Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

My mom has a thing about crows. She says that when she sees them, particularly in large groups in the spring, she sees it as a good omen. She says she feels like they talk to her when she passes. So I wasn't sure what to think when the mythology of this book saw ravens as good omens as well (I realize I'm conflating crows and ravens, which are so not the same thing, but I imagine my mom wouldn't recognize the difference). I'm taking it as evidence of how awesome she is. Weird, but awesome.

That's what I liked most about this book. I like the mythology and the magic. I want to say that it is similar to magical realism, almost, because the magic seems to behave without rules. Or rather, there are rules, we're just not privy to them, and there are people who think they are but they really don't know what they're talking about. It's what I felt was missing from books like Harry Potter, that make magic into a science, or rather what elementary school tells you what science is. There's Latin words and specific wand movements, and everything works very cleanly. In Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, magic is more like how science actually is, that there are rules written down and equations to make sense of it, but really there's so much mystery involved its scary. There's a kind of elegant mysticism about this kind of magic, which I quite like. Not to mention, some of the magic done is very cool and dramatic (I have a cinematic mind, so I have a tendency to grade the books I read on their potential for great movie moments).

As for the rest of it...well. When I complained about the slow pace on Tumblr, I received several anonymous assurances that the ending pays it off. I was told that all the backstory leading up to it is necessary for character development. It so is not. There are new characters still being introduced 3/4 of the way through! And really, its not like the title characters really evolve that much, I did not need 800 pages to tell me they're both full of themselves. I can easily look back on certain chunks and wonder why they were necessary. Even when the book does get to its best part, its still diverting down side roads and footnotes. The funny thing about those footnotes is that buried in there are some damn good stories. The history of the Raven King is really fascinating, and I suppose the reason why it was treated in that way is to show how his presence in this alternative universe is so commonplace that its not considered remarkable. Still, I felt a little cheated, that that was where the meat of the intrigue was and it was relegated to footnotes.

What I like though, what I really really like, is the way it handles marginalized groups and the issue of privilege. I feel like that's actually what this book is about when you get down to it. There are women in this book whose lives do not revolve around men, who have relationships with eachother, who are aware of their position in the world and are freaking pissed off about it. There's a black servant, who in some sense is the “model minority,” he's sophisticated and intelligent and wealthier than most white people he encounters, but he was born of slaves and knows his position in the world is precarious at best. There is Norrell's servant, who is intelligent and frank and never appreciated by Norrell for all his talent. All of these characters provide perspectives that their more privileged counterparts ignore.

Privilege is addressed in the obliviously arrogant way Strange and Norrell behave, as well as in the behavior of pretty much every other white male character, and a faerie who doesn't seem to understand the weight of his power. It illustrates perfectly that privilege isn't a bad thing in and of itself - Strange acknowledges that he can't blame the faerie that enchanted his wife, its just his way, and Stephen Black even apologizes to him as he's killing him, saying, "You intended nothing but kindness, I know" - but it makes people blind. This book is about humility and pride, and that it takes a lot more than just one smack in the face for people to recognize which they have and which they lack. As said, Strange and Norrell don't change. They save the day purely accidentally, because with everything they've been given, and all the power they claim to understand, it never occurs to them that there might be something going on much bigger than them, because it involves people that they view as much smaller than them. Strange gets it, sort of. It comes in how much he learns about about magic, and manifests in how he begins to trust women and servants in ways that other characters don't. But what does change more significantly is that the people around them realize they can't always rely on them, even if they are magicians.

I do think there's a lot to be gained from this book, so I can understand why its considered so significant. Is it really worth it though, all of it? Ehhhhhh. I am glad I read it, even though at times I wished I was getting started on my Animorphs reread instead. I'm a little disappointed that since I read it on the Kindle, I can't page through it aimlessly, because it does feel like that's what it more made for. There's a lot of tiny moments and gems that helped it along, but I just wish there were more of them.