[Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke]

Welcome to BCF mbdrake I'm very glad to have your personal guarantee I'm pretty sure you'll turn out to be right!

One helpful thing you wrote was (something like) .. 'they can't include everything'. I often forget this when I watch TV or film adaptations and get a bit shirty but then I do realise that a straight retelling is impossible. You can't do it. So anyway, forewarned is forearmed .. I will be bearing this in mind It was a while ago that I read it (have done several re-reads thanks to Simon Prebble's wonderful audio reading but none of them were recent) and so possibly will not be as nitpicky as I would be if I'd only just finished it   

I have decided I am making a cake if at all possible A red velvet heartache cake .. possibly with a hidden surprise or some sort of magic related decoration. This is a momentous occasion and I want to commemorate it by stressing myself out as much as possible in the days leading up to it  Hope we find out the date soon.

 

Adapting a book involves a significant butchery - there is no point denying it.  Some things will have to go, lines of dialogues or even whole tasks go to other characters, and all manner of crazy things.  But I think Peter Harness has come up with a good compromise that will provide some comfort (for example, some of the footnotes manifest themselves as dialogue spoken by the characters).

 

I am told that when Julian Fellowes was adapting the screenplay for New Line, a rather significant element of the story had to go to make room.  So having this as a seven part series is the best thing that could happen to the story.

 

Martyn

[Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke]

If you sign up to Audible on their one month free trial, you can download the audiobook version for nothing.  It's 32 hours in length!  If you don't, you can still buy the audiobook via Amazon for £3.35!  The Kindle edition is just £3.79.

 

But the physical book can be picked up pretty cheaply most places (including Amazon).  The current edition that's just been released by Bloomsbury has an updated forward by Susanna that ties in with the BBC adaptation.  

 

(I own so many copies of this book - I have it on Kindle, iBooks, plus the three editions of the printed book, and a very limited copy of one of the volumes that's still bound and tied with string and sealed with the Raven King's wax seal - sent to me by Susanna and Colin).

[Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke]

As the author of the review, I've removed the notifications prompt (it's a Safari/Chrome thing that allows you to "subscribe" to web sites that offer it, so any new articles are pinged over when published) as it's clearly getting in the way.  My apologies for that.  All I will say is that this is an awesome adaptation and I will personally guarantee[1] you'll love t if you love the book.

 

[1] Only available in Lost Hope and other designed Sidhe territories.