Books are the real magic

« I saw this while waiting for a movie and it took me a second or three to figure out what was wrong with the display; someone had ripped off the heads of the Thunderbirds. Seems to be a trend around the world these days. »

I cringed recently when I read a fawning review of a new book being touted as "Harry Potter for adults" since I tried and failed to find Harry Potter remotely interesting and previous experience has shown that anything getting that amount of hype is an Oprah book club "suburbanite special" selection. I can't remember a title that has gotten more glowing reviews from even the usually harsh and bitchy critics so my curiosity was piqued enough to order a copy of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. I almost didn't order it since I'm waiting for Stephenson's new 900 page tome to be released next week but reading is one of the perks of being an unemployed slacker with too much time on my hands.

Just from the first few hundred pages I can verify that the book deserves all the literary kudos it has been getting as well as the narrative being irresistibly addictive. Susanna Clarke's mastery of English is truly a joy to behold in an age where I have nearly given up on fiction due to lackluster language and plots. I remain rather curious about the 'retro' fad of Napoleonic or Victorian novels lately and a general trend of fiction set in some past romantic timeframe. I suppose that it is because books about the present or the past 100 years are less able to transport us to a time where things seemed to make sense, even with the element of magical fantasy. It's like an 800 page time machine where CNN and beheadings in Iraq have no context or place. It is likely to be an instant classic as so many have commented and WSOY has already licensed the rights to the book although I don't envy the Finnish translator given the richness of the English. I'll bet the book burning fundamentalists who torched countless Potter books for their 'witchcraft' will be stocking up on the kindling and matches for the Strange & Norrell book, too, which can only do marvelous things for sales. :)

Another book, from the creator of Maus, In the Shadow of No Towers; a lavishly illustrated, scathingly critical comic on 911 and its aftermath in the US. It has rightfully stirred a bit of controversy and I wish it were more freely available to the voting public before the elections.