This book floored me. For someone to come up with this sort of narrative in this day and age, with such realised world building that can come from someone’s imagination is nothing short than a miracle. JS&MN is an experience.
The prose was crystal clear and for me, it is almost as if a classic horror movie was playing in my head — like Nosferatu. But one story that comes to mind is the Prestige, which is after all, about two battling magicians. So in my mind this novel looked like a black and white Christopher Nolan movie, which I really hope he takes on one day.
I read so I can read books like these. JS&MN explores important themes that most novels don’t address. While there is no one prevalent theme that juts out, the highlight of the book is in the story and its characters. JS&MN in essence, is a book about knowledge — how knowledge is acquired (from books or self-taught?), how it can be used and abused (winning wars or fixing real life issues?), and its effects to individuals whose ambition is the knowledge itself. Norrell acquires his knowledge overtime through books, hiding himself until he deemed his knowledge ready. Strange has the luxury of having Norrell as a mentor, but his methods are risky, experimental, often to his own detriment.
I’ve always been a sucker for books which also includes books and writing as one of its central themes. In the novel, books are stores of knowledge but also of keepers of myths and history — pieces of the past which can affect the present and future. Norrell is defensive of his books, and it is his weakness, that he became so isolated that he cannot relate to anybody else but his disciple, Strange. And from Strange he also hid his books. The novel also explores the theme of censorship, when controversial ideas are published for the general public.
Being in IT, I saw parallels of magic with the impending mainstreamification of AI. In the book, magic to the general public was a vague concept from shared myths and culture, but punters really have no clue of how it affects them and how it can be used practically. This is the same with artificial intelligence. The knowledge, while becoming more available, are reserved for a privileged few — and these few has a lot of bearing to the direction of the industry. England used Norrell’s and Strange’s magic to win wars — a use case which can fall right under artificial intelligence; magic as an industry are victims to rumours and opportunists — look at the explosion of books and courses on AI to allow every Joe Blow to become AI experts.
But here, we are barely scratching the surface. The novel is wonderful for many reasons and not purely on its allegory. There are plenty of heartfelt moments here which will make you angry, sad and sympathetic to the main characters. History is revisited through the lens of magic and the result is wonderful. For example, Hugo and Tolstoy penned their version of Waterloo expertly in Les Miz and W&P, but Clarke’s version is my personal favourite.
There are well drawn characters whose characters are interesting as their names (Uskglass, Honeyfoot, Segundus, Childermass, etc). Nobody here is a caricature, not even the minor players. And I can’t think of a single one who was not interesting.
However, characters, plot and world-building, important as they are, do not carry the book. Clarke’s success is in the use of her tone of voice which delivers the story succinctly but poetically. Season that with a generous douse of sarcasm and humour — and the tone is perfect. It reads like a modern day Victorian novel. Some would draw parallels from Austen, but there is less fluff here. The tone suits the book perfectly, and deliver the right blows where it needs to — to the characters and readers alike.
I started reading this book with no expectations, picking it up solely from the merits of its reputation and the gorgeous cover of the Bloomsbury Modern Classics edition. It will be a book that I revisit as a leisurely reader, but also as an amateur student of literature to dive deeper into.
