One thing I've wondered since reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell was who exactly Susanna Clarke had in mind as a target audience. Released during the heights of the Harry Potter franchise, you'd think there might have been a young adult market. But the extremely languous pace, Byzantinian language and sheer size of the damn book should scare any young reader off. Meanwhile, the audience known to like their Dickens and Austen aren't exactly known for their fondness of fantasy. Clarke's book was a gamble to find some kind of nerdy inbetweener audience, and I'm impressed that one was discovered; indeed, one big enough to warrant a 7 part BBC drama.
The drama does a lot of shuffling to bring some variety to the story telling. Whereas in the book, nearly the entire first half was devoted to establishing Norrell's rise to fame (complete with endless footnotes and digressions) before even mentioning Jonathan Strange, the series introduces both characters from the get go. And removes any hint of the footnotes. Whilst I think the time shuffling and alternating narrative was a vital concession for television, I miss the constant footnotes - they did an important job of fleshing out the setting, and of creating a dry, academic, orderly tone to much of the story. Meanwhile, the series occasionally struggles to find its own tone, mixing the apologetic smirks and hi-jinks of Strange with a much darker horror element of its amoral, ruthless fairy race.
Strange and Norrell is ultimately a character driven story, led by two diametrically opposed protagonists - the mousy, highly strung Norrell and the charming, reckless Strange. Both play their roles well, though towards the finale there is a bit of extravagant shouting and scenery chewing. The supporting cast are all excellent too, and the favourite has to be The Gentleman; an arrogant Fairy King who is utterly devoid of self-awareness.
At only 7 episodes, it is a fun diversion whilst it lasted and I wished there was more. You don't need to have read the book to understand or enjoy the show, but I would recommend you read it anyway because it is that good. You may need to have a couple of weeks spare for that though.
Jonathan Strange and the BBC Series
One thing I've wondered since reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell was who exactly Susanna Clarke had in mind as a target audience. Released during the heights of the Harry Potter franchise, you'd think there might have been a young adult market. But the extremely languous pace, Byzantinian language and sheer size of the damn book should scare any young reader off. Meanwhile, the audience known to like their Dickens and Austen aren't exactly known for their fondness of fantasy. Clarke's book was a gamble to find some kind of nerdy inbetweener audience, and I'm impressed that one was discovered; indeed, one big enough to warrant a 7 part BBC drama.
The drama does a lot of shuffling to bring some variety to the story telling. Whereas in the book, nearly the entire first half was devoted to establishing Norrell's rise to fame (complete with endless footnotes and digressions) before even mentioning Jonathan Strange, the series introduces both characters from the get go. And removes any hint of the footnotes. Whilst I think the time shuffling and alternating narrative was a vital concession for television, I miss the constant footnotes - they did an important job of fleshing out the setting, and of creating a dry, academic, orderly tone to much of the story. Meanwhile, the series occasionally struggles to find its own tone, mixing the apologetic smirks and hi-jinks of Strange with a much darker horror element of its amoral, ruthless fairy race.
Strange and Norrell is ultimately a character driven story, led by two diametrically opposed protagonists - the mousy, highly strung Norrell and the charming, reckless Strange. Both play their roles well, though towards the finale there is a bit of extravagant shouting and scenery chewing. The supporting cast are all excellent too, and the favourite has to be The Gentleman; an arrogant Fairy King who is utterly devoid of self-awareness.
At only 7 episodes, it is a fun diversion whilst it lasted and I wished there was more. You don't need to have read the book to understand or enjoy the show, but I would recommend you read it anyway because it is that good. You may need to have a couple of weeks spare for that though.