tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post6539447070864583301..comments2024-03-28T21:32:26.550+00:00Comments on Bruce Charlton's Notions: Review of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (2004)Bruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-54881123818636486192015-07-16T16:58:06.117+01:002015-07-16T16:58:06.117+01:00@Dd - I think Susanna Clarke is a very serious wri...@Dd - I think Susanna Clarke is a very serious writer, who will not rush her sequel - and Strange and Norrell itself took about a decade to write. This, I think, is one reason why it was so very good - with such depth and reality to its alternative world. She in the spirit of a leisured amateur writer - like Tolkien, so this is a compliment; and by contrast most professional fantasy writers are hasty hacks. Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-38056268506378789622015-07-16T15:00:20.826+01:002015-07-16T15:00:20.826+01:00I have just finished reading this wonderful book h...I have just finished reading this wonderful book having been captivated by the poorly received BBC adaptation. Loved the wit and style with which it was written. Felt there were several loose ends waiting for the sequal (Stephen Black and Mr Childermass?) which has sadly not yet been forthcoming. Hopefully one day......Daisydaughternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-87064263677346690272015-06-06T03:47:37.950+01:002015-06-06T03:47:37.950+01:00From what I remember, the Wee Free Men are an enti...From what I remember, the Wee Free Men are an entirely different set of beasties, being arguably a force of Good -- more or less embodying the positive virtues present in independence, loyalty, and drunken rioting. True, they do not embody the virtues of politeness, civilization, or property rights, so are not the kind of Good you just sit down and have tea parties with.<br /><br />On the other hand, it's precisely because the man with the thistledown hair has not the slightest idea of what loyalty or friendship <i>is</i> that his continual attempts at these things are so appalling.Arakawahttp://nonapologia.tumblr.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-29183631026202812952015-06-05T22:32:01.166+01:002015-06-05T22:32:01.166+01:00@Ara - Indeed! But it taps into a strand of folklo...@Ara - Indeed! But it taps into a strand of folklore of (often) selfish, cruel fairies - much the same one as used by Terry Pratchett in Lords and Ladies, or The Wee Free Men. Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-75920366457049438052015-06-05T21:26:06.884+01:002015-06-05T21:26:06.884+01:00I like the book as well -- it's a fairly regul...I like the book as well -- it's a fairly regular re-read. That said, the fairies and fairy-kingdoms have an inert and icy quality to them -- more or less the opposite of what (I should hope) Tolkien would have meant by the word 'Faerie'!Arakawahttp://arakawa.github.ionoreply@blogger.com