Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

by Susanna Clarke

[ladygrey]

Finally! I wavered between two stars and three, not because this isn't a good book but because it's very long. And there really isn't enough story to handle the weight of 800 pages. When I got to about page 540 and realized I still had the length of an entire novel to go I almost quit. But a friend suggested it and loved it and I had to believe the ending would be worth it, somehow.

And you know what? It almost was except [spoilers removed]

Despite my rant on how unbearably long it is, it is a good book. On the awesome/short scale (name pending) it rates a 6.something on good and a 1 on short putting it below the Twilight divide - which means if I wasn't reading it for a friend I totally would have left it unfinished. But I'm glad I did finish it because the ending was even better than I was hoping for.

The strength of the book is really her writing style which is almost archaic and completely dry - its a very British book. That may not sound like a compliment but it reads like it was written 100 years ago, easily. I actually had to check the publication date because I didn't believe 2004 was really the first printing. I haven't read a ton of Jane Austen or the Brontes but it has that sort if old world sound to it.

Which is actually a strength because it lends authenticity to the historical nature of the story. It's excellent and really pulls you immediately into the world.

The parallel weakness to the length, though, is that it isn't surprising. I think I wouldn't have minded how long it was if I didn't know pretty early on how it was going to play out. Instead of feeling any sort of anticipation I was just waiting. [spoilers removed]. And it was so long, I really lost track of some of the threads. It probably didn't help that I read 4 other books in the midst of this one. But even though I had my initial impressions from the prophecy, I really didn't remember it so I felt like I lost track of it and if this was a part of it or that. Not that it really mattered [spoilers removed].

The magic was sort of interesting, but described in such practical ways it wasn't really fantastic (in the original use of that word not as a synonym for good). Her descriptions and imaginings were definitely unique, which was fun. It's not a flashy book or an especially emotional one (again, British). But it's well written and if it were 200 pages shorter I probably would have enjoyed it quite a bit.

If you don't mind long books, I'd definitely recommend it.