"The education of a magician"

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is a brilliant amalgamation of 19th century style prose, fantasy and contemporary humor. Written by Susanna Clarke, this International Bestseller is one of my favorite novels. I first read this book in 2005 (it was a Christmas gift from a British friend of mine in Greece) and could not put it down. At nearly 1000 pages, I did have to put it down occasionally to go to work but, other than that, I read it voraciously.

It is primarily about 2 British Practical Magicians (those who actually DO magic rather than just talk about it) at a time when everyone believed the ability to practice magic had left England for good. The story takes us from the wind-swept moors of Yorkshire to the society and politics of London to the battlefields of the Napoleonic wars to a Venetian district draped in eternal night, and finally, back to those northern moors. Along the way, we meet fairies, generals, servants who are kings and a King who is mad.

The book is written as though it is a biography of these two men, complete with footnotes and sources. The footnotes are digressions from the main plot and proved the reader with more background about Magic and Faerie than you can shake a wand at. Susanna Clarke's wit is delightful as she manages to be funny while never dropping her 19th century voice. The world she creates is a bewitching mirror image of the real world and her magic is convincing.


Click here to read one of Susanna Clarkes' short stories

Writing Women

I just watched "The Reader" today. It brought to mind a complaint that I have had for a while concerning female characters in novels.
Recently I have read and/or watched novels and films written by men that have strong, relatable, imperfect women among the characters. Firstly, there is "The Reader", written by a German lawyer about a boy who falls in love with an older woman only to later find out that she was a member of the SS and had previously committed terrible crimes against humanity. This woman should be a completely unsympathetic character but she is so believable and human that you cannot help feeling conflicted about her. I was stunned by her when I read the novel a few years ago. In the film she is played bye Kate Winslet (arguably the greatest actress of her generation) who does a great job. She rightfully won the oscar for that performance.
Another example is "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo". Lisbeth Salander is the life-blood of the series. She is complex and unapologetic. It is she who comes to the rescue of the "hero" in the first book not the other way around.
These are just two examples I came up with off the top of my head. Admittedly, I don't read a whole lot by women, but the stuff that I do read comes across quite hollow. It seems that female authors try to write women the way they would like to be. Prettier, thinner, richer, etc. I cannot think of the last modern novel I read with a respectable heroine written by a woman.
It seems to me that the best women written, are written by men. I would love for someone to prove me wrong.

A Void at the end of the Tunnel

For the past few years I have been feeling a bit at a loss without a new Harry Potter book on the horizon. It has been almost 3 years since I stood in line to purchase my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I wanted to read slowly, but the 784 pages, even as they ticked past bringing me closer and closer to the end, were too tempting to put down. In one marathon session, I holed myself up in my room and walked the plank. Since that July day, no book has held me so firmly in it's grip and I had feared none ever would.

Not long ago, a friend of mine (thanks, Cis) mentioned how much she had enjoyed The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. She read the first and second books of the trilogy over the course of one weekend. It was a fascinating concept, a dystopian future society that requires child-sacrifices each year and reveles in viewing it on live television. "Survivor" meets "American Gladiators" but with real weapons, not NERF balls and you don't get voted off, you die.

(Harry Potter Spoiler Alert)

On her recommendation, I picked up the first book. When I got it home I began reading. From 7pm to 1am I didn't stop. It wasn't Harry Potter but it was fascinating and I was hooked. I even wept for one character nearly as much as I had for poor Dobby.

Unlike Hogwarts, Panem isn't a place you want to visit and there are no Ron Weasleys to lighten the load. Rawling started out with lightness and humor, only getting truly dark in the last few books. Collins, on the other hand, plunges readers directly into her dark and damaged society, and rarely lets us up for air.

The book is not without it's faults. The writing is okay, but where J.K. Rowling's over-use of adverbs had once driven me mad, Suzanne Collins' odd apostrophes are now giving me a conniption. I love it anyway. A week later I got the second book, Catching Fire, and finished it nearly as quickly. I am now eagerly awaiting the final chapter, due out on August 24th this year. It is good to have something worth waiting for, but what will I do on August 25th?!

Spooky

Just over a week ago I met Laurie Notaro at a book reading here in Chicago. She was very funny. I got a copy of her new book signed and spoke with her for a minute. She insisted that she had met me before. I assured her that she hadn't. We decided it was our curly brown hair that made me familiar to her and, almost in sync, we said we see each other in the mirror every day.

Now I'm really wishing I had taken a camera so I could post a photo. Well, you can just picture a 5'11" supermodel with great hair and lithe figure. Next, picture her standing next to a very similar supermodel. For accuracy, place them in a bookstore and give them both glasses. Got it? Good. Now (keeping the setting and glasses) picture the opposite and you should be pretty close.