I am totally late to the party on this, but after a couple of false starts, I am very thoroughly enjoying Mr. Norrell and Jonathan Strange, which is a sort of kid lit pastiche on Regency and Gothic novels. Well, it’s not really kid lit per se, but the author is looking very deliberately at (literally) fairy tales. Much of the book is set in London circa 1804 and this summer’s memories of a grand eccentric’s home in London preserved for all time as it was on the owner’s death about a decade later than the book’s time setting – well sir, I commend this book to your kind attn. should such an experience embroider the fabric of your life.
I adored this book. Looking forward to discussing it with you.
ME TOOO
I scoured the Internet for commentary and critical analysis of the book and there is NEXT TO NOTHING, which is simply an outrage. The release reviews were all justifiably wildly enthusiastic, the book was a bestseller for MONTHs, and there are many examples of persons who resist the flavor of the moment picking up the book with a sigh of trepidation, as I did years later, and coming out the other side in a state of flabbergasted admiration, again, as I did.
But there’s only one small fan site, a wiki called “The Library at Hurtfew Abbey,” which self restricts itself to being an equivalent to Star Trek’s Memory Alpha, and therefore contains only exegesis, limited (if amusing) interpretation and comedy, and citation.
No sprawling debates on bulletin boards. No careful diagramming of plot and character. Hell, I didn’t even find any fan fiction, which I must admit I did not look very hard for.
In my current mood, I am apt to blame Facebook for this, but the book came out in 2004!