Reviews
Can You Kill a Man By Magic?
A fantastic alternative history in Regency England amid magicians, fairies and a lot of manners.
Susanna Clarke's debut novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, is a wonderful book that mixes literary elements from Jane Austen and Charles Dickens in an otherlandish tale reminiscent of Tolkien and the magical realism authors.
Susanna penned her big work, almost 800 pages, over a 10-year period, “a crazy amount of time to spend on anything, except building a cathedral, growing a garden or educating a child,” she admits.
The novel has attracted a vast readership, including many persons who didn't care much about speculative fiction and have found something very special in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, something that transcends genres.
In 2005 the novel won the Hugo Award as best novel and the World Fantasy Award.
New Line Cinema has already acquired the film rights, they were behind the highly acclaimed Lord of The Rings, and the first draft of the adaptation has already been completed by Oscar-winning screenwriter Christopher Hampton. Susanna Clarke will act as a producer.
Some online communities are already calling for Johnny Depp or Paul Bettany to play the role of Jonathan Strange. I second the suggestion of Depp, not as Strange but the gentleman with thistle-down hair and would like to add Geoffrey Rush as Gilbert Norrell.
But why such a buzz? What's this book about?
Once Upon a Time
As the title suggests, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell tells the story of two men, but not any men: two English magicians.
It all begins in the early years of the 19th century in York, where we find a group of fine gentlemen talking about, but not making, magic. These guys like to spend endless hours discussing enchantments, old dusty volumes and long dull papers.
They are theoretical magicians, a sort of antiquarians who “did not want to see magic done; they only wished to read about it in books,” for magic has disappeared from England since the Raven King left almost four centuries ago.
Some years ago there was in the city of York a society of magicians.
Making magic is considered unrespectable, that's why these gentlemen are so disgusted when a new member of their very exclusive club starts questioning why it's no longer practiced in England. He later finds a man, at Hurtfew Abbey, who claims to be a practical magician.
And it's time to say hello to Mr. Norrell, an antisocial wealthy man who you will soon learn to hate. Clarke has made a great job in creating him, she recalls: “I was trying to conjure up an English magician who had a library, and then there he was. I saw him very clearly, small, nervous, librarian-like, friendless, book-obsessed.”
Mr. Norrell has assembled a rich library of ancient books containing the secrets of England's magical past and can actually perform magic. The reclusive magician intends to bring magic back to England under the strictest control, practiced by only one man: himself.
To reach his goals, Mr. Norrell moves to London with his loyal and surly servant, Childermass, and attempts to attract the attention of powerful politicians and members of the elitist society at a time when most everybody is more worried about Napoleon and his armies spreading all over Europe than listening to a bookwormish guy talking about fairies and enchantments.
This is just the beginning of a series of bizarre events in the story. Clarke uses spelling typical of the period and an exquisite deadpan humor in every scene, creating a funny novel in a quite elegant way.
What a Magician Ought To Be
Even if his name is the first in the title and there's a reference to one of his works just starting the book, as one of many footnotes that I'll discuss in more detail later, Jonathan Strange does not appear in the story until you've read a lot of pages.
A very smart choice by Clarke. I detested Mr. Norrell so much at this point that meeting the charming, passionate and young Jonathan Strange was like Spring arriving, even with most of the novel occurring in Winter.
But I'm not the only one attracted by the new aspiring magician in town, "Strange was everyone's idea of what a magician ought to be," writes Clarke. The well mannered Jonathan Strange and his beautiful wife, Arabella, are soon accepted in London's circle of power.
When Mr. Norrell realizes he could benefit from Strange's magical and social skills, they become master and student. The two magicians will join forces with the most important figures of their time to fight against Napoleon.
The discussions between the two magicians and the government officials, looking for the best ways to use magic in the war, are hilarious.
More Than Abracadabra
The magic in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is not of the obvious prince-into-frog kind; supernatural elements appear slowly and sparingly, following a very well thought pace.
When Jonathan Strange starts reading and asking more about the mysterious Raven King, the only human who ruled England and Faerie, the most powerful magician of all, and Mr. Norrell, always mistrustful (and possibly smarter?), insists in keeping magic secure, better leaving some questions unanswered, a conflict starts to build. Each man has a different idea of how English magic should be approached.
Strange honestly respects his old colleague but can't resist studying the darkest paths of magic, taking a journey that will put their whole world at risk and him and Norrell facing a more dangerous foe than the powerful Corsican, a fairy referred as the gentleman with the thistle-down hair.
The magical world of men and fairies is richly described in many passages, sometimes with an almost obsessive scholarly devotion and you will soon find many tales within the tale.
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Submitted by alexis on Tue, 2006-10-03 20:29. Find more books
