Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

I recently found Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. It’s an amazing book!

It’s very funny and quirky, the characters are all very interesting with funny opinions. There’s also a commentary from the narrator on aspects of the story that’s very funny as well. It makes it an enjoyable read, and not nearly as dry as it could have been.

The plot is very intricate (it better be in a book that size) but there are many instances of foreshadowing or important details being dropped that you don’t realize until the end. One good example is Vinculus’s prophecy (I think it’s clearly referring to Strange and Norrell as the two magicians, not Vinculus and Childermass, since there are references to dark towers and being ruled by thieves and murderers). Another is the fortune telling cards that Childermass possesses, when he reads Vinculus’s fortune it’s frightening how accurately it comes true. For an analysis of Childermass’s fortune, I found one here: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/10/jonathan-strange-a-mr-norrell-reread-part-4. Then there’s also how the Raven King pops up everywhere, in person and being mentioned. He links many parts of the plot together.

There’s also a very elaborate world being described here. It’s been called an “alternative history” type of book, since it’s based on an actual time period (early 1800s) but has some differences, as in magic and all that. Lord Byron is present and supposedly based a poem off of Strange, Goya also based his hellish paintings on a piece of magic Strange did. The Duke of Wellington also makes an appearance in the Napoleonic Wars. So there’s quite a bit of history jokes going on here.

The characters are all funny and quirky as well. Strange and Norrell function really well as opposites and just socially awkward people in general. Norrell hates talking to people, and Strange is better than he is but still lacks quite a bit of tact. This all makes everything rather amusing. Segundus is great, one of those characters who always pops up in convenient places for the heroes. Childermass is also one of the few people who know what’s really going on, despite the fact that he’s Norrell’s servant. And Vinculus is hilarious as a homeless fakeish-magician. As you can imagine, he bothers Norrell quite a bit.

There’s also a recurring idea of madness and how it can be clarity. You need to lose your senses in order to realize what is actually going on. This is taken literally and a bit more figuratively in places.

There’s also a lot of “Englishness” mentioned. I’m not sure if the author was going for a stereotype or not here. English and English things are associated with being strong and true, but anything else is Other and strange. This applies to magic as well, there’s English magic and darker magic that lurks in all their actions.

One complaint I had was that there aren’t many strong women or minorities (other than Stephan). And no female magicians! Having said all that, Stephen is a black servant and is pretty cool and ends up powerful, kind of.

It’s written in the form of a history book, so nearly half of the pages have footnotes at the bottom explaining different comments or elaborating on ideas presented. It’s also all written by a rather mysterious narrator. I found this site analyzing just who this might be (spoiler: we probably don’t know the person). http://crookedtimber.org/2005/11/29/who-is-the-narrator-of-jonathan-strange-and-mr-norrell-and-where-are-the-lady-magicians/

The Raven King is ubiquitous, as I mentioned, but he also orchestrates most of the action in the book. I’m hoping for more elaboration on this, to what end is he going to, and how is he doing this? What is really going on behind the scenes?

This book is also being turned into a BBC mini-series! I’m so excited! It looks very good so far.

Clarke also released that she’s writing a sequel focusing on the darker characters, which should be very interesting. Can’t wait for all these developments!

The World Ends With You Analysis

Part 2 of my TWEWY obsession. Spoilers below, you have been warned!

I’ll just explain the general physics/philosophy behind this game. So there are different planes of existence, each with it’s own vibe. By increasing or decreasing the vibe of a person, they can pass to different planes. More power generally means a higher vibe. That’s why the Angels are so powerful and therefore live on a higher plane. It’s also how Joshua travels around, as the Composer he has a lot of power on his hands and therefore can travel a lot. And that power is then restricted when he has to lower his vibe to get into the UG or the RG. The game also goes with the multi-verse theory which is that there isn’t one master storyline of events, each choice creates a new universe of events. So there’s a world where Shibuya really is destroyed, just as there’s one where Tin Pin Slammer reigns supreme. Then there’s Soul, or Imagination (I think the two are interchangeable). Soul is what makes each person unique and is their power. Neku has a lot of Soul, that’s why he can use all of the pins whereas Shiki only has Mr. Mew. Soul can be bound in different forms, like Rhyme’s was put into a pin and then her Noise called from it. Once you are erased, your Soul is then forced to roam free, you essentially become Noise. I think that’s all of the important points covered.

