Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel

One of the most ambitious and difficult novels I've ever had the pleasure of reading, Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is a mind-bogglingly complex literary masterpiece that breathes new life into the fantasy genre by making it old again. Written as if Charles Dickens and Jane Austen conspired to write an epic fantasy novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell concerns two magicians—the titular Strange and Norrell—and their burgeoning friendship and later rivalry during the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century. Working with the intent of "bringing magic back to England," Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell have completely different philosophies regarding magic and its practical use. Mr Norrell is reclusive, snobbish, and studious; he believes magic should only be performed after one has accounted for all of the possible outcome (preferably after reading tomes and tomes of dense books). Jonathan Strange, on the other hand, is young, brash, and flashy; in his eyes, the boundaries of magic should be pushed with an almost reckless abandon. However, both Strange and Norrell's meddling in the magical arts end up catching the attention of powerful and nefarious beings beyond their ability to comprehend, with disastrous results for Europe and those they hold dear. Prior to Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, I'd only read Susanna Clark's most recent novel, Piranesi, a short magical story with hidden depths. I really enjoyed Piranesi, and that novel almost acts as an appetizer to the delights one will find within the pages of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. I mean, there are footnotes in this novel that contain more imagination than most modern fiction released in any given year. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell can almost be viewed as a novel made up stories—literally hundreds of stories and plots and literary asides and myths and fables—that weave together to tell an epic tale of friendship, rivalry, and dark magic. By the time I finished this book, I really felt as if I'd just read an alternate history of Great Britain during the early 1800s. With all that said (and I say this in the strongest possible terms), most readers will find Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell an extremely difficult read. It's literary stylings—from its depiction of character development, dialogue, and action to its almost maddening tendency to chase down arcane rabbit trails—are firmly rooted in the literary tradition of Charles Dickens, Leo Tolstoy, and Alexander Dumas (with nods to C.S Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and George MacDonald). Some people will absolutely hate the way this book is written, paced, and executed. I, for one, loved it—but I'm also here to tell you that it's not for everyone. Though Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is a long book, it's best viewed as one novel split into three volumes made up of dozens of almost self-contained chapters that tell an overarching narrative that spans 10 years. If one is up to the task, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is an immensely satisfying, exhausting, and rewarding read. It whet my appetite to read more literary classics that inspired it, and it gave me a greater appreciation for a more intellectual style of writing. Also, this book is so funny—the use of wry British dialogue brought a smile to my face every time a witty or self-depreciating aside was made. Additionally, the pen-and-ink illustrations by Portia Rosenberg are a beautiful touch. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is nothing short of a masterpiece. It absolutely blows my mind that this was Susanna Clark's debut novel—I cannot imagine the herculean task is must of been to write this book (seriously, Piranesi could've literally been a footnote in this novel). From the battlefields of Waterloo and the canals of Venice to the Kingdoms of Faerie and the dark enchanted mansions of the Gentleman with Thistle-Down Hair, I'd follow Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell down to the depths of Hell to fight the Raven King himself if it meant spending more time with these two gentlemen magicians.

