Book rec
Author: Susanna Clarke
Title: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norell
One of the praises for the book said that it was full of spells, bad weather and sinister gentlemen with thistle-down hair, another claims that the book feels as if Jane Austen rewrote Brothers Grimm.
I agree.
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell captured my attention and managed to hold it for all long 1000 pages of the plot. The book is as full of magic as all Harry Potter, yet it is doubtlessly an adult book. In this respect, it is a delight to read for a disappointed HP fan who has recently discovered that HP and HP fanfic are two entirely incompatible genres. The novel is English to the extreme. It depicts early 19th century England during Buonaparte's wars, providing an entirely believable alternative history with lively, vivid characters pursuing scholarly and malicious interests, absolute hypocrisy in the name of properness and discrimination possible only in that era and that country.
The novel is so intricate that despite reading the beginning and the end multiple times (yes, I'm one of those people who need to know the ending otherwise are not able to enjoy the events leading to that), I still longed to discover the paths of plot twists.
There is, however, a severe drawback of the story - Susanna Clarke did not yet finish the second novel. It is not a sequel, although it is reported that some of the characters from Jonathan Strange will feature in the same universe. And frankly, I can't get enough of the universe.
Title: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norell
One of the praises for the book said that it was full of spells, bad weather and sinister gentlemen with thistle-down hair, another claims that the book feels as if Jane Austen rewrote Brothers Grimm.
I agree.
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell captured my attention and managed to hold it for all long 1000 pages of the plot. The book is as full of magic as all Harry Potter, yet it is doubtlessly an adult book. In this respect, it is a delight to read for a disappointed HP fan who has recently discovered that HP and HP fanfic are two entirely incompatible genres. The novel is English to the extreme. It depicts early 19th century England during Buonaparte's wars, providing an entirely believable alternative history with lively, vivid characters pursuing scholarly and malicious interests, absolute hypocrisy in the name of properness and discrimination possible only in that era and that country.
The novel is so intricate that despite reading the beginning and the end multiple times (yes, I'm one of those people who need to know the ending otherwise are not able to enjoy the events leading to that), I still longed to discover the paths of plot twists.
There is, however, a severe drawback of the story - Susanna Clarke did not yet finish the second novel. It is not a sequel, although it is reported that some of the characters from Jonathan Strange will feature in the same universe. And frankly, I can't get enough of the universe.