Published in 2004, it took the world by storm, selling more than 4m copies, winning prizes including the Hugo and World Fantasy awards, and was adapted by the BBC in 2015. Running to more than 1,000 pages, it is set in an alternative version of 19th-century England, where magic has almost – but not quite – faded into the past. This book took me a long time to finish, it is not short, and it is at times pretty dry, but I ended up loving it and now I want to watch the tv series based upon it.Clarke’s debut, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, took her more than 10 years to write. I admit I am a sucker for explanatory footnotes of sometimes excessive quantity and size (perhaps because I always enjoyed them in Pratchett’s work). I don’t think everyone would be able to pull this off but Clarke did a splendid job making this feel like a real history, and I felt like I very much knew the characters, and the writing style was very much like books written in that period of time that it did a lot for plausibility of the story. But there was always enough to get me to read a little bit longer, and finally by the middle I was entirely charmed by the style of storytelling and would happily recommend the book. I am not one to feel obligated to finish a book if I’m not into it enough. Throughout the book it was hard to tell where the book was going, was hard to tell which characters I was supposed to be following, and sometimes several chapters would seem to be entirely tangential. When I started this book, I found it hard to get into the pacing. Historical footnotes about the significance of various events help educate a layperson on the rich historical background upon which these events rest. Norrell and of Jonathan Strange (more information about whom is available only late enough in the book that it feels like any mention of him would constitue a spoiler!). This novel is an annotated volume telling of the story of Mr. Norrell, who has been known to perform the occasional magical feat, though he is reclusive and secretive.Įnglish magic began with the arrival of the Raven King, a human with ties to the Fairy realm, but he disappeared hundreds of years ago with little explanation. There does, however, appear to be one actual practitioner of magic, one Mr. Theories abound as to the cause of the decline, but little is known for sure. Norrell is a 2004 fantasy novel by Susanna Clarke conveyed as a historical account of two magicians interested in the revival of English magic in the 19th century.Įnglish magic has been on the decline for centuries, to the extent that those who call themselves magicians in the 19th century are really no more than scholars studying the history of magic, rather than practicioners of the magic arts themselves.
0 kommentar(er)
