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.
The following is the full text of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s May 18, 2005 proclamation regarding casinos in urbanized areas.
PROCLAMATION
BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
WHEREAS, the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 (IGRA) authorizes federally recognized Indian tribes to conduct class III gaming on Indian lands, as defined by IGRA, to the extent such games are permitted by state law, and pursuant to a gaming compact negotiated between a tribe and the State; and
WHEREAS, IGRA requires the State to negotiate in good faith for the conclusion of tribal-state gaming compacts with Indian tribes that request such negotiations when those tribes have eligible Indian lands located in the State; and
WHEREAS, in 1998, California voters approved Proposition 5, a statutory measure designed to allow for the operation of slot machine and house banked card gaming by California Indian tribes on Indian lands in accordance with federal law; and
WHEREAS, in 2000, California voters approved Proposition 1A, a measure that amended the California Constitution to authorize the Governor to negotiate and conclude compacts, subject to ratification by the Legislature, for the operation of slot machines, lottery games and banked and percentage card games by federally recognized Indian tribes on Indian lands in California in accordance with federal law; and
WHEREAS, during the campaigns to approve Propositions 5 and 1A, California voters were assured that approval of these measures would not result in tribal casinos being located in urban areas; and
WHEREAS, the constitutionality of tribal exclusivity over the forms of gaming authorized by Proposition 1A is premised upon the limitation of these activities to Indian lands; and
WHEREAS, there are over 100 federally recognized Indian tribes in California and many of those tribes already have Indian lands within the meaning of IGRA that are eligible for class III gaming; and
WHEREAS, California Government Code section 12012.25, subdivision (d), designates the Governor as the state official with authority to negotiate and execute tribal gaming compacts on behalf of the State; and
WHEREAS, California Government Code section 12012.25, subdivisions (c) and (e), provide that tribal-state gaming compacts negotiated by the Governor are subject to ratification by the Legislature; and
WHEREAS, in 1999, Governor Gray Davis concluded, and the Legislature ratified, compacts with 57 tribes, in anticipation of the voters’ approval of Proposition 1A; and
WHEREAS, since 1999, seven additional tribes have concluded compacts that have been ratified by the Legislature, seven tribes have amended the terms of their 1999 compacts, which amendments have been ratified by the Legislature, and one tribe with Indian lands in an urban area concluded a compact that was not ratified; and
WHEREAS, in the general election of 2004, two initiative measures, Propositions 68 and 70, that would have expanded gaming activities in urban areas were placed before the California voters; and
WHEREAS, Proposition 68 was defeated with 83.8 percent of the electorate voting against it and Proposition 70 was defeated with 76.3 percent of the electorate voting against it; and
WHEREAS, events demonstrate increasing public concern over the location and expansion of tribal gaming enterprises in California; and
WHEREAS, the State of California exercises jurisdiction over land within the territorial boundaries of the State, except to the extent such jurisdiction is expressly reserved by, or ceded to, the federal government or is preempted by operation of federal law; and
WHEREAS, IGRA generally prohibits Indian gaming on lands acquired by the federal government in trust for Indian tribes after October 17, 1988, the effective date of IGRA; and
WHEREAS, exceptions exist that authorize class III gaming on lands acquired in trust after October 17, 1988, (1) if the lands are taken into trust as part of (i) a settlement of a land claim, or (ii) the restoration of lands for an Indian tribe that is restored to federal recognition, (2) if the lands are taken into trust as part of the initial reservation of an Indian tribe acknowledged by the Secretary of Interior under the federal acknowledgement process, or (3) if the Secretary of Interior determines that a gaming establishment on lands acquired after October 17, 1988, would be in the best interest of the Indian tribe and its members, would not be detrimental to the surrounding community, and the Governor of the State in which the land is situated concurs in the Secretary’s determination that such land can be used for gaming (a Section 20 concurrence); and
WHEREAS, an increasing number of Indian tribes are seeking to take new land into trust for purposes of conducting class III gaming activities pursuant to the provisions of IGRA, often in urban areas; and
WHEREAS, it is in the best interests of all Californians that there be a clear statement of policy identifying the Governor’s positions with respect to Indian gaming on newly acquired trust land located in urban areas.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim the following statements as my general policy on the specified matters related to tribal gaming:
1. I shall oppose proposals for the federal acquisition of lands within any urbanized area where the lands sought to be acquired in trust are to be used to conduct or facilitate gaming activities.
2. I shall decline to engage in negotiations for tribal-state gaming compacts where the Indian tribe does not have Indian lands eligible for class III gaming.
3. I shall consider requests for a gubernatorial concurrence under section 20(b)(1)(A) of IGRA, that would allow a tribe to conduct class III gaming on newly acquired land, only in cases where each of the following criteria is satisfied:
a) The land that is sought for class III gaming is not within any urbanized area.
b) The local jurisdiction in which the tribe’s proposed gaming project is located supports the project.
c) The tribe and the local jurisdiction demonstrate that the affected local community supports the project, such as by a local advisory vote.
d) The project substantially serves a clear, independent public policy, separate and apart from any increased economic benefit or financial contribution to the State, community, or the Indian tribe that may arise from gaming.
