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How Susanna Clarke starts Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell: Big questions (video essay)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ส.ค. 2024
- How author Susanna Clarke asks the right questions to hook readers and drive the story in the opening chapter of her fantasy novel "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell." Also, how the philosophy of Romanticism comes alive in the story and setting, and what writers can learn from kids cartoons.
TRANSCRIPT on Medium: bit.ly/StrangeNorrellEssay
UPDATES on Twitter: / hownovelstarts
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ABOUT THE CHANNEL
What’s the best way to start a story? What makes readers, agents, and publishers take a chance on our book? What holds their attention? There’s plenty of advice out there on how to write a first chapter, but so much of it is generic. So I went looking for concrete examples in great books. On HOW THE NOVEL STARTS, I explore the opening chapters of popular novels, and figure out what writers can learn from them for their own work.
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SOURCES AND ATTRIBUTIONS
“Ghost Dance” by Kevin MacLeod
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“Sonatina” by Kevin MacLeod
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“Mourning Song” by Kevin MacLeod
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“Evermore” by Kai Engel
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“Trio for Piano, Violin and Viola” by Kevin MacLeod
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“Remedy For Melancholy” by Kai Engel
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“Sunset” by Kai Engel
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#writing
#NaNoWriMo
#fantasy
Something I absolutely loved about the novel - even in that first chapter - was the worldbuilding, especially through footnotes. The very first footnote occurs on the very first page cites a fictional work by a fictional character who won't even be properly introduced until many chapters later. Aside from being a bit of goreshadowing of one of the eponymous characters (and his relationship with the other), it sort of sets us up for many other citations that almost have us questioning where the history ends and the fantasy begins. When I first read the book I kept hoping that some of the books in Norrel's library would be found in print today.
That's a great point. The footnotes round out and deepen the story. There's so much narrative voice and tone and, by extension, theme that come through as well. The narrator of the footnotes has hints of an ironic tone that to me connects the book to an early 1800s writer like Jane Austen, a Romantic moralistic tone. It's an aspect of worldbuilding that's not only about details of the world, but about how people talk and think in that world, the kind of worldview they demonstrate, and the kind of theme the novel is exploring.
I googled the button company from waterloo, just to make sure. For a second I really couldn't tell if it was real or not.
@@schumzy oh, I hadn't thought of that one! So was it real?
This is a great channel - definitely deserves hundreds of thousands of subscribers.
Very kind of you to say. Thanks!
I think the best parts of Strange&Norrell are the subtle philosophical ones, like the beginning. The zombies doesn't impress me. Clarke gives me hope that my own writings may have some value in a world drowning in super heroes and space battles.
I’ve read this book, watched the series twice and I’m now listening to the audio book. It’s good to hear someone’s thoughts on it. Thank you.
Thanks for your kind comment! Hope it's brought some new insights to such a beloved book ;)
Loved this book and loved this breakdown! Keep up the great work!
Thanks for the wonderful comment! I have more stuff in the pipeline... :)
Susanna is the greatest. Read the first 80 pages of this in a day. That’s how well she draws you in.
I bought this novel after reading the first line. Read that line, immediately closed the book and took it to the cash, didn't want to spoil even a little bit of it. Her latest novel, Piranesi, is very different in terms of technique but had me hooked, too.
I would love to see this channel blow up
Holy smokes, it did, overnight! I'm...I'm...whoa...
Thank you. I make playlists for writing advice and I saved this both to how to begin a story and to subtext. I love this book and your breakdown was very informative and thought-provoking. I'm glad I subscribed.
Thanks for you kind comment, and welcome to the channel!
Great vid, man. This needs to blow tf up
LOL thanks! Let's make it happen! :D
Great vid. Definitely helps bring further appreciation to a wonderful book
Glad you enjoyed it, thank you for the kind comment :) Her latest novel (Piranesi) is also fantastic
Already in the recommended after the shout out, hail algorithm.
