The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters - Gordon Dahlquist

It starts with a simple note. Roger Bascombe regretfully wishes to inform Celeste Temple that their engagement is forthwith terminated. Determined to find out why, Miss Temple takes the first step in a journey that will propel her into a dizzyingly seductive, utterly shocking world beyond her imagining – and set her on a collision course with a killer and a spy – in a bodice-ripping, action-packed roller coaster ride of suspense, betrayal and richly fevered dreams.

  

I learned, after getting about halfway through this double-volume monstrosity that the author of The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters was actually a playwright, and suddenly things became much clearer for me. There is a very interesting aspect to this novel, and that is the importance of movement – characters walk along hallways, cross each other without acknowledging it, climb up stairs, ride on trains and carriages, hide behind couches and peek through spy-holes in the walls… The list can go on. These are not the kinds of artifices one is used to seeing in books – but they are very common in the theatre, where entries and exits, and the spectator knowing something the character on scene does not (like the fact that there is someone hiding in the closet) adds to the tension, or creates comedy. At first, the slightly long-winded nature of the book had been slightly off-putting. But suddenly, with this new information, I had a whole new layer of literary delight to explore. And I could just picture all the near-misses, the chases through mysterious, winding corridors, the fighting, the posturing, and the mysteriously satisfying trail of death.

Yes, I say trail because even though there is a certain lightness to the author’s style as the plot progresses in its meandering, leisurely pace, the tale is nothing if not dark – evil alliances, mind-control, murder, rape and cold-blooded experimentation. The whole interspersed with sweet tea, warm scones and cute little green boots (you’ll have to read the book to understand this particular allusion!). It is a strange and violent universe that is created here – it is London in the 19^th century, in the midst of the industrial revolution, but also a bizarre and slightly surreal place, where time seems to stand still, and anything is possible. This London that is not London is strangely compelling – it is extremely easy to get lost in the different streets and establishments, the different levels of society to which each place cater, the colourful inhabitants of each locale.

The third thing of note is the strength of the characters. We follow three main characters – Miss Celeste Temple, the young heiress to a plantation fortune, Cardinal Chang, a scholar cum assassin and Abelard Svenson, a doctor who works as a spy. They are strong, well-developed, and believable. I wish there had been more interaction between the three – they do not meet until the fourth chapter and are quickly separated again – but I can’t argue that they are not engaging. The set of villains is also impressive – the mad scientist about to destroy the world with his creation, the femme fatale, unafraid to use all the guns in her arsenal to achieve her goals (in this instance world domination), and a long list of lackeys who have been brainwashed into thinking this plan is the grandest thing that could possibly happen.

This is not an easy book, and there are some obvious flaws – it is too long, certainly, and we are always waiting for it to get to the point already, but in the end, when you actually find yourself in the midst of the final confrontation, you discover the waiting was not so bad, after all.

Ps: I don’t know who edited this book, but the cover art is simply wonderful – totally caught my eye in the bookstore, and actually made me buy the book. I’m a sucker for pretty things!

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke

It's 1808 and that Corsican upstart Napoleon is battering the English army and navy. Enter Mr. Norrell, a fusty but ambitious scholar from the Yorkshire countryside and the first practical magician in hundreds of years. What better way to demonstrate his revival of British magic than to change the course of the Napoleonic wars? Mr. Norrell moves to London to establish his influence in government circles, devising such powerful illusions as an 11-day blockade of French ports by English ships fabricated from rainwater. But however skillful his magic, his vanity provides an Achilles heel, and the differing ambitions of his more glamorous apprentice, Jonathan Strange, threaten to topple all that Mr. Norrell has achieved. 

This book, by Susanna Clarke, was my travelling companion during a month-long jaunt through the Argentinean Patagonia. I was with a friend, and we got as far as Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. It was one of – if not the best – trips I ever took, complete with amazing animals and plants, hilarious adventures brought about mostly by our shortage of cash and hours spent on a bus through the most amazing landscapes.

It’s always strange how the circumstances surrounding the reading of a book end up colouring our view of it – I only have to glimpse at my copy of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell to conjure up in my mind the empty planes, the amazing pinks and blues and greys that were so present in Patagonia. And I also believe the opposite is true – the magical atmosphere of this book, the strange plot, the bizarre world that is depicted, all of it contributed to my perceptions of the trip.

I do believe this book is above all a fantasy novel – its extremely well developed theories on magic (there are actually footnotes along the way, that reference an entire fictional corpus on the theory and history of English magic) as well as the dark and unsettling faery kingdom of Lost Hope – all of that is fantasy of the highest quality.

But there is also a second aspect to the novel, that falls neatly into the historical genre. A fictional history, during the Napoleonic wars, with battles, ministers and a society to accompany it. That might be one of the more original and appealing traits of the book, for me. Urban fiction– bringing magic to our everyday life – is common. But I do believe Susanna Clarke was one of the first to bring magic to our past – a fairy-tale like comedy of manners. I’ve since read other books that have a similar plan, but she was my first. I love that she tried to be precise and for the most part historically accurate in her renditions of Regency England and its accompanying society. The whole atmosphere of the novel, is a sort of jaunty wink to that period, with glimpses of gothic novels and romantic heroes aplenty. In fact, Jonathan Strange is quite the romantic character, with his tempestuous character and his devotion to his love(s).

But the central relationship in the novel is between the two practicing magicians, Mr Norell and Strange. It is a strained bond, that starts as a Master/Apprentice relationship, but devolves as the apprentice gains in popularity, and theoretic discussions and disagreements gain strength. The most important of those centres around the figure of the Raven King, a mythic being whose importance to English magic - or even its actual existence - is never agreed upon. The figure is quite mysterious, and the slightly metaphysical ending draws heavily on that basis – but I will say no more.

What I will say is that this is an original, very particular book. It is hard to categorise, and perhaps harder to be attached to than the more traditional staples of high fantasy. But it is also deeper than most common fantasy novels, and extremely well thought-out and written. I can’t recommend it enough.