4. In order to ensure adherence to the foregoing policies, I will direct the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to provide to the Attorney General and the following departments, boards, and commissions copies of every notice of a tribal application to have land taken into trust by the federal government:
a) The Department of Parks and Recreation
b) The Department of Water Resources
c) The Department of Fish and Game
d) The Native American Heritage Commission
e) The Department of Transportation
f) The California Highway Patrol
g) The Air Resources Board
h) The Department of Conservation
i) The appropriate regional office of the Regional Water Quality Control Board.
I will further direct the Resources Agency, Environmental Protection Agency, and Health and Human Services Agency to distribute a copy of the notice to any of their respective departments that may be able to provide input on a particular application. The departments referenced above will be directed to promptly review the notices and provide comments to the Legal Affairs Secretary for a determination as to whether any comment on an application to have land taken into trust should be provided to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The boards and commissions listed above will be invited to provide comments on said notices to the Legal Affairs Secretary.
5. I shall support legislative ratification and Department of Interior approval of each compact or amended compact negotiated by my administration, including the one compact for a casino in an urban area that is not yet ratified by the Legislature.
6. For purpose of this Proclamation, “urbanized area” means the definition of that term as defined in Public Resources Code section 21071, subdivision (a). A list of the cities meeting this definition as of the date of this Proclamation is attached hereto.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 18th day of May, 2005.
__________________________________
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER
Governor of California
ATTEST:
___________________________________
BRUCE McPHERSON
Secretary of State
I just picked up three awards at last night’s Society of Professional Journalists Inland Southern California Chapter banquet. Unlike how it normally works, where the work you’re really proud of gets skipped in favor of totally random stuff – the year I went to Bosnia, the Virginia Press Association award I won was for my play reviews instead – one of my awards was actually for something that I really sweat over last year, and that pretty much defined my first year writing for the Hesperia Star.
Third place, Continuing Coverage, “casino series.� My editor, Peter Day, and I shared an award for our coverage of the proposed Timbisha Shoshone casino project in Hesperia. This is especially gratifying, since there was a lot of pressure, political and otherwise, to stop covering this story, and let the loose ends of the proposal remain a secret from the public. It took approximately four months to put together the first major article I wrote on this, picking up from Peter’s coverage of the proposal and initial vote by the public.
Judge’s comments: “Great reporting on a hot-topic story. Shady past of developer is well-brought out, as is dysfunction within tribe.�
I can’t remember which five stories we submitted, but here is sampling of our casino coverage online:
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Third place, Best Crime/Law Enforcement Story, “Citizens On Patrol.� This is a good example of a “huh?� award.
The COP program lets ordinary volunteers stretch the manpower of the Hesperia station of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department further, by picking up the slack and doing work like directing traffic around accident scenes, driving out to check on the homes of vacationing residents and calling shut-ins to make sure they’re OK.
I basically just covered the training process for the new class. But I don’t feel like this was one of my best efforts, or was likely to have been a better law enforcement story than most of those submitted. It all just depends on getting the right judges in the right mood, I guess.
Judge’s comments: “Nice slice of life cop activity seldom written about.�
The original story is online here.
First place, Best Cultural/Diversity Story, “Church serves gay community, performs same sex ‘holy unions.’� This was a story I did at the end of my first month at the Star, and the silence in response to writing it was deafening; there are many relatively conservative residents in Hesperia, and I was surprised to have heard from neither people offended by what the church was doing, nor people supporting it. This is another one I worked hard on to do just right, and it’s gratifying to finally hear it paid off.
Judge’s comments: “This story tackles a sensitive topic of gays and religion head-on with clarity and grace.�
The original story can be found online.
More information about the awards is available online at the SPJ site.
Anyway, this is a long way to go to say “woo hoo!�
If, like many American viewers, you’re interested in “House of Flying Daggers” because you were blown away by “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” you should be aware that while the latter film blends art film and action film almost perfectly, “House of Flying Daggers” makes a definite choice as to what sort of film it is. If you’re interested in a jaw-droppingly gorgeous art film with some amazing action tossed in, great. If, on the other hand, you’re looking for a beautifully filmed action film that could run in art houses, as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” did, look elsewhere. Even the somewhat troubled “Hero” would be a better bet for that crowd.
Make no mistake, “House of Flying Daggers” is a film of staggering beauty, and the action scenes that are in the film are quite nice (although even the credulity of someone coming for a wuxia film will get strained eventually at the superhuman feats done with the titular daggers), but for the most part, the film is incredibly slow and has a plot that’s threadbare at best. It’s a framework to justify a lot of the beautiful pictures, and nothing more.
Zhang Ziyi is still beautiful and great at what she does, and there are some very neat set pieces in the film, including the echo game when the blind entertainer hits drums scattered around the room with long weighted sleeves in response to beans being tossed at them in every more complex fashion. Likewise, the treetop scene in this film outshines a comparable scene in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” on a number of levels.
This film isn’t the same sort of triumphant merger of art and action as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” but is strongly recommended for those whose interests in the previous film run more towards the artistry of the director and cinematographer and less towards the artistry of the choreographer and performers.
