Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (2004)

Endlich fertig!!!

Es gibt vieles zu diesem Buch zu sagen, manch Positives, manch Negatives, vor allem aber eines: Dieses Buch ist zu lang. Viel zu lang!

Der Anfang war noch vielversprechend: die frischen Ideen, die Sicherheit im Umgang mit dem altmodischen Stil, die Detailverliebtheit. Aber schon bald wurde es zäh, so zäh; was am Anfang noch originell erschien wurde zur Masche, wieder und wieder ausgewalzt, ad nauseam: noch eine Fußnote, die den Lesefluß unterbricht, noch eine Szene, ausstaffiert mit Details über Details, die aber den Plot nicht vorwärts bringen. Hier in diesem monströsen Mittelteil, der sicher 3/4 des Buches ausmacht, hätte man sich einen unerbittlichen Lektor gewünscht, der die ungebremste Fabulierlust der Autorin an die kurze Leine nimmt.

Irgendwann nimmt dann die Handlung Fahrt auf, es passiert tatsächlich auf beinahe jeder Seite etwas, Handlungsstränge finden zueinander, und hier konnte ich das Buch nicht mehr weglegen. Obwohl auch hier etwas ganz subtil mit dem Tempo nicht stimmte. Man könnte fast den Eindruck haben, daß der Autorin tatsächlich jemand zu mehr Tempo geraten hat, obwohl sie viel lieber noch 800 Seiten weiter fabuliert hätte. Vieles passiert jetzt ein Weniges zu schnell und gradlinig: Drawlight erschossen, Lascelles für die nächste Ewigkeit kaltgestellt, Norrell und Strange wieder vereint, ...

Das Ende war dann auf erfreuliche Weise offen und fast ein wenig anrührend, so daß ich nahezu versöhnt das Buch abgeschlossen habe.

Fazit: in Teilen brilliant, in Teilen entnervend zäh, macht zusammen und wohlwollend 3 Punkte ( )

Neen. Fragmentarisch. Gortdroog. Gaat na 160blz nog nergens heen. Laat maar.

Glad to check this one off my Hugo winners list. Magical realism where the magic system is not adequately explained is not really my thing. Few of the characters were all that likable and the 782-page length was daunting. In its favor, the final 1/4 of the book picked up to a decent enough conclusion. The preceding 75% however, was a bit of a slog for this reader. ( )

Sophisticated, witty, and ingeniously convincing, Susanna Clarke's magisterial novel weaves magic into a flawlessly detailed vision of historical England. She has created a world so thoroughly enchanting that eight hundred pages leave readers longing for more.

English magicians were once the wonder of the known world, with fairy servants at their beck and call; they could command winds, mountains, and woods. But by the early 1800s they have long since lost the ability to perform magic. They can only write long, dull papers about it, while fairy servants are nothing but a fading memory.

I tried reading this book twice previously (when it first came out and a few years later), but apparently the old adage that “third time’s the charm” rings true, since it wasn’t until this year that I was actually able to pick up the book and read it cover to cover. Since its publication there’s been a mini-series released by BBC, which I rather enjoyed even for its slightly slow pacing, and much praise heaped on the novel itself, but both times that I attempted to read it I got bogged down in Clarke’s language and the relatively large cast of characters. Yet having just finished reading the book, neither of these problems stopped me this time around, and I found myself rather enjoying the long and rather convoluted story.

Clarke may not have the tightest narrative style, nor a particularly concise plotline, but there are so many small moments of sheer magical delight throughout the story that I was kept glued to the pages. The BBC mini-series focused directly on the conflict between the Man with the Thistle-down Hair and the English magicians, Strange and Norrell, which is a fascinating tale of enchanted wives and evil faeries (even in the most forgiving light, the Man with the Thistle-down Hair can’t be redeemed for his selfish and overly violent nature), but Clarke’s novel broadens the spectrum of the plot to encompass the theme of magic returning to England. Clearly magic never left England - people just forgot that they knew it was there (hence the success of Norell and Strange) - yet it is often major events that trigger a wholehearted cultural change. Strange’s and Norell’s adventures are nothing less, as they bring people back to life, fight off Napoleon, and work various enchantments for the benefit of the English government before the remainder of the English population gains access to the magic hidden in England. Yet the finale sees them trapped in Eternal Darkness, even after the accidental defeat of the Man with the Thistle-down Hair and the return of Arabella Strange and Lady Pole to the waking world, so clearly their adventures (and England’s) have just begun. ( )