So, the following, taken from one of Susanna Clarke's inimitable footnotes, ought to sounds familliar to readers of J. R. R. T.:
"The truth is that the brugh [fairy-mound]
was a hole of interconnecting holes that was
dug into a barrow, very like a rabbit's warren
or badger's set. To paraphrase a writer of fanciful
stories for children, this was not a comfortable
hole, it was not even a dry, bare sandy hole; it
was a nasty, dirty, wet hole.
--THE LADIES OF GRACE ADIEU .176
--John R.
current reading: LIES ACROSS AMERICA by James W. Loewen
current audiobook: John Garth's TOLKIEN'S GREAT WAR
3 comments:
Hmmm... should I read the Ladies of Grace Adieu? I really enjoyed Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrell, especially the footnotes but I found much of it a bit unsatisfying. The plot leaned into the inscrutability of Faerie so much that i wasn't quite certain what the author intended the end to mean. That has left me wary of further reading of the authors works.
Dear Paul
I wd certainly recommend LADIES OF GRACE ADIEU, which is as slim and STRANGE AND NORELL is expansive, That said, I do have to confess hat the newer book didn't impress me as much as it had back on my first reading. I have to say she doesn't remind me of anyone but herself --and I can't think of any other writer I cd say that about? --John
Tolkien maybe? I know he had antecedents, but LOTR was unique for its time, I think. (the Hobbit maybe less so?). And really, despite several attempts, I cannot think of any later authors who captured Tolkien's feel, while I can think of several of captured Howard, Lovecraft, or Poul Anderson's feel. Even Lewis was imitable. But yes, I cannot think of anyone else that reminds me of her work, either before or sence. She's sometimes compared to Dickens or Austin, but those are poor comparisons, IMO. Maybe Lev Grossman? But there is an edge of contempt in all his works, a dislike (hatred?) for the genre and his readers, that I never got from her.
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