“One cannot write about Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell without considering the footnotes. The experienced reader is conditioned to see footnotes as dry, as a way of grounding the text in reality. But footnotes are also an intervention, or intrusion into the flow of the text, and Clarke takes advantage of this figuring. In Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, it is in the footnotes that the world of the fantastic slips through to disrupt the meaning or common understanding of the tale told in the main text. The “explanation” they offer is of worlds slipping between each other, of uncontrolled contact with fairy.”
I can’t stop thinking about my parents’ situation. I was saying to L that their split shouldn’t be such a big deal to me since I’m nearly 30, and she said it’s always hard when a family breaks up. Plus I’m so worried about my mum, she’s so sad and so lost. It’s all a lot to take on board, and I keep telling myself it’s only been a week, I can’t expect it to be OK.