In an alternate history version of Britain, the Napoleonic Wars rage across Europe, Mad King George sits on the throne, and England has no magicians to help. It used to have them, a long time ago. One, the legendary John Uskglass, even established a separate kingdom in Northern England. There are still people who call themselves magicians, but they only study history and theory. They cannot perform magic. Until one day when an obscure country gentleman, Gilbert Norrell, makes the stone statutes of his local church come alive as an announcement that magic has returned to the land. He goes to London, eager to be useful in the war effort (and just as eager to receive the plaudits for so doing). He makes his name in the city by bringing back to life the fiancee of a government minister with the help of a fairy that he summons, the Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair. He makes a bargain with the fairy for half the woman’s life, but as in many fairy tales, he is deceived. Emma Pole enjoys only a brief period of her revived life before the fairy comes to collect what is his, requiring her to attend balls in Faerie every night that leave her exhausted and dazed during the day, unable to fully function. Norrell is a cautious, proud, and miserly man, who jealously guards the secrets of his art. But even his hoarding of nearly every book of magic in England cannot prevent the rise of another magician, Jonathan Strange. Strange is about as different from Norrell as it is possible to be: younger, much more impulsive, intuitive, personable. When Jonathan and his wife Arabella come to London as well, one would think there would be a clash…but for a time, the magicians get on well together, with Norrell carefully doling out knowledge to the younger man. But when Strange is deployed to war under the command of Lord Wellington, developing his skills in the field, he no longer finds that he needs Norrell’s tutelage and the two quarrel. Magic, though, does not limit itself to what Norrell and Strange want, and the Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair takes an active interest in the people of England that has devastating consequences. This novel is epic, sprawling, and ambitious. In its setting and scope, it evokes the great classics of the Napoleonic Wars: War & Peace, Vanity Fair, and The Count of Monte Cristo came to my mind as I read it. It’s a bold move to place your book among those, but Clarke brings her own take on events to the table. That said, it does not always achieve what it seems to be going for. Pacing is a real issue, with a very slow start and significant drag in the back half (which feels like it might be intended to set up the sequel Clarke was originally planning). For a book of this length, the character development is surprisingly thin. Strange is the most well-rounded one but the novel is not interior at all. That being said, there are quite a lot of characters, and several of the less prominent ones are vivid and interesting, so Clarke mostly is able to distract from the lack of depth with a well-populated world. I’m not sure how much I thought Clarke’s nods to Georgian/Regency-era writing (using “shew” instead of “show”, “suprize” instead of “surprise”, etc) are successful. I think the style she deploys calls to mind that era of writing well enough without those sort of things and I found it distracting as much as anything else. But I loved the footnotes, and the overall tone of her prose. It’s overall a good book, sometimes even very good, but a big time commitment.

I am notoriously picky when it comes to genres like sci-fi and fantasy. I have dabbled in the two enough to know that there are plenty of authors who have a knack for plotting but lack the artistry to spin prose fine enough to whet my high-falutin' palate. I love a great story, but I also love full characters and a narrative free of clichéd plotting and tired, worn-out phrases! As a blend of the two, Susannah Clarke's "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell" did not disappoint. In fact, I can easily put it on my list of all-time favorite novels. Given the popularity of fantasy books adapted into cinematic or televised form -- the Harry Potter series, the Chronicles of Narnia, the Lord of the Rings, the Golden Compass, Percy Jackson, Game of Thrones, etc, etc. - I often found myself wondering as I read why "Strange & Norrell" had not yet been filmed or even demanded as a movie (or, given its length, a mini-series). It's an epic, engrossing tale, and much of it would lend itself nicely to film, cinematic as it is in written form with living statues, ships made of fog, bewitching faeries, columns of eternal darkness, and other magical miracles all present. More than that, I've since wondered why I don't know anyone in my circle of friends who has read or enjoyed it. Given how huge of a success it apparently was back in 2003, as well how many fantasy nuts I'm friends with both in real life and online, that fact is rather...well, strange. My guess is that it might have something to do with the execution of the story, which requires a bit of a learning curve to really appreciate. Other reviewers have noticed that the story is somewhat slower and more meticulous than the typical fantasy adventure; "Strange & Norrell" trades a constant cavalcade of magical feats and creatures for a broader focus on characterization and a deft weaving of historical fact and fiction (now we know the real reason that the English bested the French in the Napoleonic Wars!). Admittedly, much of the entertainment "Strange & Norrell" provides comes from its frequent parody of the stuffy, overly wordy prose common to English literature of the early 1800s. I am very much not a fan of reading anything from that particular time period. Whenever anybody mentions "Pride and Prejudice" or "Wuthering Heights," my eyes glaze over and my mind shuts down as a preliminary measure against permanent brain damage. Since "Strange & Norrell" stays modern by poking fun of that era's high diction and fussy, reserved society, I found myself loving the experience instead. The humor continues with Clarke's periodic use of footnotes. Some may grow vexed at these breaks in the story as they sometimes digress from the narrative entirely, but I found the footnotes to be a fun and unique way to fit in supplementary information or tell amusing stories only marginally related to the main storyline without disrupting the flow. They seem quite evocative of the footnotes employed in a similar fashion in David Foster Wallace's "Infinite Jest" - could that book have been an influence? Or did both authors simple come up with the idea on their own? It seems the nineties and 2000s were the age of random and comical footnotes. (Another footnoted work soon to be devoured on my list of reads: "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski.) "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell" reportedly took Susannah a decade to write, and the final product shows. The book is sweeping, nuanced, and subtle, with these descriptors hinting at the kind of reader that would fully appreciate the novel's intentions. If you're looking for constant explosions or cacophonous invasions by drooling, heavily-armored orcs, try a different author. If you're looking for an enchanting tale of magic as well as a adroit send-up of the grandiloquent and prim, proper English society of long ago, give this book a chance.

