Post by LadyWinterWolf on Sept 17, 2004 5:09:06 GMT -5
Magical 'Jonathan Strange' makes spellbinding reading
Thu Sep 16, Yahoo Entertainment Page
By Edward Nawotka, Special for USA TODAY
Dubbed "Harry Potter for adults", Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is one of the most talked-about books of the fall and is climbing best seller lists. It's No. 14 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list; it was No. 48 last week.
The novel re-imagines 600 years of British history as if magic were an everyday reality. The main action takes place between 1806 and 1817, when England was at war with Napoleon and mad King George was on the throne.
In Susanna Clarke's hands, England is a nation divided and ruled by two kings: the royal monarch in the south and the magical Raven King in the north.
As the novel begins, the art of magic is all but lost, consigned to books and studied as a theoretical, scholarly undertaking. No practical magician, meaning one who actually can cast spells, is known to exist. That is until Mr. Norrell demonstrates his ability to make the stone statues of York Cathedral speak, and then, in his breakthrough moment, raises the young wife of an influential government minister from the dead.
Soon Mr. Norrell becomes a celebrity, using his magic to aid England's war with Napoleon by creating an armada of ghost ships and even thwarting the sacking of Brussels by transporting the city to America.
His notoriety attracts a student named Jonathan Strange, a young, self-confident man who also proves himself an able conjurer. Soon, the two find themselves at odds: One is keen to retain the secrets of magic for himself, and the other is eager to share his knowledge in order to reinstate the reign of the Raven King. This rivalry takes over the book as the two magicians conspire to win favor for their point of view. But a third magician, known only as "the gentleman with the thistle-down hair," acts to thwart them both.
The Regency period in which Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell takes place also is a time that serves as a standard backdrop for romance novelists, who are attracted by the era's fashion for long, flowing dresses, mustachioed military men and strict codes of morality and etiquette. Perhaps with this in mind, Clarke also has incorporated a number of damsel-in-distress tales into her novel, in which brave men are required to ride off and rescue their lady loves.
Like J.K. Rowling, Clarke has devised her own world, though it bears a similarity to our own. For example, non-magical humans are called Christians, and the unseen land of magic that exists in tandem with reality is called Faerie. Real people make appearances, such as the Romantic poet Lord Byron, and real events take place, such as Wellington's defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo. In Clarke's version, however, the British had magic on their side.
It is less a fantasy novel than a work of alternate history. As such, it is more cerebral than the Harry Potter novels and remains an adult pleasure.
It takes 100 pages for Clarke to establish her milieu, but most readers, once enchanted, will remain under her spell until the very last page.
Thu Sep 16, Yahoo Entertainment Page
By Edward Nawotka, Special for USA TODAY
Dubbed "Harry Potter for adults", Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is one of the most talked-about books of the fall and is climbing best seller lists. It's No. 14 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list; it was No. 48 last week.
The novel re-imagines 600 years of British history as if magic were an everyday reality. The main action takes place between 1806 and 1817, when England was at war with Napoleon and mad King George was on the throne.
In Susanna Clarke's hands, England is a nation divided and ruled by two kings: the royal monarch in the south and the magical Raven King in the north.
As the novel begins, the art of magic is all but lost, consigned to books and studied as a theoretical, scholarly undertaking. No practical magician, meaning one who actually can cast spells, is known to exist. That is until Mr. Norrell demonstrates his ability to make the stone statues of York Cathedral speak, and then, in his breakthrough moment, raises the young wife of an influential government minister from the dead.
Soon Mr. Norrell becomes a celebrity, using his magic to aid England's war with Napoleon by creating an armada of ghost ships and even thwarting the sacking of Brussels by transporting the city to America.
His notoriety attracts a student named Jonathan Strange, a young, self-confident man who also proves himself an able conjurer. Soon, the two find themselves at odds: One is keen to retain the secrets of magic for himself, and the other is eager to share his knowledge in order to reinstate the reign of the Raven King. This rivalry takes over the book as the two magicians conspire to win favor for their point of view. But a third magician, known only as "the gentleman with the thistle-down hair," acts to thwart them both.
The Regency period in which Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell takes place also is a time that serves as a standard backdrop for romance novelists, who are attracted by the era's fashion for long, flowing dresses, mustachioed military men and strict codes of morality and etiquette. Perhaps with this in mind, Clarke also has incorporated a number of damsel-in-distress tales into her novel, in which brave men are required to ride off and rescue their lady loves.
Like J.K. Rowling, Clarke has devised her own world, though it bears a similarity to our own. For example, non-magical humans are called Christians, and the unseen land of magic that exists in tandem with reality is called Faerie. Real people make appearances, such as the Romantic poet Lord Byron, and real events take place, such as Wellington's defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo. In Clarke's version, however, the British had magic on their side.
It is less a fantasy novel than a work of alternate history. As such, it is more cerebral than the Harry Potter novels and remains an adult pleasure.
It takes 100 pages for Clarke to establish her milieu, but most readers, once enchanted, will remain under her spell until the very last page.
