Well Begun and All Done; Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

The Book: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Opening: "Some years ago there was in the city of York a society of magicians."

Closing: "They kissed once. Then he turned upon his heel and disappeared into the Darkness."

Imagine Charles Dickens lived in the late-twentieth century and took in a performance of Peter Shaffer's Amadeus. Imagine further that, in describing the play to a friend, he misspeaks and says that it tells the story of two dueling magicians. After chuckling good-naturedly over his malapropism, Dickens decides that the idea has merit. He sits down to write an epic tale of two rivalrous magicians in Napoleonic era England. Finally, imagine his shock and dismay when he brings the finished manuscript to Chapman and Hall Publishers, only to be told that he shouldn't have bothered writing his Dickensian masterpiece: Susanna Clarke had already done it.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell tells (at Pickwickian length) the story of the two eponymous characters, each of whom embody different approaches to the study and practice of the magical arts. Norrell is a scholar, who believes that magic must be learned from books and that one must master all aspects of magical theory before attempting magical practice, lest the results prove disastrous. So convinced is he of the dangers of reckless dilettantes dabbling in sorcery, though, he has basically cornered the market on books of magic, thus making it impossible for anyone else to master magic in the way he recommends. Along comes Jonathan Strange, though, a likable aristocrat with an apparently innate talent for magic. Deprived of the ability to learn from Norrell's literary hoard, he simply begins practicing magic intuitively. When he finally does come to Norrell to more formally pursue his studies, he soon begins improvising around the classic spells to create new magical possibilities.

Strange and Norrell at first work together to bring magic back to England. They put themselves at the disposal of the British government, and, indeed, Strange comes into his own as a magician when he becomes an indispensable adviser and assistant to the Duke of Wellington in his campaigns against Napoleon. Eventually, the two magicians have a falling out, and devotees of English magic find themselves dividing into camps of "Norrellites" and "Strangites." In the end, though, they find themselves, as one might expect, rejoining forces to combat a grave threat to the sceptered isle.

Any summary of this novel leaves out immensities. The book is sprawling (nearly 800 pages), but it charms nonetheless. The first part of the book focuses on Norrell, the decidedly less-likable of the two title characters, but once Strange comes into the picture, the story picks up considerably. Clarke writes in an unabashedly Dickensian tone, even going so far as to adopt archaic spellings and idiosyncratic capitalization--a somewhat annoying affectation, but one gets used to it. She also intersperses her fictional text with equally fictional footnotes explaining the finer points of English magical history.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is a truly immersive experience, great for a long (very long) plane ride or a cold rainy day by a fire. If you like Dickens--or, perhaps more appropriately, Neil Gaiman (who blurbed Clarke's book)--check it out.