To begin with, imagine Harry Potter as written by Jane Austen. While that is an imprecise high concept version of "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell," it embraces the two most important aspects of the book would-be readers need to reconcile themselves with. If you are uncomfortable with magic -- not magic realism, not imagined magic, but actual magic done by the characters -- the book is not for you. Likewise, if the notion of reading nearly 800 pages written by Susanna Clarke channeling Jane Austen sounds hard to bear, wait for the movie. But for those who find either of those bearable -- or, better yet, an exciting prospect -- "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell" is a strange and wonderful novel that you will live in for longer than you expect and shorter than you will end up wishing. One of the first truly adult fantasy novels -- which is to say, it emphasizes real emotions, subtle and conflicting motivations and genuine love over special effects, gore and sex -- Clarke's novel is full of characters who can be both repellent, attractive and pitiable, sometimes all in the space of one paragraph. The novel, even if one has given into temptation and read too many detailed reviews, is full of surprises, both of the large plot twist sort and or the small character moments sort. The ending, in particular, is a bittersweet wrench, perfectly in keeping with the rest of the novel, and yet slightly surprising and heartbreaking despite that. With the love between Jonathan and Arabella Strange, the scholarly passions of Mr. Norrell and a host of "theoretical magicians," the strange and eventually fascinating Childermass, the various cloying toadies, the sweet and in-over-their-head Greysteels, Clarke creates more delicately detailed and compelling characters than most novelists manage in a whole series of novels. And it is as much the love between Jonathan and Arabella that drives this novel as it is the love of magic of the two protagonists. But there is magic a-plenty, including spectacular magic wrought on the battlefield against Napoleon, whom one feels almost sorry for as Strange gets more and more comfortable in his role as Wellington's magician. But the plot is longer and more complex than that, and Napoleon is mostly a stepping stone for the magicians in their quest to return English magic to its rightful place, and their real enemy is subtle and devious, and more than a little insane. Their enemy is one of the most interesting antagonists in fiction, and Clarke successful makes him a mythic sort of villain. At the same time, she also manages to create a great deal of mystery around the ancient Raven King, creating a mystique around a totally made-up character that has the weight of real world myth and legend. Despite the novel's historical period and many ties to real world history, it's not necessary to know anything about the British fighting Napoleon, the poetry and life of Lord Byron or anything else of the sort. Clarke provides more than enough to understand and enjoy the setting, although the more one knows about history, the more Clarke's very low-key winks at it are revealed -- Byron's and the Shelleys' legendary Swiss vacation that, in many ways, gave birth to the modern horror genre gets a dismissive reference from Strange at one point, who obviously does not yet know the historical significance of the house on the lake and those who stayed there, for instance. I normally whip through a novel this size, particularly if I love it, as I did this one, in a weekend, or a week at most. Instead, I found myself putting the book down and not wanting to go further, wanting to savor and digest the book in small doses. Now that I've finished it, I only have a small short story by Clarke (on the official novel Web site) left to me of it. If the initial description -- Harry Potter as written by Jane Austen -- sounds good to you, don't hesitate. The sooner you enter the 19th century England of Strange and Norrell, the happier you'll be. This is easily one of the best novels, of any genre or literary merit, I've ever read.

