I am not usually put off by long books. However, nothing these days is normal. The years of pandemic have changed my reading habits, hopefully not permanently. One of my current issues is attention span, which is an impediment when confronting a 1,000 page tome. I renewed and renewed the library book, but at some point the library kindly suggests that there's little point to continuing the process. I set to with determination when I had ten days left in which to read it. I have found my best reading got done when I removed myself to the library, where there were fewer distractions.
I think if I had read this several years ago that I would not have had the same struggle to finish it. When I was reading, I enjoyed the experience, but if I set the book down, it was difficult to pick it back up. However, I found it to be entertaining and I was particularly pleased by the ending. I really appreciated the destiny of Stephen Black and how the Raven King was able to make it so. We think that we make our own way in the world, making decisions and pursuing plans, but perhaps we can be manipulated into bringing things into being that we had never dreamed. How wonderful that would be! Both Strange and Norrell seem only partially cognizant of how much they were the conduit of the King's intentions, which is best for all concerned. Proud men would be unhappy to feel they had no say in the matter at all.
I may seem ungrateful, but I am really delighted to be finished this enormous novel, to no longer feel guilty about my reluctance to read it, and to be free to pursue other matters. Perhaps I will revisit it in the future if I regain my former concentration and enthusiasm for longer tales.
Book Number 456 of my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project
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