One pretty basic aspect of this game that I think is really intricate is how the different brands correspond to the animals of the zodiac. There’s D+B (which stands for Dangerous Buffalo) for the ox, Natural Puppy for the dog, Pavo Real (which means peacock in Spanish) for the rooster, Mus Rattus for the rat, Jupiter of the Monkey for the monkey, Hip Snake for the snake, Sheep Heavenly for the goat, Tigre Punks for the tiger, Dragon Couture for the dragon, Lapin Angelique (rabbit in French) for the rabbit, Pegaso for the horse, Wild Boar for the pig, and Gatito for the cat who was left out of the zodiac. (There are various stories about that.) Each brand also tries to capture the essence of the characteristics of the zodiac, which I think is pretty cool.

Another interesting tidbit is that the Gatito pins often have images of graffiti on them that can be seen around Shibuya. The Over the Top set (righty brainy lefty cat pins) can be seen at Udagawa and Towa Records. The Eden set is in a mural before the Room of Reckoning (looks like a cat). The Darklit Planets are in various places: Jupiter is in Udagawa in Joshua’s memory and before the Room of Reckoning, Venus and Saturn are in the Miyashita underpass. I haven’t been able to find the others or the Nexus Ray set (Big Bang and Crunch) or the Irregular Note set (wind wood flame mount). The Irregular Note set does portray see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil, and do no evil though.

There’s a lot of symbolism in this game. One of the more obvious ones is that Joshua is a Jesus figure (which are always debatable). I mean he sacrifices himself for Neku, turns out to be running the whole show, and he way he fights has been nicknamed “Jesus beams”. In addition to all that, Jesus’ actual non-Anglican name is Joshua, so the writers were probably trying to evoke him in some way.

There’s also a ton of music parallels. Which I really like. The whole hierarchy of the Reapers is based on music and music production. The Composer is the top leader, he essentially makes all decisions. Then there’s the Conductor, who carries them out and does the real work. There’s also the Producer, who helps them both (not sure what his real duties include though…). In the Noise Report, the Reapers are also referred to as tenor, bari, bass, so they are the musicians performing the work. And then there’s the Noise, disrupting the music and needing to be taken care of. I really love this whole system, as a musician.

One of the most symbolic parts is the path to the Room of Reckoning and the Shibuya River. It starts with the Trail of the Sinner, then the Rubicon where the Shibuya River actually is. The Rubicon is often referred to as the point of no return (it gets this from the river Ceasar crossed, but that’s unrelated) and is the last point to turn back in Beat, Day 7. In Another Day, Joshua compares it to the Styx or Archeron (which is from Dante’s Inferno) since it basically leads to the Underworld of Shibuya (which here means where souls are judged since dead people are all over Shibuya in the UG). It’s funny, Neku’s response to this is “Does this look like Greece to you?” and the real Rubicon river is in Italy. From there, it’s the Trail of the Bygone (I take to mean, past the point of return) and into the Dead God’s Pad. I’m not sure who the Dead God is, could be the Composer, or it’s also suggested that it’s CAT. I could see it going either way. People seem to assume that it’s Joshua, since he’s dead and the Composer is basically God (and the CAT comment could be part of that trail of red herrings saying the same thing). But I’m not so sure since it’s never confirmed either way. Then there’s Trail of the Judged, which has CAT art all over it. The name indicates that the judging took place in the Dead God’s pad, which means that the Reaper meetings to decide the end of the Game take place there. Then finally there’s the Room of Reckoning, where the Composer sits and rules Shibuya. Names indicate that this is where the punishment is handed out, and the end of the game rewards/punishment given (which is consistent with the scenes in the game). What I find interesting is that the Eden set of pins refer to a boy defeating 5 kings and a “chamber of reckoning” where a goddess rewards him with her Light. I guess this refers to Neku defeating the 3 Game Masters plus the Conductor and the Composer? But then who is this goddess? And does that make the Room of Reckoning Eden?

