22. Susanna Clarke Discussion

[Philip Overby]

I've heard lots of praise for number 22's book Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I haven't read this one, but it seems to be immensely popular and won the Hugo Award. It appears that she's mostly written short stories so far, but her novel looks to be her most recognizable work.

Any thoughts about Susanna Clarke?

 

[buyjupiter]

It took me two tries to finish Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Which is unusual for me because I don't try to re-read something that I've put down from sheer irritation with a character. Mr. Norrell drove me nuts.

I first picked it up in gosh, late 2005. And I got halfway through before I got throw-a-book-across-the-room annoyed with Norrell. I set it down and it collected dust for six months before I gave up on getting back into it. The second attempt was late 2011. I had just learned how to knit and I wanted something to listen to while I made my way through a shawl. I downloaded it thinking "maybe this time I'll get through it".

I zoomed through it and the shawl, the second time round. Norrell still annoyed me, but the reader got his whine down pat and it was less annoying hearing it than reading it. Why that is, I'm not sure. I absolutely adored it by the end, and listened to the last hour in five minute chunks to make it last longer. By that point I didn't want it to end.

I love the Napoleonic era to begin with, and mixing that with magic and the English countryside (specifically York, which I'm not as familiar with), was absolutely amazing. You could tell she did her research into 18th/19th century England, and the Napoleonic era in the level of detail she delves into with the book. That gets her major brownie points all around, because far too often I've seen poorly researched things.

I ended up liking Mr. Norrell a bit by the end and hating Strange a bit by the end, which is a complete reversal of how I started out in the book. For an author to not only get me invested in a character, but change my opinion of them by the end? That's talent.

I would recommend it to people who like historical fantasy and/or the Napoleonic era. I'd definitely add the following recommendation: give it a hundred pages. It starts slow.