Great video. I have written several novels probing into profound questions, but I don't think I have posed a question in any of them as directly as Susanna Clarke did. Whether a book is character driven or plot driven it needs a theme, so why not make the reader aware of it in the beginning? The simple answer to that question is that I never know the theme when I begin writing. It is revealed to me as I get into the thick of it. If I'm lucky I may be consciously aware of it when I have a first draft and can go back to the beginning and introduce it in a similar way Segundus did. Thanks for the inspiration. It was a great choice of book for your video.
Thanks for your comment! I'm in the same situation with writing and not knowing where I'm going. I realized I was doing that with older projects in first drafts, so in more recent work I've forced myself to go back and work on these fundamentals more, continual re-investing in the story and its development. A first draft is more like a sketch, and I've realized it's OK for me to let go of my sketches or push them further.
@@HowTheNovelStarts Thanks for the reply. Looking forward to new videos. The book I'm just putting the last touches to now is a 100k word story I wrote ten years ago and gave up on. It was pure plot and no character, so no wonder it didn't work. I simply lacked the ability to see it. Sometimes you just need to let a project rest and do something else for a decade or two.
I love this book.
Me, too! I love the tone of the writing, how it takes you away somewhere. What did you love about it?
How The Novel Starts - I love the world-building, especially the annotations and short stories gracing the bottom of each page, as well as the neo-victorian writing style, and also the way it seems more like folklore than most other fantasy.
There is a world of literary theory to draw from and somehow every youtube film analysis channel seem to only ever use The Anatomy of Story.
I do however find it inspiring that you would make a video on JS&MN, there is so much to talk about in that book with regards to composition. Your passion is extremely infectious and I loved your thoughts on why the book is set when it is.
If I may make a professional suggestion, I would propose that the music be given less of an intrusive role in your videos, rather than overuse pieces which make every moment strut with poignancy. I also found your analysis by far the most captivating when you did not try to go for the big sentiments but rather kept a cooler and more, well, analytical tone.
Thanks for this feedback! Any other books or sources on narrative theory you might suggest? Truby's book is definitely an accessible read for many writers, so that may be why people come back to it. And I like the suggestion on the music; it's always a challenge to balance that and to find pieces that don't have too much fanfare, but it's definitely something to keep in mind for future videos. ;)
One truth of this story is that we can still readily visit Hanover Square, and the Iberian Peninsula...
Good ppint. As I'm in Canada, those places seem very remote. Have you been to those places? What was your experience like, relative to what you read in the book?
One of my favourite books, exquisitely written. (But why compare it to Disney Star Wars, and not the real Star Wars?)
I hear she's working on her next novel. Looking forward to that for sure!
Currently reading Clarke's book. It's beautifully written, but I find the main characters annoying. The characters in the opening were lovely, sadly they arent the leads.
I'm wondering if there's an aspect of the Victorian morality tale at work in those characters. Just a thought; I'd have to re-read it to be sure, though. You're closer to the book right now, let me know if that makes sense. ;)
@@HowTheNovelStarts I don't think so. To be sure, I usually prefer "old morality" books. Indeed I find the side characters to fit this morality well enough and like them for it. Norrell and Strange though, I just find them unlikable.
@@lovetolovefairytales Interesting. I have another theory but I'll wait until you've finished. I definitely want to put this back on my reading list in the future. In the meantime, I'll throw another book recommendation at you: "Half-Witch" by John Schoffstall.
@@HowTheNovelStarts I'm interested to hear your theory. May I comment here again to let you know when I've completed the book?
@@lovetolovefairytales Looking forward to it! I don't want to oversell my "theory" though :)
Unfortunately I didn't like the book too much.
It seemed to me that characters were managed quite oddly: being introduced then disappear to come again lately or let undeveloped just to be completed lately.
Then the lore despite all the details added still feel like it is incomplete.
It definitely has a very distinct style that may not be for everyone. Thanks for sharing :)