Oh, this book...
First of all, every time someone asks, "Laurie, what is the giant piece of literature weighing down your lap?" I get the title all mixed up! For some reason, Mr. Norrell's name always comes first in my rendition. Either that or I say "Mr. Strange and Jonathan Norrell." Uhg. Why?
Second of all, I spilt orange gatorade all over the last half of the book. The pages are crinkly, damp, and sticky. But I'm fighting through it.
What I'm saying is--this book has been a journey.
I'm with Jessie. I feel like this books has taken a lifetime to read, and I don't know why!
Now, when I throw myself into it, I *really* enjoy it. Clarke's characters are extremely well rendered, and I love her historical world! As an English major, I keep recognizing her references to authors of the time period whose novels I've read! I just read Radcliffe's The Italian last month! Dorky? Yes. Do I care? No.
The footnotes, however, I could do without. While they are interesting at times, I don't feel that one needs three pages of foot note. I must confess, after the first ten, I stopped reading the ones that weren't directly connected to the plot. Great for world building (and interesting for sure!), but I just didn't have the time to peruse each one.
Anyway, I'm not finished yet, so I can't make truly informed arguments.
More to come when I close the back cover...
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3 comments:
Im completely with you on the footnotes! At first I was like "Aww... cute a story in a story" Then after I realized how many pages I had to go, I was like "I dont have time!"
I actually liked the stories in the footnotes more than the actual factual plotline. I loved hearing little side tales about the Raven King!
I completely agree with the footnotes being not-my-cuppa-tea. I'm glad that they are there, though, for those that do enjoy them. And yet they are nothing but footnotes to the actual story, so I'm free to skip the suckers. Yipee!
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