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Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
by Susanna Clarke

This book surely must hold the record for longest time it took me to complete reading any work.

Does that mean it’s an awful book? Hardly. In fact, Clarke’s premiere novel delivers an excellent story told with plenty of sharp, witty writing. While the novel has a handful of inherent weaknesses that make for slow going, the bulk of my lengthy fulfillment time derived from my own extenuating circumstances. Had I not chosen to start reading this book just as I was in the midst of working full time (for the first time in ages), and at the same time trying to follow the baseball playoffs, surely this tale of two Georgian gentlemen and their efforts to revive English magic would have held my interest much more deeply than it did.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
by Susanna Clarke

The basics of the tale--how the owlish Mr Norrell achieves prominence as the wizard who brings magic back to the forefront of English life (in the midst of the Napoleonic wars, no less); all that comes of the thaumaturgical efforts of both Norrell and his brilliant student, Jonathan Strange; and the consequences of the magicians’ spells, for both themselves and others within their orbit--provide more than enough grist for an imaginative, enchanting literary mill.

Reel Reviews

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter -- For the most part, it's utterly preposterous. It’s difficult to say why this movie’s authors thought this story was a good idea; nothing, beyond some ham-handed symbolism about vampires vs. freedom, indicates why no less an historical figure than Lincoln should personify yet another fairy-tale fight against the undead. And the distortions of history depicted here are not merely conceits, but vaguely insulting; as if the true story of the events depicted, such as the battle of Gettysburg, need to be fictionalized to make them extraordinary. I’m not sure what they were thinking, and I don’t really have a desire to waste any more of my brainpower pondering that puzzle. Follow that lead and skip this one. Posted 1/8/14.