Clarke, Susanna: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (2004)
Written by: Susanna Clarke
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Pages: 224/846 (Trade Paperback)
Why I Read It: I think the only reason I originally bought this was because it won the Hugo Award for Best Novel back in 2005 and I really loved this cover. But the length always put me off, and when it didn't win its poll for the Alphabet Soup Book Club, it was moved higher in my TBR pile. I finally decided to give it a go based on a whim: I was packing for a trip to Fort Lauderdale to go to a friends' wedding, and I kept debating what I should bring to read. It occurred to me that since the driving time to Ft. Lauderdale from here is about 13 hours, I would have more than enough time to give this book a shot, so I did.
The premise: ganked from BN.com: At the dawn of the nineteenth century, two very different magicians emerge to change England's history. In the year 1806, with the Napoleonic Wars raging on land and sea, most people believe magic to be long dead in England -- until the reclusive Mr Norrell reveals his powers, and becomes a celebrity overnight.
Soon, another practicing magician comes forth: the young, handsome, and daring Jonathan Strange. He becomes Norrell's student, and they join forces in the war against France. But Strange is increasingly drawn to the wildest, most perilous forms of magic, straining his partnership with Norrell, and putting at risk everything else he holds dear.
Spoilers, yay or nay?: Nay. As you can probably tell, I didn't finish the book. Read on to find out why.
My Rating: Not My Cup of Tea (DNF)
I honestly thought I could get into this. After all, I'm been reading more historical fantasy lately and the time period has become less obscure to me, and with it being a long book, I knew I had to pace myself.
Trouble was, I just didn't care about what was happening. Lots of different POVs, and no clear storyline. It's troubling to me that I finished Part One of this novel and the two titular characters still had not met (rather, part one ended with Strange seeing Norrell through magical means and having no idea who the man was).
It wasn't just the slow pace, it was the fact I didn't care about anything. I was already debating putting this aside to grab one of the other books I'd brought with me when the groom saw me reading the day after the wedding and asked "So, how are you liking that?" and after I gave my ambivalent answer, he said he'd tried reading it twice and couldn't make it through, and worse, both times he reached the middle of the book before stopping.
To be fair, reading while on a road trip to a wedding may not have been the most ideal of circumstances to be trying this book. After all, my attention was divided between making sure we had proper rest breaks, that we were going in the right direction, and also looking forward to the wedding itself. But when I got home and decided to put the book aside, I looked up the overall plot summary online and found myself flabbergasted that the plot itself was so simple in comparison to the number of pages you had to read to get the whole story. Oh, don't get me wrong: I know that reading the plot summary of any story will make said story look deceptively simple, but still. I suspect this book is meant for readers who can appreciate the historical context of the story and dig into the meat of its politics and philosophy and how all of that compared to the real historical period this book was modeled after. I actually liked how magic was treated so starkly in the book, but unfortunately, the setting or the time period nor the characters really grabbed me, so my desire to read onward was snuffed out.
I think too that part of me was wanting a Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde kind of story, due to the title. When I realized that's not what I was getting, then my original desire for reading was gone.
But at least I gave it a shot. Life's too short to read books that aren't speaking to you, so I had to put this aside. But maybe others will have far better luck than I did.
Cover Commentary: I do love this particular cover. The greens and the yellows and the raven spot-varnished over the road. It's quite eye-catching to me, though some of the newer covers I think I like better for their contrast. :)