Know-all, writing and celebration.
1. An omniscient narrator. I know it's not fashionable and is considered very patronising and Victorian, but I'm loving the voice of whoever tells the story of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Anyone got an idea of who they might be?
2. Robert turning up unexpectedly with an article he is putting together about living in his van. His writing has improved, and he has some good thoughts and pictures going. We talk about where he might send it and how to cast it for each market.
3. The waitresses bring my pudding with a little pink candle stuck in the top -- but whether James told them we were celebrating my birthday; or whether they overheard us talking, I cannot tell.
2. Robert turning up unexpectedly with an article he is putting together about living in his van. His writing has improved, and he has some good thoughts and pictures going. We talk about where he might send it and how to cast it for each market.
3. The waitresses bring my pudding with a little pink candle stuck in the top -- but whether James told them we were celebrating my birthday; or whether they overheard us talking, I cannot tell.
My beautiful things for today include:
ReplyDelete* Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare
* Making several inter-linked decisions late at night and still feeling great about them when I wake up the next morning.
* The sun on my skin.
* Looking forward to hitting a few tennis balls around after work.
Clare - how lovely to have an unexpected candle!
Ah! The best birthdays just go on and on,as do the best surprises!
ReplyDeleteMy cat found a ball while I was cleaning out the closet, but she's too shy to play with it when I'm looking. Every morning, though, the ball is in a different place - proof of her secret nighttime capers.
ReplyDeleteIs there any need for that, wanderingscribe?
ReplyDeleteAccrington
Hi Clare, thanks for the email, and no sorry it definitely wasn't me, as you rightly assumed! As I said in my blog it was someone masquerading as me. I think he thinks he is bothering me, whereas not in the least because I don't look at his blog, except for that once, which was enough, so have no idea what's there and really don't want to! Only hear about it in emails. Live and let live I say, which is why I didn't initially turn comments off on my blog, let him have his fun, but I am very sorry it is affecting everyone else, now that he is posting abusive comments up on your blogs. For your sakes I wish there was something I could do about it, but blog world is like the real world, all sorts: good and bad, but fortunately there is definitely more of the good!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog, I'll stick around and read a bit more. Email me if you want me to menton it in a post on my blog, can highlight what he is doing if you want.
I really like cake. I made some brownies yesterday. They were good. Although obviously your cake trumps mine, as it had a candle on it. But baked goods really are just so goooood. I think they should be banned from the wanderscribe-impersonator for life for being such an ass. They don't deserve no cake. Mmmmhmmmm
ReplyDeleteWanderingscribe -- I have deleted the comment. Thanks for taking time out to look into this. Hope he goes away soon, whoever he is.
ReplyDeleteI reckon it would be worth warning people about what he is doing -- the first thing I did was zoom over to your blog to see if you were on a crusade against all that is happy, and when I saw you weren't, I thought 'identity theft'.
Glad you like 3BT -- I have such fun writing it, and hearing that people enjoy it really makes my day.
Everyone, drop into Wanderingscribe's blog at http://wanderingscribe.blogspot.com -- her story is extraordinary and her prose is lovely.
Clare
The Girl, your cake was homemade, so YOU win!
ReplyDeleteHappy belated birthday, Clare!
ReplyDeletePart of the reason I liked Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell so much was the footnotes. While I hear what you're saying about omniscience, I really thought of the narrator more as a magical historian (like the magicians' societies at the beginning and at the end) who is drawing on lots of research.
I wonder if it is Arabella Strange... I feel it is someone who was very fond of Jonathan and knew him well (not just the man he was, but also the man he had the potential to be). Some of Arabella's remarks repeat information that the narrator has given away about J. too.
ReplyDeleteBy contrast, Mr Norrell is shown in a much less flattering light, and the portrait is somehow... paler, I think.
The writing doesn't seem to me to be very scholarly -- the obvious likes (eg, Mr Segundus) and dislikes (eg, Drawlight) expressed.