Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke, is one of the best books I have ever read. Or, more precisely, it is one of my favourite.
I decided this after I finished page two.
I finished the book last night and even after 782 pages, found nothing to change my mind.
I love EVERYTHING about this book. I loved the historical footnotes. I loved the characters. I loved the author's style and dry sense of humour and irony. I loved the twistings of the plot and how it all came together. Everything.
It is a book that I feel the need to discuss, and knowning no one who has read it, I turn to you all. There is so much there . . . the mirrors and Vinculus and John Uskglass and the ravens and the darkness, that I cannot just sit and sort it out in my own mind because everything gets all jumbled up.
I shall need to read it again, to figure things out and put the pieces together, but for now, here are some thoughts, which do contain spoilers.
Although the book is called Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, I think that perhaps it is really about John Uskglass. Vinculus, I believe, says that Strange and Norrell are just a spell that Uskglass is doing. What I could not figure out was what the spell was, what it was for. Was it to release those imprisoned in Lost-Hope?
My favourite character, I think, was John Childermass. He was dark and wry and wonderful. I wish he had been in the book more, but at the same time, I think his character would not have worked so well if he had been. He seems to hold much of the story together, though I'm not entirely sure how. But it can't be coincedence that he is the one who discovered Vinculus, who is found by John Uskglass. Perhaps because he is the only one of the three who is truly loyal?
Just a few thoughts for now. I'm still sorting things out in my head.