“Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell“ by Susanna Clarke - review

“Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell” by Susanna Clarke:

I have been lured into reading this book by the author’s latest one, Piranesi, which I liked for its scope, its phantastical metaphors and, not least, for its concise, precise brevity.

This book now, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, is all but brief. It is a hefty monster of over 1000 pages. And I struggled through every one of them. It has not always been a pleasure. While at first amusing, it soon, over wide stretches, lost its charmes, grew tedious and boring until only towards the end it recovered its drive. 

It was and is not a bad book. I would even go as far as saying that it is a brilliant tale. The language is superb, witty, full of dark humour and glee, the descriptions of situations, landscapes and people sparkling and full of insight, the evoked images and phantasies plentiful and often truly surprising. The prose is classical sophisticated, nostalgic and yet timeless. I personally found it a tiny bit too long. Nevertheless, the book had me, true to its nature, under its spell. I could never, as often as I wished, put it away. So, in the end the satisfaction to have, together with the protagonists, gone through the labour, to have, despite all agonies, endured, prevailed and succeeded, now stays with me. I am not so sure that the novel itself will.

I shall not go through the plot. Suffice it to say that it is a truly ingenious tale, set in an Old England in a very British society, roughly 18th century Victorian, complete with obedient servants and conceited, callous, snobbish masters. The book is plot-driven, the story itself is not all light and bright, there is dark magic and cruelty, too. The two main protagonists, carefully crafted like most of the other characters, are two magicians, who are, one easily guesses it, the titular Mr. Norrell and Mr. Strange. Very different in character they at first work together, then oppose each other only to come back together in the end in a quest and fight against some evil which has befallen them personally and the country in general. Much happens and they, their loved ones and England, prevail. 

All in all a nice, sometimes surprsingly entertaining and ingeniously crafted book. I could have done with a shorter version but I am sure that for the phantasy inclined reader it will be a brilliant and rewarding indulgence.

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