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Book Review: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
This is more of a doorstop than a book - it actually weighs 1.358 Kg so not ideal for carrying around to read on the bus.
Reviews I've seen have said things like Jane Austen meets Harry Potter. While I can see that the language used would justify the Jane Austen comments I'd say that the Harry Potter ones are just because there's magic in both - and you might as well say this book is like Harry Potter because they both use words. Personally I don't think this book is particularly comparable to any other I've read. The only thing it reminds me of is an old favourite, Hope Mirrlees' wonderful Lud in the Mist and that's not because the stories are particularly alike (though there are a couple of themes in common), more that I enjoyed the language of both and the atmosphere of them.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is a very English book - which is appropriate as the story centres around the Restoration of English Magic by the two gentlemen in the title. The story is set over a number of years in the early 1800s. The fictitious characters move in the same world as Wellington and Lord Byron.
Anyway, you can probably read far better descriptions of the content on Amazon and elsewhere, so I'm just going to recommend it and hope that Susanna Clarke writes another book asap.
This is more of a doorstop than a book - it actually weighs 1.358 Kg so not ideal for carrying around to read on the bus.
Reviews I've seen have said things like Jane Austen meets Harry Potter. While I can see that the language used would justify the Jane Austen comments I'd say that the Harry Potter ones are just because there's magic in both - and you might as well say this book is like Harry Potter because they both use words. Personally I don't think this book is particularly comparable to any other I've read. The only thing it reminds me of is an old favourite, Hope Mirrlees' wonderful Lud in the Mist and that's not because the stories are particularly alike (though there are a couple of themes in common), more that I enjoyed the language of both and the atmosphere of them.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is a very English book - which is appropriate as the story centres around the Restoration of English Magic by the two gentlemen in the title. The story is set over a number of years in the early 1800s. The fictitious characters move in the same world as Wellington and Lord Byron.
Anyway, you can probably read far better descriptions of the content on Amazon and elsewhere, so I'm just going to recommend it and hope that Susanna Clarke writes another book asap.