A Reading Coincidence
I've wanted to read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell for ages. I finally am now, and last night came across a scene in the Pineapple pub. This made me stop for a moment--the Pineapple was the pub in the last book I read--The Water Room, which is the second in the Bryant and May/Peculiar Crimes Unit series that I'm currently rereading.
I thought it couldn't be the same pub, just the name, but then there was a little more description of it being next the the sewer of the Fleet River. Definitely the same pub--the Fleet figures quite prominitely, as do London's underground rivers in general, in The Water Room. It was rather entertaining to picture the same setting, almost exactly 200 years apart. Of course, the Pineapple was built in 1868, 60 years after the Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell scene, but that's something I'll happily ignore.
It's funny, after rereading Full Dark House (Bryant and May number 1), I was planning on moving on, but I wasn't quite ready to leave their London yet, so I read the second book. Then I started watching Jonathan Strange, so it was necessary to finally start the that. (Which, in part I've been putting off until summer because it's too big to carry around and since I already had it, I'd read the hardcover instead of the Kindle version, but then I ended up reading it on Kindle anyway...) If I hadn't read the books back to back, I'm sure I never would've noticed this. The books actually connect fairly well, as Arthur Bryant uses London mythology and consults witches and spiritualists in helping to solve cases.
Anyway, I'm very much enjoying Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and am very happy I'm going to have Bryant and May to go back to when I'm done!