jscaicedo

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is a very good re-imagining of the history of the British and their conflicts with Napoleon. Mr. Norrell is a timid, bookish little man who decides that he must find a way to reintroduce magic to the British Isles so that he can defend Britain from the French. In his efforts, me makes the acquaintance of Jonathan Strange, a new "practical" magician like himself, and the two become master and apprentice. Norrell is amazed, but at the same time, jealous of the ease with which Strange almost instinctively picks up magic, making huge leaps where Norrell has made progress only through small and cautious steps. Ultimately, the two split over this conflict, and become rivals. The book is quite well written, and imitates the style of old 17th century novels. There are parts that drag on a bit, but overall, the plot moves very nicely, with many different little threads all subtly woven together, until they all become one whole at the end. The book does, occasionally, suffer from a problem common to most books written in the third person. There are so many characters that sometimes, as the narrative jumps between them, we get whisked from one just as their story was beginning to grip us. Sometimes, this makes for good tension, but other times, it's a bit annoying since we want to follow one bit of plot to a resolution.

2022-11-14 16:52