Widely regarded as one of the best works of the modern fantasy canon, JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL was a book I've been meaning to read for a while. And while every one of these 1000 or so pages is evidence of literary brilliance, it wasn't something I was fully emotionally invested in. Still, though, I'm glad I finally read it. At the turn of the 19th century, it seems like no magic remains in England. But then a practicing magician named Mr. Norrell turns England upside-down when he performs the first bit of magic in England in several centuries, and immediately shoots his way up the social ladder. Norrell wants to use magic to do England good, but he's particular about how to regulate magic--which is why the sudden appearance of a second English magician, the charismatic Jonathan Strange, rocks Norrell to his core. Whereas Norrell's squirrelly looks and socially awkward demeanor are a disappointment as the face of magic, Strange's carriage and behavior earn him the goodwill of a fair number of Englishmen. Yet even as tensions between Norrell and Strange continue to develop, a long-simmering magic plot to take over England keeps threatening to come to light. Susanna Clarke takes the subgenre "Regency fantasy" to a whole new level with her superb command of that time period's language. Think Austen with a heavy dose of magical elements: not only was the language reminiscent of Regency England times, but Austen's almost insidious portrayal of ridiculous people had a heavy showing in JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL. While Strange and Norrell are arguably the main characters of the eponymous novel, we readers don't really LIKE them the way we usually do protagonists, because most of them are not good people: Norrell in particular manipulate nearly everyone out of fear of a loss of influence, meanwhile letting his even-less-appealing "friends" manipulate him in turn. All the unsavory characters in the book make Jonathan Strange look very good indeed, but he's no real "wounded hero," just another self-centered guy who does not give enough consideration to others in his life. That, I guess, is what ultimately disappointed me about this book: it doesn't break any conventions or tread new ground in terms of genre or sociohistorical issues. Clarke crafts an alternate, magician-focused history for England, but, with the exception of head-scratchingly long footnotes showing just how in-depth Clarke has got with her alternate history creativity, JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL didn't blow me out of the water with originality in its fantasy genre. Additionally--and this may just be me--I found it a bit off-putting how small a role women played in the novel. For a book written by a female author, I had expected a bit more subversion of historical attitudes toward the role of males vs. females in society; yes, the book doesn't attempt to focus on the inequality and tensions between different parties, but I was surprised that the book didn't take such a step with potentially strong and interesting female characters such as Arabella Strange and Mrs. Pole. No, at the end of the day, things and people seemed to be pretty much what they had been before the book started, which results in reader's confusion along the lines of, "I just spent three weeks reading 1000 pages...and did anything significant really happen?" Hrmph. So, in some ways, reading JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL was for me like reading a classic that the "great authorities of literature" say is a must-read but on a personal level was a slog to get through. While I certainly appreciated Clarke's Austenian writing style, I closed the book realizing that 500 pages could've been cut out and I would have thought nothing was amiss.

I can't remember when or why I'd purchased this book. It's almost as though the book found me. At first glance, a novel of over 800 pages written in period style may seem like a challenge you don't wish to undertake, but you'd miss out on this truly astounding and, yes, magical story. The story offers surprises, wonderful and rich characters and more humor than I could have anticipated. The setting is England, but not the England we know. This is an England torn in half, ruled by two kings; the mad King George in the south and the long-disappeared Raven King of the north, in whose stead the southern kings rule according to treaty until the Raven King's highly unlikely return. The Raven King ruled with magic for three hundred years and it would seem that magic had disappeared with him, and for the four hundred years since his departure, English magic has faded out of both fashion and effectiveness. Plenty of men consider themselves magicians by way of theoretical study when our story begins, but no one has successfully practiced magic. A Northerner of means named Gilbert Norrell has accumulated as many magical books as he can, buying or outright tricking the volumes out from the hands of the rest of the country. He makes a name for himself with a demonstration of his magic, a demonstration performed in order to discredit a society of magicians and claim their library for his own, and he comes to London intending to offer his talents to the crown so as to return magic to England once more. But Norrell is a small-minded and selfish man lacking the required social graces to make much headway into London society, despite gaining the efforts of two petty gentlemen bent on riding his coattails as long as fashionable. Desperate for attention from the crown, Norrell finds himself backed into a corner when his two gentleman associates promise a neighboring Government Minister that Norrell can bring his young fiance back to life. Norrell does so, but only by making a hasty bargain with a fairy he summons in secret. Norrell's feat succeeds in bringing him the attention of the crown and his services soon prove indispensable. Norrell comes to be regarded as the face and guardian of English magic, but an ill-regarded street magician delivers a prophecy to Norrell, a prophecy about TWO English magicians. Norrell dismisses the prophecy, but some time later, a young gentleman named Jonathan Strange encounters the beggar and purchases a few spells, eventually finding he has a proclivity for magic he hadn't realized. The two magicians differ in every way but in their love for magic; where Norrell researches and researches a spell, Strange is quick to cast the spell and improve it; where Norrell is merely tolerated by society, Strange and his wife are embraced warmly. Strange is at first happy in assuming the role of student to Norrell, but as his talents grow and Norrell's jealousy stews, the war between England and France draws the two men to different fronts, and all the while, the bargain Norrell had made has given the mischievous and brutal fairy all the license he requires to meddle in the lives of those surrounding the two magicians in ways that Norrell and Strange are at once unaware of and unable to repair.

