Ambitious, Whimsical, and Relaxing: A Review of “Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell”

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is Susanna Clarke’s first novel, published originally in 2004. It’s a long book, clocking in at over 1000 pages in the paperback edition I read, and it tells a story that ranges from late 1806 through 1807, including the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

The book is about the restoration of English magic, but it’s not what you might think after I’ve mentioned the Napoleonic Wars and English magic in such close proximity. It’s also not what you would expect from a book whose title is just the names of two characters. Instead of a lively friendship or a bitter rivalry, we get something a bit more layered.

A Fine, Funny, Satirical Collab between Two Masters! "Good Omens" Reviewed

I found a copy of this one at my local library, and I’m always up for some new Pratchett. I’ve never read any of Neil Gaiman’s stuff, so this was a good introduction, too.

Apparently this book began as six pages of an incomplete short story that Gaiman sent to Pratchett in 1985, and it sat in a desk drawer for a year or so before Pratchett came up with a way to continue it. They worked together and the book was finally published in 1990!

A Film Noir Classic in Technicolor?! Reviewing "The Big Sleep"

It's odd. I of course know who Raymond Chandler was, and his famous hard-boiled detective character Philip Marlowe... I like mystery stories, but never once have I read one of his books, until this week. 

But when I saw Marlowe's praise for Fleming's Diamonds Are Forever, I thought, why not check out one of his books?

Locked in a Drawer until the Novels Succeed?! Reviewing "Poirot Investigates!"

It's funny--this book collects fourteen Poirot short stories that were published between 1923 and 1924, which was years after the first Poirot novel came out in 1920. Yet it feels like Christie was still developing Poirot as I read through these.

I wonder if a bunch of Poirot shorts spent a few years in Christie's desk before the success of the novels gave the magazines a better reason to publish them?

Another thing I learned while working on this review was that a lot of these early Poirot stories are actually in the public domain!

Opening Up on Substack

In the interest of spreading the word more effectively, I've opened up a version of this blog on Substack!

If you're already a Substack user, you can follow me and get notes and stuff there!

But I'm going to keep posting here just like usual, so no pressure.

Visit the Substack version

Fun and Cinematic, but with Some Flaws! "Diamonds Are Forever," by Ian Fleming!

One of the things I saw during my last library trip was a few Ian Fleming/James Bond novels! I didn't really have a preference, so of the three they had on the shelf, I picked Diamonds Are Forever. This is the fourth Bond book, published originally in 1956.

I'm not a big Bond fan, but I can't help but recognize the long history of popularity that the James Bond movies have had. I've seen a couple of them a long time ago, Goldeneye and Skyfall, I think, and bits and pieces of a few of the older ones (my dad likes them but also isn't a huge fan).

So I was curious what the books were like! Are they as action-packed as the movies? Are they solid novels or does the cinema help push them into the limelight?

The Critics Lied! Stevenson's "New Arabian Nights" Is Way Different from Machen's "Three Impostors!"

When I did my reading and review of Arthur Machen's Three Impostors a while back, I kept finding critics who said it was too like Robert Louis Stevenson's New Arabian Nights. Well, now I've read the first volume of New Arabian Nights, and I think the critics were really digging when they came up with that one. I'll explain why in a minute.