I want to be a cookbook editor too
2004-09-18

Just finished up reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, which I bought two weeks ago on a whim, because it seemed like a whole lotta book. And it was, seeing as it took me two weeks to get through.

This is supposed to be Harry Potter for adults, although Rowling's stuff is actually more "adult" (in the "Family Moviegoer" sense of adult) what with all the CAPITAL LETTER angst and kids smooching and people dying in the past and in the present and the possibility of half the cast dying in gory nasty ways in the future. Clarke doesn't throw in any of that. Instead it's almost like reading a history book with some descriptions thrown in. (Not meant as an insult - I like history books.) The characters are vaguely sketched in - there's the enchanted maiden, the enchanted servant, the enchanted - never mind, there's a lot of enchanting, but don't expect to get particularly attached to anyone. Somebody could probably write a historical bonkbuster off of this material if they wanted to, with all the characters amped up to eleven, just like authors do using real history books.

It is very good as a historical novel in that the protagonists are constantly running into historical figures and somehow it seems realistic, as opposed to those books where the characters see a "tall, careworn man with a look of grave responsibility" and he turns around and says something wise and ooh err it's Abraham Lincoln! Who woulda thunk?

Anyway it's a very soothing read, and anyone who's willing to pay the massive postage can borrow it off me. And I heard the author on the radio, and she sounds very cute and nerdy in an endearing way. Plus she was a cookbook editor, which must be the best job on earth (ok, it's not, but I can pretend it is when I'm not actually in contact with one).