To put it as simply as I can, this book is a well-crafted, slow burn journey into England in the 1800s with a sprinkling of magic. If this sounds enjoyable to you, then I highly recommend reading this book. If you prefer epic fantasy, or really any form of fantasy, you might want to re-think reading this book. I know it's marketed as historical fantasy/fantasy realism (which is correct BTW), but it reads and feels like historical fiction. The fantastical elements to this story are ... underwhelmingly bare. However, the historical elements of this book, the prose, the characters, the environments and world building, are all well done. Mr. Norrell is an older magician who has come to the conclusion that magic should be safeguarded because it can be very dangerous otherwise. He buys all of England's books on magic theory and puts them in his personal library where only he can access them. He is the only magician in England performing practical magic (there are theoretical magicians who have studied magic but do not perform magic), and he goes through great lengths to prove his credibility and usefulness. He is a very shy and neurotic individual, and so he has two-three people who interact with society on his behalf. But once he establishes himself as a real magician, he can decide what magical feats will be beneficial for his country and what would be dangerous or impractical. He is England's sole authority on magic ... until he takes a student. Jonathan Strange also has an affinity for practical magic and comes to London to study under Mr. Norrell. Although Norrell agrees to teach Strange, they find that their beliefs on magic differ greatly. Mr. Norrell wants to mold Jonathan into a perfect replica of himself, and so he lectures Jonathan about the correct way a magician should be and only allows Jonathan very limited access to his vast magical library. Jonathan doesn't really want a professor; he wants a colleague. He needs access to the resources that Mr. Norrell has (because Mr. Norrell owns almost every book there is about magic). Since Norrell is an older magician, Jonathan wants Norrell to tell him about his full experiences with magic instead of leaving him in the dark about certain topics that Mr. Norrell feels should no longer be explored. Jonathan is an explorer. He is young and eager to improve as a magician. He wants to eat the entire magical pie, if you will, but Mr. Norrell refuses to do more than slowly spoon feed Jonathan a single slice of the pie, creating an undercurrent of animosity between the only two practical magicians in the country. Further complicating their relationship is their differing views of English politics, wars, and the role a magician should play in English society. And there is also the gentleman with the thistle-down hair. An invisible foe to Jonathan Strange, and a foe that Mr. Norrell chooses to ignore. This gentleman, for me, was the most interesting character in the book. I do not see him as an antagonist (although I feel he is meant to be one). He is simply acting within his nature. Mr. Norrell on the other hand ... Stephen Black, Mrs. Strange, and Lady Pole are definitely the clear protagonists of this story, because they are the only characters who aren't morally gray. I cannot stress enough how interesting this story is ... if you can get into it. I made the mistake of reading a high-fantasy trilogy before this book, and I read this book as a stand-alone palate cleanser before starting a new series. I suffered through the first 40% of this book and almost DNF'd it because I was not in the right mindset to be reading it. Eventually I gave myself an attitude check and stopped trying to change this book into something that it wasn't. I wanted a story that had me hooked from the beginning, a book that I couldn't bring myself to put down because I was so engrossed with the story ... and this wasn't it. I gave this book four stars because although I enjoyed it, I have to be honest and say this book could've been cut by a good 200 pages and the story wouldn't have suffered. It's too long. I have read Piranesi from this author and I was blown away by what she accomplished with that 250 page book, so I am saddened to say that the brilliance displayed in Piranesi isn't really felt in this book until the third act, which of course, takes forever to get to. Also, the footnotes are completely unnecessary. If you are engrossed in this story, read them. If you're struggling to make it to the end, skip them. I would recommend this book, but only to a specific audience. I'm also looking forward to watching the series :)

