[Does anyone remember that Pajiba post about favorite tropes in art? I think it was inspired by Petr’s post about loving penny drops? Please link in the comments if you find it… this book contained several of my own favorite tropes and I want to re-read other people’s favorites. Thank you!]
If you had interrupted me in the middle of a chapter to ask how I was enjoying the book, I would have said, “Eh… it’s really well-written and tonally pitch perfect, but I’m liking, not loving.” But then, every night after work, while out to dinner with friends or putting my kiddo to bed, I was counting the minutes until I could get under my covers and read… I can’t quite explain… it cast a spell on me 😊
I am surprised this caught on in such a big way (it came out in 2004 to critical acclaim and the BBC turned it into a mini-series in 2015); I hadn’t realized there was such a demand for Regency Era comedies of manners crossed with nerdy, academic, wizard world-building. The characters are overwhelmingly white, upper-class English men of varying degrees of intelligence and honesty, often jockeying for magical or political power, so there’s plenty of material for satire and mockery, which was my favorite part of the book and was genuinely hilarious. Mr. Norrell and Mr. Strange are the only two magicians in England and much of the conflict comes from their different approaches and personalities. The book is full of footnotes and references to research / academia. The magic is clever and evocative and unexpected, especially the military magic (like moving counties around to confuse the enemy, creating fleets of ships out of rain and enormous hands of mud and dirt rising out of the ground to knock over enemy troops). I think you already know if you will like this book or not… it’s very much For People Who Like That Sort Of Thing, This Is The Sort Of Thing They Like. Enjoy!
A couple of my favorite tropes:
- I read a lot of Louise Penny during the pandemic and one of her main themes is that wisdom begins when we say “I’m sorry”, “I was wrong”, “I don’t know” or “I need help”. Towards the middle of the book, an arrogant, difficult man apologizes for his wrongs against his student and asks for his help and it was one of the most suspenseful, heart-breaking moments I’ve ever read. Partly because the author had skillfully built these two characters and led them to this inevitable yet unexpected point and partly because we seldom experience people apologizing unreservedly and being accountable. But is the apology accepted? Or has the character already doomed any chance of reconciliation through their past, bad behavior? My heart breaks for everyone!
- I love prophecies coming true in unexpected ways. I was miserably worried over the fate of my favorite character, Stephen, a Black butler who has been enslaved by a fickle, tyrannical, whimsical fairy king. After years of working for white people, Stephen, a brave, resourceful man, uses his hard-won cool headedness and diplomacy to keep the fairy king from killing Stephen’s imagined enemies, gifting him with Sistine Chapel and making him King of England (the most beautiful chapter of the book is a four page aside, almost at the end, when the fairy king describes the violent and gorgeous magic he has done to discover Stephen’s true name). Eventually, the prophecies come true in a most satisfactory manner.
- Duos of equal will and intelligence, maybe even with the same goal in mind, who are so different because of their circumstances and backgrounds, that they are mortal enemies when they could have been best of friends (e.g. Valjean and Javert, Professor X and Magneto, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois… you get the idea).
If you have any examples of my favorite tropes, I’d love to hear them!
