Jonathan Strange and Mr. Yawwwwn!

Kottke, like countless others before him, has read and reviewed Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. (emphasis mine)

...but the plot kept me in "I can't put it down" mode until I had finished. A surprise was how clever and funny Clarke's writing was...I found myself laughing out loud several times at the book's cutting deadpan wit. The book weighs in at ~780 pages, but my only disappointment upon finishing was that the story was over...

Wow.. good for all of them. I must be the only person who actually fell for all the hype, bought the hardcover book (Call me cheap, but I never never buy a fiction book in hardcover unless it is available in the bargain section. Maybe if it is Harry Potter.. uh..er..) and proceeded to read it with all hopes of a great 1000 page read - only to put it down after the sheer frustration of struggling with boring page after boring page. Maybe the book is like a work of abstract art - if you say you don't like it, you risk being called a fool.

Or mebbe me needs to relearn the alpha betts.

Tags: books, fiction