Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
Susanna Clark's debut novel, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell , is a big, unwieldy book. It's slow, character driven is the term. The plot takes forever to show up, and once it does it still seems barely there. There are 200 hundred footnotes, used to contain exposition or go off on tangents. The characters are selfish and prickly. And I loved it. I loved this book so much, I took several breaks from it so that I wouldn't finish it too soon. Which isn't an experience you often have with a 1000+ page book. It was amazing how short it felt, how long I spent with it and how quickly I ended up reading it, despite myself. The book mostly deals with the relationship of two magicians in the early 1800s, their attempts to bring magic back to England, their dealings with the government and the Napoleonic Wars, and their ultimate falling out and its consequences. Around the edges of this we get the story of the woman Norrell sacrificed to further is career, of S...