Things I Love: #2 - Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
Continuing the book theme for the moment (and I am sure we will come back to this before too long, because let's face, I'm a librarian, and when we're talking about a list of 100 things I love, you can bet your ass books will feature fairly prominently in there) I give you 'possibly' my favourite book of all-time. I say possibly because I really really can't narrow it down.
My love for this book degenerates into dolphin noises and flappy hands. I love it so so much. I feel sad for people who haven't read this book, and happy for them too, because they still have the joy of discovering it. You know those books where you wish it was possible to wipe memories from your mind so you could fall in love with them anew? This is one of those books.
I've come to the conclusion that this book is a little like Marmite: you either love it, or you just don't get it. And people who love it really love it. ButI can understand why people don't love it: it's a massive read, it's quite slow-paced, the style and tone of writing is deliberately arch and Jane Austen-esque, it's full of footnotes that interrupt the flow, and if historical fantasy isn't your thing it's just not going to appeal.
But I love the realism of it. I love that it's rooted in an historical period I already love - Napoleonic England. I love that it brings in historical characters I'm interested in, like Wellington and Lord Byron. I love the mock historicism of it, the idea that magic once existed in England and has died out, because it's just like our world, the history we know, but for this one small difference. I love the footnotes that ground it and enrich the world and make it so real. Reading this book, I get unutterably lost and when I look up I have to remind myself that I live in England without magic, that this is fiction and not history.
And I love the Raven King. Ye gods, do I love the Raven King. I love that he appears once in the entire book, for just under three pages - and for all that, he is this book. He's behind it, above it, within in, beyond it. I love that.
My love for this book degenerates into dolphin noises and flappy hands. I love it so so much. I feel sad for people who haven't read this book, and happy for them too, because they still have the joy of discovering it. You know those books where you wish it was possible to wipe memories from your mind so you could fall in love with them anew? This is one of those books.
I've come to the conclusion that this book is a little like Marmite: you either love it, or you just don't get it. And people who love it really love it. ButI can understand why people don't love it: it's a massive read, it's quite slow-paced, the style and tone of writing is deliberately arch and Jane Austen-esque, it's full of footnotes that interrupt the flow, and if historical fantasy isn't your thing it's just not going to appeal.
But I love the realism of it. I love that it's rooted in an historical period I already love - Napoleonic England. I love that it brings in historical characters I'm interested in, like Wellington and Lord Byron. I love the mock historicism of it, the idea that magic once existed in England and has died out, because it's just like our world, the history we know, but for this one small difference. I love the footnotes that ground it and enrich the world and make it so real. Reading this book, I get unutterably lost and when I look up I have to remind myself that I live in England without magic, that this is fiction and not history.
And I love the Raven King. Ye gods, do I love the Raven King. I love that he appears once in the entire book, for just under three pages - and for all that, he is this book. He's behind it, above it, within in, beyond it. I love that.