about the time I reached, oh, page 80 or so, I could not put it down, with the minor exceptions of two phone calls. I was reading it from about (*does quick math to account for the telephone*) 8pm straight through until 5am on Sunday morning.
It has some flaws -- I have never known a book that didn't have some flaws -- but oh, it's a wonderful story. Clarke keeps the magic magical, the fairies are convincingly Not Human, the alternate history of England is wonderful, the Napoleonic Wars are interesting, the tone almost never slips from something that sounds quite convincingly like an early nineteenth century English novel (there are a few points where Clarke gets a bit arch and winks at the readers -- sort of an "I'm really from the 21st century and I know things they didn't back then" tone -- notably in a couple lines about metal ships), and I genuinely liked most of the characters, except those whom readers are intended to dislike.
(Also, it took me until I was halfway through the book the second time 'round before it occurred to me that really, if you look at it as a subject for fanfiction, Mr Norrell has nearly a textual unrequited love for Strange, and even Strange has a lot of affection for the stuffy old man. However, nobody could possibly argue that Strange is not in love with his wife... but then, there is always the ending to consider...
Gah. *slaps self* I am NOT going to go around seeing slashy subtext in things. I REFUSE. I further refuse to write anything about a lesbian love affair between Flora Graysteel and Arabella Strange, though I think it could be done quite interestingly...
*slaps self again*)
Um.
I did honestly intend to write or edit this weekend, but my brain was otherwise engaged. By Wednesday, or possibly as soon as tomorrow, I should be able to compose my own stories again.
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-22 10:45 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-22 11:10 pm (UTC)So far, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is proving just as good the second time 'round... and there's the added pleasure of seeing how the early bits connect up to the later ones, which may not have been apparent the first time through.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-23 09:53 pm (UTC)i jsut hoep b ythe time i fucig nGETTO READ SOME BOKS FORREAL!! (sorry) i'm able to read stuf liek tomsawyer withotu slashign hi mwith huck fin nadn yo uknow.. odn't loo kfor bestia lrelationships in junglebook. Meh. this gottotal yotu of hand. Ishoud ahve jsut said 'thanksforrefrehsing my memory. I can rentthis-oen in my brail library i nfact for once'.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-28 05:21 am (UTC)And on a completely different note, I have so much love for JS&Mr.N (even if typing the book title is a pain). I was already hooked when I found my edition with the black binding and pages, black bookmark and lovely charcoal sketches, but then there were footnotes, and historical characters (am an archaeologist so these things are important *grin*) and Wellington! Oh, and magic and three dimensional characters and beautiful imagery and a good sense of humour... and I'll stop now;)
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-28 10:12 pm (UTC)If I weren't carefully hoarding money, I'd go out and buy a copy for myself, like yesterday. *sigh* Perhaps this winter.