Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susana Clarke

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susana Clarke

Finally! I've finished the book. This has to be the longest I've spent on that number of pages. 1 Month, 4 days. That's almost unheard of for me. Not that I'm a speed reader. But I keep a fairly steady pace.

The last 100 to 150 pages almost redeemed the rest of the book. Then ending was good. But it's where evverything interesting took places. The previous 700 and some pages were all set up. Now I know that you need set up to build up the characters, to get the reader engaged in the story, to build the tension and get ready for any plot twists. But this was a bit too much. This could have been a fun 500 page novel.

So many of the asides or little tales that were insterted were neither interesting, nor neccessary. The reviews for this book were great. The critics loved it. And I'm left feeling like maybe I didn't get something. Maybe there was some joke, or angle that I missed out on.

I know that the humor is dry, and I'm not so thick headed as to not catch sarcasm. But dry without witty just isn't funny, and ironic without purpose just doesn't get to me. Almost every critical review that i read acknowledges that it takes her a while to get up to speed. Some say it took 100 pages to find her pace, others admit that they were half-way through the book before they realyl started to enjoy it. I put it at closer to 4/5th myself. And remember, those are people paid to read and review. So they were going to finish it, no matter what. Most people find that if a book hasn't grabbed them by the first 100 pages, or heaven forbid, the first half of the book, they are either going to put it down and pick up something else, or plow through it with a sense of duty rather than enjoyment.

And I still feel like I was misled. It's nothing different. An intersting story, drawn out too long, but nothing different. The elves are elves, the faeries are faeries, and magicians recite spells like you've always imagined they would. There's nothing new there.

I've read worse fantasy. Much much worse. And if I was coming form one of those books into this one, I might have held a higher opinion. But int he last 2-3 years I've stumbled upon some really great authors and some fantastic books. And this just doesn't measure up.

Over all, I'm glad that I finished it, and the interesting ending raises my opinion of it. But it only managed to raise it to just a smidge below an average book.

I wouldn't recommend it, and had I known what it would be like from the beginning I wouldn't have started it myself.

4.5 out of 10