I had read Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi a few years ago and really enjoyed it , so I’ve wanted to read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell for some time, but had always been discouraged because of the length of the novel (due to time constraints). Luckily, I was inspired to read this one for a group read recently, and I have to say, this book came through with flying colors. This books is truly one of the more remarkably unique reading experiences I have had recently. This book is just one of a kind in the fantasy realm (and there are other features as well). Although the edition I purchased boasted a whopping 1,006 pages, I felt like I was reading at an easy 40 to 50 page clip each night, and finished the novel “relatively” quickly. This novel is just such a rich and deeply enchanting work. It feels like there was so much depth and thought put into building this world created in the novel, where magic is resurfacing when Norrell and Strange bring it back into society. Although there is so much depth and intricate aspects to the plot, and other subplots that surface over the course of the story, I still feel like this book reads relatively easily, and smoothly. And this is a credit to Clarke for crafting this novel in such a way to create this impressive effect. The basis for the plot gets a little difficult to explain (because there is just so much going on), but the overarching focus is on magic being revived into English society in the 1800s by one magician, Mr. Norrell, and then his subsequent friendship—and bitter rivalry—with another up and coming magician, Jonathan Strange. These two individuals have different philosophical stances on magic, so eventually things get pretty dicey between them. The novel ventures into all sort of interesting and captivating territories, from historical figures like Lord Bryon and Sir Walter Scott making cameo appearances and interacting with the magicians, to historical battles of war between France and England, to the magicians stepping in and trying to help. There are also some sinister forces and antagonists that the magicians have to deal with at points too, including a malevolent fairy. Clarke crafts this novel in such a way stylistically to evoke feelings reminiscent of reading old-time classic novelists like Dickens or Austen, but with a whimsical atmosphere that fuses elements of magic, fantasy, and historical fiction. She even includes footnotes, which serve as a means of giving this world even more authenticity and depth. I found this novel to be just such a fun and engaging experience. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is what I call an instant modern classic, one that fans of this genre can enjoy. A unique reading experience for sure, with a charm and elegance of the old-time classics.

Beautiful hardcover edition of this incredible story. Book arrived packaged well.

Este libro es una verdadera obra maestra. Yo lo tengo en mi top 10 de fantasía, junto con Babel de R.F. Kuang. La cosa es, si estás buscando acción, adrenalina y escenas súper impresionantes de combate con magia; no las vas a encontrar aquí. Este libro no es para todos (eso no quiere decir que no sea bueno), es más cómo una ficción histórica con magia para condimentar la narrativa; pero si son de los pacientes que deciden darle una oportunidad, no se van a arrepentir.

Turkish 41 yo lady here. I was captivated by the atmosphere, wit, and cleverness. Clarke’s command of language is remarkable, and her Victorian pastiche is near perfect. The magical world building is subtle and textured, and I appreciated the dry humor and occasional flashes of brilliance. But the last 300 pages dragged both physically and emotionally. The book is literally too heavy (mine fell apart at the spine at page 418), and the narrative weight doesn’t justify its length. The ending felt anticlimactic: so much buildup, so little catharsis. Too much time is spent on irrelevant side details, and the emotional payoff between characters felt muted. I didn’t mind the bittersweet tone — I just wanted it to hit harder.

Not enough is said about how this is an absolutely great contemporary (albeit period) novel. Innovative, grand, great narrative drive, wonderful fantastical cosmology - and ultimately, a rivalry between the Age’s two greatest magicians. What’s not to love?!

A complete alternative world, with a history and traditions almost but not quite unlike the world we inhabit. A tour de force of the imagination. A book, in fact, that I wish I'd written.