There’s so much complexity to this game that it can’t be summed up in a few blog posts. And there’s so many questions remaining about the world that it takes place in. What we really need is a sequel providing more answers to these questions!

The World Ends With You

So I’m not a huge video game fan, but there’s one game that I absolutely adore called “The World Ends With You” (TWEWY). I’m going to give a general review/explanation, then get into some analysis of it in another post.

TWEWY has a very complex storyline, so much so that after you finish the game you are encouraged to go back and look for secret reports that explain it more! But the basic story is that this teenager, Neku, wakes up in the middle of an intersection in Shibuya with no memory and no idea how he got there. He realizes that he’s in the middle of the Reaper’s Game, and losing means that he loses his life and getting erased. Neku is not a people person, and would rather hide behind his headphones than talk to people. Which is a bit of a disadvantage here. He partners up with a girl named Shiki, and they are quickly at odds with each other. Neku has to learn to open up and trust her, or risk getting erased. Beat and Rhyme are another pair, Beat is full of energy and eager to go, while Rhyme balances him out with her patience. Joshua is another character, he is a little obnoxious, but knows things about the Reaper’s Game that the rest don’t.

In addition to this main storyline, there are tons of little separate ones that you can follow while the game goes on. For example, one of the more minor characters is trying to be an entrepreneur, and you can follow his trials as he attempts to rule the trends of Shibuya. There’s also a pin that allows you to scan the area and read the thoughts of the people walking around, which change from day to day and week to week. With some sleuthing, you can tell the connections between the different weeks and how their stories are developing.

Gameplay here is really interesting, it’s a Nintendo DS game, and battle scenes involve Neku fighting on the bottom screen, with his partner on the top screen. Neku fights using various pins, each has its own activation, or psych. It could be touching the screen, slashing, or even blowing into the microphone. His partner fights using the arrow buttons or the ABXY buttons. And if it’s too complicated, his partner can fight on their own! However, using his partner successfully results in a bigger pin that unleashes their fusion power, refilling HP and dealing damage to all enemies.

You can also customize your pins that Neku has, equip all the characters with different clothes for different powers, eat food to gain power, and play a mini-game called Tin-Pin Slammer!

There’s a bunch of fun quirks to this game. It’s literally 99% sass, for example when you try to have a character wear two different clothes that go on the same body part, you get a message saying “why? Because you can’t. Deal with it.” Another interesting fact about clothes is that it takes more bravery (a stat that’s unique to all of the individual clothes as well as the characters, but you can improve this with eating) to wear female clothes, but they also have better powers that go along with them. And since most of the characters are male, yup, the game is encouraging you to send teenagers into battle cross-dressing. There’s also a few references to other games, notably Final Fantasy. I’m not a huge FF fan, so I can’t pick up on all of them, but they’re there. Also, after you finish the game you are introduced to “Another Day”, an alternative universe version of the game where all the characters have been exaggerated and it’s hilarious. I laugh every time I play it. You have to appreciate people who are willing to make fun of their own creation.

The game also provides you with a map of Shibuya. And there have been comparisons between the game’s graphics and the real thing, it’s very similar. The graphics overall are really good, the characters look unlike any other game. The music is also insanely good, the composers probably took inspiration from urban trends when they made this game because some of the songs have lyrics and everything.

The overall message of the game is also very unique. Of course, it involves Neku opening up and expanding his world a little. (Which is what the title is in reference too, not the world ending.) But it also involves trusting others and things like that. And my favorite aspect is that it turns out that the “bad guys” aren’t bad people, they’re just doing what they think is right at the time. There isn’t any “good” or “bad” it’s just people doing what they think is right and clashing. Which is essential for growth.

The characters have also shown up in Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance but I haven’t actually played that game, so I don’t know much about it.

