Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

I loved Piranesi, but reading this was a real struggle. I first picked it up around 2008 or so, and stopped reading. This time I finally made it through, but I don't get the hype at all. Other reviews compare it to Austen, but it lacks what makes Austen good. Characters in this book don't really grow or change much, and the dialogue between them isn't very interesting or revealing. The pacing was so slow, then lightning fast in a bad way: “oh the climax has already happened, I missed it. “

Clarke does a great job of conveying that Norrell is a fearful, introverted, annoying, unwise, pain in the ass, the kind of elderly man with no sense about people whatsoever. But that part is repeated so unnecessarily often. Austen would have painted the whole picture in one striking sentence and then moved on.

Strange is a much more interesting character, but we never really see the effects of anything on him emotionally. The ending was terrible.

I liked the Graysteels and Flora, and her relationship with Jonathan Strange. That part was clever.