And the most infuriating thing about this is that it’s been seven years since the game came out and there hasn’t been a sequel yet (but they have adapted it for iOS systems). What I would like to see in a sequel: familiar faces returning with more stories and explanation, particularly one about Neku’s friend who died a while ago; there’s a girl who shows up at the end of the iOS version, a completely new character, it’d be nice to know who she is; and finally in “Another Day” Mr. H comments on how you can see the Noise (enemies) in that world as well, then says that Neku could be able to help him sooner than he thinks, I want this to be developed on!

So that’s TWEWY in a nutshell. I can’t begin to explain how much this game means to me. It has been with me since middle school, and I would be lying if I said that I didn’t learn a few valuable things from it. I would highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

The Sherlock Holmes Handbook

The Sherlock Holmes Handbook by Ransom Riggs is a decent work. Of course, it’s not going to turn you into the great detective or anything, but it’s good as a quick overview of Sherlockian principles and history. At times it reads like a listicle of the canon, especially in sections where the author lays out steps to faking your own death or something like that. (Most of the advice is only applicable in the Victorian era anyways.) But it gives some good background on Holmes and what the time period he lived in was like (for example, there’s a list of common guns that he would have encountered). And it’s very short, so if you’re looking for a quick overview of Sherlock’s life and times, this would be perfect!

American Gods, cont., Only the Gods Are Real

So turns out that I will not be doing another post on the gods in American Gods because about 5 minutes of research revealed a brilliant site doing just that!

So here it is: http://frowl.org/gods/index.html "Only the Gods Are Real". I'm now going to waste a ton of time on it, so it you excuse me...

American Gods

American Gods by Neil Gaiman is a powerhouse of a novel. It centers on the life of an ex-con, Shadow, after being let out of jail only to find out that this wife and best friend are dead. He is then hired by the mysterious Mr. Wednesday and goes on to meet many deities in his travels. These gods come from many nationalities and countries, and end up in America when immigrants come over worshipping them, however, they are soon forgotten and lose their power. They’re still here though, and have become Americanized as well (think Percy Jackson for adults). It’s revealed in the epilogue that different countries have their own incarnations of the gods, and they exist separately from each other. The chapters describing what Shadow’s up to alternate with coming-to-America chapters telling the story of various gods and goddesses and how they came here. The result is a rich world that has a complex set of characters, each with their own stories and myths.

And of course, there isn’t a ton of information out there on who these people are. So later I’m going to try and sum up the quirks of these gods and how they relate to their myths, right now, it’s analysis time.

American Gods is all about the conflict between the old gods and the new (tradition versus technology, essentially). By the end though, it turns out that the conflict is really just contrived for the benefit of some players within the system. The land itself is also depicted as a god-like figure, and reminds Shadow that the gods are only there because they are allowed to be there. So the land is really allowing both the old gods and the new gods to reside on this soil. And since none of them really want to fight, to me it seems like they could work it out. The problem is that the old gods aren’t getting sacrifices anymore, or have anyone left to believe in them. There are tales of gods who committed suicide because life was too hard. It’s sad of course, but it’s also the way of the world. Change happens, old traditions are replaced by new ones. There isn’t really a good or bad to it, it’s just what happens. But of course, these old gods and new gods are really all immigrants, only the land is what is native to America and that has jurisdiction over all.

Then there’s also the towns that are visited. Shadow sees mostly small-town America, there are glimpses of LA or NYC, but he stays in Lakeside, a peaceful town in Wisconsin that is a good place to live. It’s an interesting choice, making this the focus of the novel where the American identity is so bound up in this book. The old gods seem to like it out there, where they can’t be easily found and can hide. However, there isn’t a conflict between the cities and the farms, the new gods aren’t affiliated with anywhere in America, they appear to be ubiquitous and homeless. This goes with their depiction as younger gods, they are restless and have yet to settle down anywhere.

Overall, what this says about the American identity makes sense to me, we are a nation of immigrants. Sure, the Native American gods have been here forever, but they have been pushed around and forgotten about since then. There isn’t a uniting culture to America, everyone does mostly their own thing. Which is a strange way to coexist, when you think about it. No other country really has this sort of identity, they all have traditions that go back to when humans first started living there, but not America. It’s what makes this country unique and makes it the subject of literature like this, even when written by a British author like Gaiman.